standard_description: Observe using graphs and tables that a quantity increasing exponentially eventually exceeds a quantity increasing linearly, quadratically, or (more generally) as a polynomial function.
problem_activity: Task
Sara's doctor tells her she needs between 400 and 800 milligrams of folate per day, with part coming from her diet and part coming from a multi-vitamin. Each multi-vitamin contains 50 mg of folate, and because of the inclusion of other vitamins and minerals, she can only take a maximum of 8 tablets per day.
What are the possible combinations of $n$, number of vitamin tablets taken, and $a$, the amount of dietary folate, which will give Sarah exactly the minimum of 400 mg of folate each day? Express your answers in a table.
What are the possible combinations of vitamin tablets and dietary folate which give the maximum of 800 mg of folate each day?
Now use your tables from parts (i) and (ii) to express your answers as a system of three inequalities. Create a graph of $a$ versus $n$, and compare your graph to your tables from parts (i) and (ii).
Suppose instead of a multi-vitamin, Sara is given a powdered folate supplement she can add to water. She can drink any amount of the supplement she wants per day, as long as she does not exceed 400 mg per day. What are the possible combinations of folate she can ingest from her diet and from the powder? Graph your solution set. How does this graph compare to the graph from part (a)?


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