Question

a researcher studied the relationship between the number of times a certain species of cricket will chirp in one minute and the temperature outside. her data is expressed in the scatter plot and line of best fit below. what is the meaning of the $x$-value on the line when $y = 85$?

Explanation:

First, identify the variables: the x-axis represents the number of cricket chirps per minute, and the y-axis represents temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. The line of best fit models the relationship between these two variables. When $y=85$, we are looking at the x-value (chirps per minute) that the model predicts corresponds to a temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. This x-value is the predicted number of chirps per minute for the cricket species when the outside temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Answer:

The x-value represents the predicted number of times the cricket species will chirp in one minute when the outside temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit.