ShootingStar16 Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 So today we did a lab on melting points of fatty acids and we have to draw a best fit line for the graph. This counts for marks, but I suck at drawing best fit lines.. Help! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathemagician Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) Hey, I'm assuming you have a bunch of points on your graph, and you're meaning to represent the pattern (of the graph; so is it increasing, decreasing, etc.) with a line of best fit. You want to basically draw your line through all of the points (not necessarily connect them; well unless it's linear), and draw the line in the direction your data points to (increasing, decreasing, etc.). It's hard to explain, but these pictures should give you an idea: https://www.google.ca/search?q=line+of+best+fit&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=PKlqVKruE4ilyASSgoHQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=jZ-8I-tHRKGfWM%253A%3BwFBnwF93-KABRM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mathsisfun.com%252Fdata%252Fimages%252Fscatter-ice-cream1a.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mathsisfun.com%252Fdefinitions%252Fline-of-best-fit.html%3B453%3B278 https://www.google.ca/search?q=line+of+best+fit&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=PKlqVKruE4ilyASSgoHQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Ozkh3Z35yPhO5M%253A%3BxhsLeBqE09YFMM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstaff.argyll.epsb.ca%252Fjreed%252Fmath9%252Fstrand4%252Fpizza2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstaff.argyll.epsb.ca%252Fjreed%252Fmath9%252Fstrand4%252F4104.htm%3B637%3B528 Hopefully that was of some use. Edited November 18, 2014 by Mathemagician 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashmaster Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 If you have a TI N-spire, or similar calculator, you can enter in the data points and do a linear regression. It'll give you the 'least squares line' - and will luckily tell you what the equation actually is! For example: https://epsstore.ti.com/OA_HTML/csksxvm.jsp?nSetId=108059The equation it gives you is y=ax+b, where the calculator gives you a and b. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
misifu Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 I would recommend using Microsoft Excel, it calculates automatically trend lines and so.Here's a tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZAZj7NIkic Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibprincess Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 If you have to hand draw it, do it lightly with pencil, when you think you have it right go over it darker and erase any unnecessary lines that make the graph messy. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
King112 Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Also, i figure checking out a few examples help http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/line-of-best-fit.htmlhttp://www.glogster.com/haleybelt/line-of-best-fit/g-6n0hhq97n3deh5bbndah8btHere are a couple of them that I found, for linear examples http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~toh/spectrum/CurveFitting.htmlhttp://www.york.ac.uk/physics/people/tallents/l11809/And here are a couple for curves Just remember to scroll down the website to find themhope i helped 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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