In order to predict the population after 15 hours, let's use the equation y = 1.79x² - 9.92x + 11.79 with the value of x = 15, then we calculate the value of y.
So we have:
[tex]\begin{gathered} y=1.79x^2-9.92x+11.79 \\ x=15\colon \\ y=1.79\cdot15^2-9.92\cdot15+11.79 \\ y=402.75-148.8+11.79 \\ y=265.74 \end{gathered}[/tex]
Rounding to the nearest whole number, we have a population of 266, therefore the correct option is D.
