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Nation's Capital Fitness, Incorporated, operates a chain of fitness centers in the Washington, D$.$C$.,$ area. The firm's

controller is accumulating data to be used in preparing its annual profit plan for the coming year. The cost behavior pattern

of the firm's equipment maintenance costs must be determined. The accounting staff has suggested the use of an

equation, in the form of $Y=a+bx,$ for maintenance costs. Data regarding the maintenance hours and costs for last year

are as follows:

Required:

$1.$ Using the high$-$low method of cost estimation, estimate the behavior of the maintenance costs incurred by Nation's Capital Fitness,

Incorporated. Express the cost behavior pattern in equation form.

Note: Round coefficient of $x$ to $2$ decimal places and other answer to the nearest whole dollar amount.

$2.$ Using your answer to requirement $1,$ what is the variable component of the maintenance cost?

$3.$ Compute the predicted maintenance cost at $610$ hours of activity.

$4$a $.$Compute the variable cost per hour and the fixed cost per hour at $620$ hours of activity.

$4-$b$.$ Why is the fixed cost per hour possibly misleading?