What is a line of best fit?
1 Answer
A line of best fit is a particular linear function chosen to fit some data points.
Explanation:
A line of best fit is a particular linear function chosen to model a set of data points.
For example, given points
graph{(y-4.5-1.5(x-2.5))((x-1)^2+(y-2)^2-0.01)((x-2)^2+(y-4)^2-0.01)((x-3)^2+(y-5)^2-0.01)((x-4)^2+(y-7)^2-0.01) = 0 [-9.66, 10.34, -1.44, 8.56]}
Here, due to the symmetry of the points, I chose to make the line run through
So the linear function can be written:
#f(x) = 3/2(x-5/2)+9/2#
or:
#f(x) = 3/2x+3/4#
More generally you might seek to minimise the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the line, or the squares of their