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Example Line:
| Years Since 1900 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life Expectancy | 47.3 | 50.0 | 54.1 | 59.7 | 62.9 | 68.2 | 69.7 | 70.8 | 73.7 | 75.4 | 77.1 |
We are asked to construct a scatter plot and draw a line of best fit. To construct a scatter plot, we need to sketch each point from the table on a coordinate plane. The horizontal axis will represent the years since 1900 and the vertical axis will represent the life expectancy of the people born.
For example, let's sketch the third point from the table ( 20, 54.1).
In a similar way, we will now graph the other points from the table.
We constructed a scatter plot of the data! Now we will draw a straight line that best represents the data. Remember that we should try for the line to be as close to the data points as possible.
The points are very close to the line and a similar number of points is above and below the line. Therefore, this is a line of best fit. Notice that, if you sketch a different line that is close to the data points, it would also be a correct answer.
Let's write an equation in slope-intercept form for this line!
y=mx+b
The first point has coordinates x_1= 70 and y_1= 70.8. The second point has coordinates x_2= 80 and y_2= 73.7. Let's substitute these values into slope formula.
Substitute values
Subtract terms
Calculate quotient
We found that the slope m is equal to 0.29. This means that the life expectancy of a person born in a certain year is longer by 0.29 years than the life expectancy of a person born in a previous year. y=mx+b ⇔ y= 0.29+b The y-intercept b is the y-value when x=0. We can find it on the graph. Let's do it!
We can see that the y-intercept is equal to about 50. This means that in the year 1900, the life expectancy was approximately equal to 50 years. Finally, we can write a complete equation in slope-intercept form for our line of fit. y=0.29x+b ⇕ y=0.29x+ 50
Using the equation, we estimated that the life expectancy of a person born in 2020 is 84.8 years.