MM210: Assignment 2

Due: 11:59 pm of February 10, 2025

1. An investigator has reported the data tabulated below for an experiment to determine the
growth rate of bacteria 𝑘 (per day), as a function of oxygen concentration 𝑐 (mg/L). It is known
that such data can be modeled by the following equation:
𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐 2
𝑘=
𝑐𝑠 + 𝑐 2
where, 𝑐𝑠 and 𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 are parameters. Use a transformation to linearize this equation. Then use
linear regression to estimate 𝑐𝑠 and 𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 and predict the growth rate at 𝑐 = 2mg/L.
𝑐 𝑘
0.5 1.1
0.8 2.4
1.5 5.3
2.5 7.6
4.0 8.9

2. A material is tested for cyclic fatigue failure whereby a stress, in MPa, is applied to the
material and the number of cycles needed to cause failure is measured. The results are in the
table below. When a log-log plot of stress versus cycles is generated, the data trend shows a
linear relationship. Use least-squares regression to determine a best-fit equation for these data.
N, cycles Stress, MPa
1 1100
10 1000
100 925
1000 800
10,000 625
100,000 550
1,000,000 420

3. An object is suspended in a wind tunnel and the force measured for various levels of wind
velocity. The results are tabulated below.
v, m/s F, N
10 25

1
 20 70
30 380
40 550
50 610
60 1220
70 830
80 1450

Use least-squares regression to fit these data with (a) a power law equation based on log
transformations, and (b) a power law model based on nonlinear regression. Display the results
graphically on the same plot.

4. Use multiple linear regression to fit the following data. Calculate the coefficients, and the 𝑟 2
for your fit.
𝑥1 𝑥2 𝑦
0 0 14
0 2 21
1 2 11
2 4 12
0 4 23
1 6 23
2 6 14
2 2 6
1 1 11

5. The following data define the sea-level concentration of dissolved oxygen as a function of
temperature:
𝑇(°𝐶) 𝑜(𝑚𝑔/𝐿)
0 14.621
8 11.843
16 9.870
24 8.418
32 7.305
40 6.413

Estimate 𝑜(27) using (a) linear interpolation, (b) Newton’s 3rd order interpolating polynomial,
and compare the error with the exact result. Note that the exact result is 7.986 𝑚𝑔/𝐿.

Extra questions for students taking this as replacement for MA214. Regular students may treat
these as additional practice questions:
6. Use regression to estimate the coefficients, 𝛼4 and 𝛽4 , of the equation given below based on
the following data. Also, plot your fit along with the data.

2
 𝑦 = 𝛼4 𝑥𝑒 𝛽4𝑥
𝑥 𝑦
0.1 0.75
0.2 1.25
0.4 1.45
0.6 1.25
0.9 0.85
1.3 0.55
1.5 0.35
1.7 0.28
1.8 0.18

7. Use Newton’s interpolating polynomial to determine 𝑓(𝑥) at 𝑥 = 4 using (a) 1st order, (b)
2nd order, (c) 3rd order, and (d) 4th order polynomial. Choose your base points to attain good
accuracy. What do your results indicate regarding the order of the polynomial used to generate
the data in the table? Calculate the finite divided difference using the approach shown in L06.
𝑥 𝑓(𝑥)
1 3
2 6
3 19
5 99
7 291
8 444