Using technology, we determined that Mary's investment account can be modeled by the function, M (x) = 3.03 (2.18) x in thousands of dollars. What was Mary's initial investment?

Assuming

M (x) = 3.03 (2.18) ^x [i. e. the x is an exponent of 2.18].

In this exponential function, 3.03 is the initial value, and 2.18 is the base of exponentiation.

At time x=0, 2.18^0=1, so the function M (0) = 3.03 [=initial value].

Therefore Mary's initial investment is 3.03.