Question

The line of best fit for a scatter plot is shown: What is the equation of this line of best fit in slope-intercept form?

Answer 1

$y=- \frac{1}{2}x+8$

for x = 0   =>  y = 8
for x = 6   =>  y = 5

Answer 2

First find the slope.

We know these two points are in the line: (0,8) and (6,5)

$\sf Slope = \frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1} = \frac{8-5}{0-6} = \frac{3}{-6} = \boxed{-\frac{1}{2}}$

The slope is -1/2. The y-intercept can be found when x = 0. And we know that the point (0,8) is on the line and x = 0, therefore the y-intercept is 8.

Plugging this into the slope-intercept form which is

y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept, we get:

y = (-1/2)x + 8