Chapter 3.4, Problem 9E

Remainder Round all answers to two decimal places unless otherwise indicated.

Is a Linear Model Appropriate? The number, in thousands, of bacteria in a petri dish is given by the following table. Time is measured in hours.

Time in hours since experiment began	Number of bacteria in thousands
0	1.2
1	2.4
2	4.8
3	9.6
4	19.2
5	38.4
6	76.8

The table below shows enrollment, in millions of people, in private colleges in the United States during the years from 2004 through 2008.

Date	Enrollment in millions
2004	4.29
2005	4.47
2006	4.58
2007	4.76
2008	5.13

a. Plot the data points for number of bacteria. Does it look reasonable to approximate these data with a straight line?

b. Plot the data points for college enrollment. Does it look reasonable to approximate these data with a straight line?