Below Are Cost and Activity Data for a Particular Cost

Essay

Below are cost and activity data for a particular cost over the last four periods.Your boss has asked you to analyze this cost so that management will have a better understanding of how this cost changes in response to changes in activity.
$\begin{array}{|l|r|r|}\hline & \text { Activity } & \text { Cost } \\\hline \text { Period 1 } & 44 & 277 \\\hline \text { Period 2 } & 42 & 265 \\\hline \text { Period 3 } & 48 & 284 \\\hline \text { Period 4 } & 49 & 284 \\\hline\end{array}$
Required:
Using the least-squares regression method and the equations for a and b,estimate the cost formula for this cost.