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Miriam measured the height, in cm,y, of a burning candle over the course of a day. The correlation coefficient between the number of hours, x, and the height of the candle is -0.91. Which could be concluded based on the correlation coefficient of the data?

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Final answer:

A correlation coefficient of -0.91 indicates a strong negative linear relationship between hours and candle height. There is sufficient evidence to conclude a significant linear relationship exists, with the height decreasing as hours increase.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked what could be concluded based on the correlation coefficient of -0.91 between the number of hours, x, and the height of the candle, y. A correlation coefficient of -0.91 indicates a strong negative linear relationship between the two variables. This means that as the number of hours increases, the height of the candle tends to decrease. The value of -0.91 is significantly different from zero, which implies that there is sufficient evidence to conclude there is a significant linear relationship between x and y.

In real-world terms, as the candle burns over time, one would expect it to get shorter, which is consistent with the negative correlation observed. Since the correlation is close to -1, it suggests that the relationship is strongly linear, and therefore the number of hours can be a good predictor for the height of the candle, assuming other conditions such as the burn rate of the candle remain constant.

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