Question
I'm working on a math project about a track and field olympic event. The question is, is the relationship between the years and time values linear or exponential?
So I selected an event and I can see that as the years have passed, the time has decreased, so I consider that linear.
Then I have to find a line of best fit for my data and state what the meaning of the slope from that equation is. I believe the slope represents the change in time in the event each time there is an olympics held. (Is that correct?)
Here is the question that I am really struggling on: does my graph have a y-interecept. Well I know it's not going to have a x-interecept, where the line crosses the x axix because that would mean that they are doing the event in no time which, of course, is impossible.
But what about a y-intercept?
My confusion, I believe, is because the equation of a line is y = mx + b, with b being the y interecept. I have a "b" in my equation, but would there really be a y intercept in this type of scenario?
Thank you.
So I selected an event and I can see that as the years have passed, the time has decreased, so I consider that linear.
Then I have to find a line of best fit for my data and state what the meaning of the slope from that equation is. I believe the slope represents the change in time in the event each time there is an olympics held. (Is that correct?)
Here is the question that I am really struggling on: does my graph have a y-interecept. Well I know it's not going to have a x-interecept, where the line crosses the x axix because that would mean that they are doing the event in no time which, of course, is impossible.
But what about a y-intercept?
My confusion, I believe, is because the equation of a line is y = mx + b, with b being the y interecept. I have a "b" in my equation, but would there really be a y intercept in this type of scenario?
Thank you.
Answers
scott
sure ... b represents the first (modern) olympics
the time in the event is dependent on the year of the games
one would expect the times to decrease as a result of improvement of the atheletes
... better conditioning, better nutrition, ... etc.
the time in the event is dependent on the year of the games
one would expect the times to decrease as a result of improvement of the atheletes
... better conditioning, better nutrition, ... etc.
carly
I am a little confused by your comments --
My equation of best fit, determined by the computer, is: Y=-.02496x+551.65
My event is 100M mens backstroke, and the first time they did this, in 1906, the time was 1:16.8 which would be 76 secons -- so I don't understand how the b can be the first olympics time.
I understand and agree that the times decrease as time goes on, but I'm still trying to understand this y-intercept thing.
Thank you for clarifying for me.
My equation of best fit, determined by the computer, is: Y=-.02496x+551.65
My event is 100M mens backstroke, and the first time they did this, in 1906, the time was 1:16.8 which would be 76 secons -- so I don't understand how the b can be the first olympics time.
I understand and agree that the times decrease as time goes on, but I'm still trying to understand this y-intercept thing.
Thank you for clarifying for me.
scott
how have you defined your variables?
winning time in seconds? ... this should be y
year of games? ... or years since 1st "modern" games? ... this should be x
going back in time beyond the "modern" games is probably meaningless
winning time in seconds? ... this should be y
year of games? ... or years since 1st "modern" games? ... this should be x
going back in time beyond the "modern" games is probably meaningless
carly
Yes, the years are my x and the time in seconds is my y -
The question is, is there a y-intercept - so technically, there WOULD be a y-intercept since the line would cross the y-axis??
The question is, is there a y-intercept - so technically, there WOULD be a y-intercept since the line would cross the y-axis??