Sol Cuisine is a leading provider of Plant-Based alternatives with a wide variety of great-tasting vegan gourmet items. The company's lines of products include appetizers, burgers, entrees, tofu, and others. The company's procurement manager argues that because of the transportation costs, the cost of soybeans (required to make the tofu) increases with the distance of markets from the production area. Suppose the soybeans prices in eight cities are as follow:

Distance from Soybean-Producing Area (in '000 km)

Cost of Soybeans

(per 1 kg)

1.25

$2.64

0.43

2.31

1.35

2.45

0.97

2.52

0.26

2.19

0.87

2.55

1.08

2.40

0.30

2.37

Required:

(a) State the independent and dependent variables (1 mark)

(b) Determine the regression equation (8 marks)

(c) Interpret the equation (2 marks)

(d)Based on the regression equation, estimate the cost of soybeans produced 0.25 (in '000 km) away from the market. (2 marks)