POLYNOMIAL REGRESSION HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

[amputechture]

I have a HUGE lab report due in my highschool accelerated physics class tomorrow, and I'm stuck on one part. My teacher gives all the directions to our labs for students using MS Excel. But unfortunately I don't have the software, so I have to translate all his instructions into Open Office language. One part of the lab requires that we make a graph with two parabolic lines and then graph the polynomial regression (or line of best fit) for each line. But, I can't find anything in open office that will allow me to do this.

Does anyone have any help?? PLEASE! This is due in a few hours!!!!!!!!

[David]

1. A parabola is not a line, but a curve.
2. A curve of best fit passes through scattered points, not a "line" or any other given true relation [curve]. You can find the polynomial of best fit through scattered points, and if it is of second degree you'd have a parabolic fit rather than linear. See the next suggestion.
3. Try software such as Graphmatica or Padowan's "Graph" ...you'll find them with a web search, or through a search in this forum where I've mentioned them a few times. Then you'll have to study them to learn how to use them, but they are quite intuitive. They are more effective for this purpose.

Again sorry, but momentary help is worse than no help at all. Good luck in your future studies, but leaving things to the last minute is a deadly game to play in such a course.

David.

[tedbar123]

Missed your dealine, however, calculating polynomial regressions is not complex and te solutions are well publishhed. Try Wikipedia as a firts stop and search on 'regression analysis' or similar. Be a worthwhile exercise to do it from first principals, will certainly give you a better undertanding than clicking on a function button.