Brent is trying to figure out the relationship between the number of times his friends post on social media and their grade point averages. He records the collected data on a scatter plot. Which of the linear functions best models the line of best fit? What does the slope in the equation represent?
a
y = 0.004x - 4; the average number of posts per friend
b
y = 0.05x - 4; the amount of increase in the GPA for each post
c
y = -0.004x + 4; the amount of decrease in the GPA for each post
d
y = -0.5x - 4; the amount of decrease in the GPA for each post
3 answers
It is impossible to determine which linear function best models the line of best fit without knowing the actual data plotted on the scatter plot. The slope in the equation represents the rate of change in the dependent variable (in this case, the GPA) for each unit increase in the independent variable (the number of posts).
educated guess
Without knowing the actual data plotted on the scatter plot, it is still difficult to make an educated guess for the linear function that best models the line of best fit. However, it is important to note that a positive slope indicates a positive correlation between the number of posts and the GPA, which would mean that as students post more on social media, their GPAs tend to increase. On the other hand, a negative slope would indicate a negative correlation, meaning that as students post more on social media, their GPAs tend to decrease.