Since 2.5 is negative, the profit P(x) 2.5(x 2)(x 17) is positive only when the product (x 2)(x 17) is also negative. This happens when the sep- arate factors x 2 and x 17 have opposite signs. Since there are no x values for which x 2 0 and x 17 0, we must have x 2 0 and x 17 0, that is, 2 x 17. So production is profitable when the level of production is between 2,000 and 17,000 units.