24. Growth data of a sunflower plant is given in the following table:

x –5 –4 –1 1 4 6 9 10 y 12 10 6 2 –3 –6 –11 –12 h (ft) –1,000 0 3,000 8,000 15,000 22,000 28,000 T ( °F ) 213.9 212 206.2 196.2 184.4 172.6 163.1 Year 1815 1845 1875 1905 1935 1965 Population

(millions)

8.3 19.7 The data can be modeled with a function in the form , where y is the height, H is a maximum height, a and b are constants, and t is the number of days. By using the method described in Section 8.2.2, and assuming that in., determine the constants a and b such that the function best fits the data. Use the function to estimate the height in day 40. In one figure, plot the function and the data points.