Question

Use technology to find the line of best fit for the following data.



(1, 0), (2, 3), (3,1), (4,4), (5,5)



When the equation of the line is in the form y=mx+b, what is the value of **b**?



Enter your answer as a decimal rounded to the nearest tenths place, like this: 42.5

Answer 1

Given:

The data points are:

(1, 0), (2, 3), (3,1), (4,4), (5,5)

To find:

The equation of best fit line in the form of $y=mx+b$ and then find the value of b.

Solution:

The general form of best fit line is:

$y=mx+b$              ...(i)

Where, m is the slope of best fit line and b is the y-intercept of the line.

Using the graphing calculator, we get the equation for the best fit line and the equation is

$y=1.1x-0.7$          ...(ii)

On comparing (i) and (ii), we get

$b=-0.7$

Therefore, the value of b is equal to -0.7.