a. Make a scatter plot and draw a line of fit.
b. An equation of the line of fit in slope-intercept form is y = 1.41x + 169.82.
c. If the trend continues, the approximate length of a major league baseball game in 2021 is 192 minutes.
Part a.
In this exercise, we would plot the Year on the x-coordinates of a scatter plot while the Time (min) would be plotted on the y-coordinate of the scatter plot through the use of Microsoft Excel. Since the number of years began from 2005, the x-value will begin from 0 with an increment of 2 units.
On the Microsoft Excel worksheet, you should right click on any data point on the scatter plot, select format trend line, and then tick the box to display a linear equation for the line of best fit on the scatter plot.
Part b.
Based on the scatter plot shown below, which models the relationship between the x-values and the time (in minutes), a linear equation for the line of best fit is as follows:
y = 1.41x + 169.82
Part c.
The predicted length of a major league baseball game in 2021 is given by;
x = 2021 - 2005 = 16 years.
y = 1.41(16) + 169.82
y = 192.38 ≈ 192 minutes.
Complete Question:
The table shows the average length in minutes of professional baseball games in selected years.
Average Length of Major League Baseball Games
Year Time (min)
2005 169
2007 175
2009 175
2011 176
2013 184
2015 180
2017 189
a. Make a scatter plot and draw a line of fit.
b. Write the equation of the line of fit in slope-intercept form where x is the number of years since 2005. Explain your process.
c. If the trend continues, what will be the approximate length of a major league baseball game in 2021?