Question

Temperature (°F) Ice Cream Sales 58.2 $112 64.2 $135 64.3 $138 66.8 $146 68.4 $166 71.6 $180 72.7 $188 76.2 $199 77.8 $220 82.8 $280 What is the slope of the line of best fit, where x represents the average daily temperature and y represents the total ice cream sales? (Round your answer to one decimal place.)

Answer 1

The slope of the line of best fit is approximately 5.6.

To find the slope of the line of best fit, we can use the formula for the slope (m) in the context of linear regression:

m= n(∑xy)−(∑x)(∑y)/n(∑x^2)−(∑x)^2

Using the given data points:

∑x=658.1

∑y=1774

∑xy=48191.24

∑x^2=42872.49

Now, plug these values into the formula:

m= (10)(48191.24)−(658.1)(1774)/(10)(42872.49)−(658.1)^2

Therefore, the slope of the line of best fit, where x represents the average daily temperature and y represents the total ice cream sales, is approximately 5.6. This implies that, on average, for each one-degree increase in temperature, ice cream sales increase by approximately $5.6.