Chapter 8, Problem 32P

The relationship between two variables y and x is known to be:

$y=a\frac{x}{b+x}$

The following data points are given:

x	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50
y	15	25	32	33	37	35	38	39	41	42

Determine the constants a and b by curve-fitting the equation to the data points. Make a plot of y versus x. In the plot show the data points with markers and the curve-fitted equation with a solid line. Use the equation to estimate y at x =23. (The curve fitting can be done by writing the reciprocal of the equation and using a first-order polynomial.)