The table below illustrates the growth in worldwide Internet use.
Year, x Number of Internet Users Worldwide,
y (in millions)
2001, 0 ............................................... 495
2002, 1 ............................................... 677
2003, 2 ............................................... 785
2004, 3 ............................................... 914
2005, 4 ............................................... 1036
2006, 5 ............................................... 1159
2007, 6 ............................................... 1393
2008, 7 ............................................... 1611
2009, 8 ............................................... 1858
2010, 9 ............................................... 2084*
(a) Model the data with a linear function. Let the independent variable represent the number of years after 2001; that is, the data points are 10, 4952, 13, 9142, and so on. Answers may vary depending on the data points used.
(b) Using the function found in part (a), estimate the number of Internet users worldwide in 2013 and in 2018.