Scroll beyond the applet to see instructions and explanations

This applet has two functions: plotting and finding the linear function (of the form ) which best approximates the user supplied data. Use it as follows:

  1. Put the data to plot and analyze in the Data section. Though the variables default to x (the independent variable) and y (the dependent variable), they can be renamed. Renaming them will cause the graph to be updated. The values are entered one per line. The data can be integers as well as real numbers. Scientific notation is allowed (for ex. 2.1E3 for 2100 or 2.1E-3 for 0.0021). You can also copy and paste data from any other application using the keys CTRL C to copy and CTRL V to paste.
  2. The buttons work as follows: CLEAR will clear the data, the plot area and the RESULTS area. PLOT will plot the data as points. ANALYZE will find the linear function which best approximates the data, plot it and display its equation in the RESULTS area.
  3. The plot area (top, right) will show the plot.
  4. The RESULTS area is used to communicate with the user.

This applet was developed by Dr. Philippe B. Laval, at Kennesaw State University.
This work was funded in part by:
The National Science Foundation # DUE-9952568
The US Department of Education FIPSE #P116B00178