The chart above shows the prices of products A and B from 1986 to 1996

There are a few approaches that will give you the right answer here.

One straightforward approach is to find the rate of change of each price, and then set up an equation to find out how long it will take to get to the desired condition (product A costing 40 cents more than product B)

Rate of change of A: From the table we can see that every two years the price increases by 40 cents. Yearly rate of change of A is 20 cents.
Rate of change of B: From the table we can see that every two years the price increases by 15 cents. Yearly rate of change of B is 7.5 cents.
Starting with the last year in the table, we can set up an equation to see what the prices will be in the future.
let x be the number of years
620+20x = 705+7.5x+40
12.5x = 125
x=10
So in 2006 (10 years from the last year in the table), the price of A will be 40 cents more than the price of B.

Answer: E

Alternatively, the relative rate of change could be used. Every two years A gains 25 cents on B, and in 1996 A is 85 cents less than B so \(x=\frac{(85+40)}{25}\), where x is a period of 2 years.
x=5 --> A will be 40 cents more than B in 10 years

Answer: E