Math1030Project3

ModelingLinearFunctions
Thefollowinginformationisfrom
www.automobilemag.com/buyers_guide
for2012modelcars.

PartI.
Usethedatatomakeascatterplotthatcomparescitymileageonthexaxiswith
highwaymileageontheyaxis.Explainifthislookslikealinearrelationship.
Yesthislookslikealinearrelationship,becausethisisastraightlinegraph,whichalsomeansit
hasaconstantrateofchange.

1.Drawalinefromthepointshowingtheleastmileagetothepointshowingthegreatest
mileage,andidentifythecoordinatesofthesepoints.

Coordinateforleastmilage=(12,18).Coordinateforgreatestmilage=(27,37).

Doesthislinelooklikeitsagoodfittogeneralizetherateofchangebetweencity
mileageandhighwaymileage?
Thetrendlineisthebestfitline.Thepointsshowastrongpositivecorrelation.Accordingtoour
textbookonpage347,thecorrelationcoefficientdefinesthestrengthofacorrelationwhere0is
aweakornocorrelationandclosetoeitherthepositiveornegative1indicatesastrongpositive
correlation.TheCity(mpg)andHighway(mpg)correlationcoefficientis0.957978796,a
positivenumbercloseto1.Themodel'spredictionsarereasonableestimatesbutnotexact
values.

Describetheprobablerelationship.
Theprobablecauseofthisrelationshipisthatanygivenvehiclewilloperateataparticular
proficiency,p,whenonthehighway.Theproficiencyofoperationisaffectedbythestopandgo
ofacity.

2.Findtherateofchange(slope)forthelineinPartI.1.Interpretthisrateofchangeusing
theproperunits.

Theslopeisaratiothatgivestherateofproficiencyneartowhatallthevehicleslistedperform.

y2y1 3718
19
19Highway(mpg)
SlopeFormula===Slope=

x2x1 2712
15
15City(mpg)

3.Findtheequationofthelinearfunctionthatgivesthehighwaymileageasafunctionof
thecitymileage.
19
18=(12)+bDividebothsidesby12
12 15
12
19
1.5=+bMultiplybothsidesby15
15 15
15

22.5=19+bSubtract19frombothsides
1919

3.5=b
19
Equation=y=x+3.5
15
4.Whathighwaymileagedoesthefunctionpredictforacarthatgets21mpgincity
driving?
Insertfollowingintocalculatorexactlytofindy.

19
(21)+3.5
=
y=30.1highway(mpg)
15

ComparethistotheMercedesBenzCClassC250CoupeandtheSubaruForester2.5X
LimitedSUV.
Pretend/Theoreticalcar(21,30.1)
MercedesBenzCClassC250Coupe(21,31)
SubaruForester2.5XLimitedSUV(21,27)
Whatarethepercentdifferencesbetweenthepredictedvaluesandtheactualvalues?
ComparedValueReferenceValue
UsingtheRelativeDifferenceformula
100
ReferenceValue

Wewilluseourtheoreticalcarshighway(mpg)astheReferenceValue.

TheoreticalandMercedes
3130.1
=0.029900332100=2.990033223%roundingto3%
30.1

TheoreticalandSubaru
2730.1
=0.102990033100=10.29900332%roundingto10.3%
30.1

Explainthedifferences.
Onewaytoexplainthedifferencesistolookatthepercentagepointsbetweenthesepercentages
whichis13.3percentagepoints.
Also
Thetheoreticalvehicleisonthetrendline.MercedesisclosertothetrendlinethantheSubaru.
Mercedesisabovethetrendlinemakingthepercentdifferencepositive.Whereas,theSubaruis
belowthetrendline,therefore,anegativepercentage.

5.Whatcitymileagedoesthefunctionpredictforacarthatgets21mpginhighway
driving?
solvingforx
19
21=x+3.5
Subtract3.5frombothsides
3.5
15
3.5

19
17.5=x
Timesbothsidesby15
15 15
15

262.5=19x
Dividebothsidesby19
1919

13.8=x

ComparethistotheAcuraMDX.

Pretend/Theoreticalcar(13.8,21)
AcuraMDX(16,21)
Whatisthepercentdifferencebetweenthepredictedvalueandtheactualvalue?
ComparedValueReferenceValue
UsingtheRelativeDifferenceformula
100
ReferenceValue
TheoreticalandAcura

1613.8
=0.15942029100=15.94202899%Roundingto15.9%
13.8

Explainthedifference.
TheAcuraMDXhaslessimprovementofmpgwhentakenonthehighwaythenwhatisfound
withothervehicleslisted.Becauseofthis,theAcurahasalowerrateofproficiencythanwhatis
expectedfromthetrendline.

6.Explaintheconstantterm(yintercept)ofthefunctionusingproperunits.
3.5highway(mpg)whencity(mpg)=0
(0,3.5)

Outsidethedomainandrange,themodel'spredictionsarenotvalid.Yinterceptistheinitial
value."Whenthereisnocitymiles,thehighwaymilesis3.5"makesnosense.The
HighwayCitymodelisonlyusefulwithinalimiteddomain.

PartII.
Usethedatatomakeascatterplotthatcomparescarsweightonthexaxiswith
highwaymileageontheyaxis.

Explainifthislookslikealinearrelationship.
Yesthislookslikealinearrelationship,becausethisisastraightlinegraph,whichalsomeansit
hasaconstantrateofchange.
1.Drawthebestlineyoucanthatmakesagoodfittogeneralizetherateofchange
betweencarsweightandhighwaymileage.
SeeGraphofweighthighwaymodel

Thescatterplotlookstolikethereisadeclineinhighwaympgwiththeincreaseofweight.The
slopeofthedeclineissharpatfirstbutcurvesslightlybecomingalesssteepintheupperweight
vehicles.Thepointsshowamoderatenegativecorrelation.Again,fromourtextbookonpage
347,thecorrelationcoefficientdefinesthestrengthofacorrelationwhere0isaweakorno
correlationandclosetoeitherthepositiveornegative1indicatesastrongpositivecorrelation.
TheWeight(lb)andHighway(mpg)correlationcoefficientis0.68690362,anegativenumber
thatiscloserto1than0.Wecreatedagoodfittrendlinetogeneralizetherateofchange.This
model'spredictionsaresomewhatreasonableestimates.

Theprobablecauseofthisrelationshipisthataheavyweightvehiclewilltakemoregastomove
forwardonthehighway.Thempgonthehighwayisdependentontheweightofthevehicle,
amongothervariables.
2.Findtherateofchange(slope)forthelineinPartII.1.Interpretthisrateofchangeusing
theproperunits.
Theslopeisaratiothatgivestherateofproficiencyneartowhatallthevehicleslistedperform.

Usingourchosenpointsthatthatextendtoincludeallpointsonourgraph
chosenpointA(2,900,31)
chosenpointB(6,100,18)

y2y1 1831 1313

SlopeFormula===Slope=

x2x1 6,1002,900
3,200
3,200

3.Findtheequationofthelinearfunctionthatgivesthehighwaymileageasafunctionof
thecarsweight.
13
18=(6100)+b
Divide13by3200
3,200

18=0.0040625(6100)+b
Multiply0.0040625by6100

18=24.78125+b
Add24.78125tobothsides

42.78125=b

13
y=x+42.78125
3200

4.Whathighwaymileagedoesthefunctionpredictforacarweighing4000lb?
Inordertofindthehighwaymilagewereplacexwith4000

13
y=(4000)+42.78125
Divide13by3200
3200

y==0.0040625(4000)+42.78125
Multiply0.0040625by4000
y=16.25+42.78125
Add16.25and42.78125together

y=26.53125

Comparethistosimilarcarsinthetable.
Ourtheoreticalcarweighs4000poundsandhasahighwaymilageof26.5

WewillcompareourtheoreticalcartotheAstonMartinDB9CoupeandtheJaguarXFSedan

TheAstonMartinDB9Coupehasaweightof3968poundsandahighwaymileageof20

TheJaguarXFSedanhasaweightof4067poundsandahighwaymileageof23

Whatarethepercentdifferencesbetweenthepredictedvaluesandtheactualvalues?
ComparedValueReferenceValue
UsingtheRelativeDifferenceformula
100
ReferenceValue
Wewilluseourtheoreticalcarshighway(mpg)astheReferenceValue.

TheoreticalandAstonMartin
2026.5
=0.245283019100=24.52830189
26.5

TheoreticalandSubaru
2326.5
=0.132075472100=13.20754717
26.5

Explainthedifferences.
Thetheoreticalvehicleisonthetrendline.Thevehiclesthatareclosesttotheweightarethe
AstonMartinDB9CoupeandJaguarXFSedan.TheJaguarisclosertothetrendlinethanthe
AstonMartin.Botharebelowthetrendline,therefore,bothhaveanegativepercentage.The
theoreticalvehiclehasabettermpgfortheweightthanwhatisactuallyseeninthecompared
vehicles.
5.Whatweightdoesthefunctionpredictforacarthatgets21mpginhighwaydriving?

13
21=(x)+42.78125
Subtract42.78125frombothsides

42.78125320042.78125

13
21.78125=(x)
Multiplybothsidesby3200
3200
32003200

69,700=13(x)
Dividebothsidesby13
13 13

5,361.538462=xx=5362

Comparethistosimilarcarsinthetableandexplainthedifference.
Thefunctionpredicts5361.5lbfora21mpg.AsimilarcaristheAcuraMDXhasthesamempg
andnearthesameweight,5952lb,asthetheoreticalvehicle.Thedifferenceisabout11%.There
areothervehiclesthathavenearthe21mpgbutarenotclosetothesameweight.Forexample,
whentheBuickRegalBaseSedan,22mpgbutonlyweight3600lbs,iscomparedtothe
theoreticalvehicle,thedifferenceis32.9%.

6.Explaintheconstantterm(yintercept)ofthefunctionusingproperunits.
Outsidethedomainandrange,themodel'spredictionsarenotvalid.Yinterceptistheinitial
value."Whenthereisnoweight,thehighwaymilesis42.78125"makesnosense.Inthisworld,
acombustionenginemusthaveaninitialweight.TheweightCitymodelisonlyusefulwithina
limiteddomain.
PartIII.
Reflectonwhatyouhaveobservedaboutlinearfunctions.