The scatter plot below shows the profit earned each month by a new company over the first year of operation.

h-t-t-p-s-: //cornerstonetx.ignitiaschools.-c-o-m/media/g_alg01_ccss_2016/3/img_alg1u03l12_13.-g-i-f

The owner writes a line of best fit equation, shown below, to model the relationship between profit earned and month.

y = 2,500x - 2,500

Explain how you know that the line of best fit equation is appropriate, mentioning both the slope and y-intercept in your response.

You don't have to explain if you don't want to, but I would please at least like the slope/y-intercept and equation.

1 answer

The line of best fit equation is y = 2500x - 2500, and it is appropriate as a model for the profit earned each month by this new company.

The slope of the line is 2,500, which represents the approximate increase in profit each month. From the scatter plot, we can observe that the profit tends to increase linearly with the increase of the month number. The slope (2,500) captures this trend by showing that the profit is increasing at a rate of $2,500 per month.

The y-intercept of the line is -2,500, which represents the starting point or the profit at the beginning of the first month (month x = 0). From the scatter plot, we can observe that the profit at the start is slightly negative, meaning the company might have incurred some initial costs or losses. The y-intercept (-2,500) captures this fact by showing that the profit starts at -$2,500 in the first month.

Considering both the slope and y-intercept, the line of best fit equation (y = 2500x - 2500) is appropriate as it accurately models the general trend of increasing profit over time and captures the initial losses experienced by the company.