develop an equation that will produce the following result for y given x and some constant c (in this case 3)
c=3
x y
0 -3
1 -2
2 -1
3 1
4 2
5 3

no this isn't for a class
I have been out of school for a long time

9/29/2005 2:12:16 PM

y = x -3

but that really doesnt work unless you have a number that corresponds to 0

so i dont really know

9/29/2005 2:14:39 PM

this makes no sense

9/29/2005 2:16:32 PM

haha i was gonna be a smartass and give you a piece-wise eqn

but then i got too lazy to even do that

9/29/2005 2:20:58 PM

i can give you a polynomial f(x) such that f(0) = -3, f(1) = -2, f(2) = -1, f(3) = 1, f(4) = 2, and f(5) = 3 but i don't understand where the constant c comes into play...

[Edited on September 29, 2005 at 3:03 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/29/2005 2:53:12 PM

just throw on a constant of -3 added to c to the end of the polynomial

that'll take care of 'c'

[Edited on September 29, 2005 at 3:34 PM. Reason : s]

9/29/2005 3:33:51 PM

f(x) = (1/20 * x^5) - (5/8 * x^4) + (8/3 * x^3) - (35/8 * x^2) + (197/60 * x) - 3

now what does the constant c have to do with anything?

9/29/2005 3:33:54 PM

f(x) = (1/20 * x^5) - (5/8 * x^4) + (8/3 * x^3) - (35/8 * x^2) + (197/60 * x) - 3 + c


thar ya go

9/29/2005 3:34:34 PM

way to subtract, no-subtract

9/29/2005 5:28:53 PM

math sarcasm is obviously beyond your comprehension

9/29/2005 6:47:53 PM

by the way -- the method used to solve problems like this is called "finite differences". if you google for it you'll find lots of nice tutorials and examples.

recall that two different points uniquely determine a polynomial of degree one (ie, a line). similarly, it is the case that n different points uniquely determine a polynomial of degree n-1. so given any six unique points, there is always a unique 5th degree polynomial that passes through them.

9/29/2005 9:15:13 PM

least squares is good, too.

9/29/2005 9:24:37 PM

you know, I'm just going to have to warn you that, while I don't know what you're using this for, this probably isn't the best way to go about doing it

9/30/2005 1:09:28 PM

Would noen know the best way to go about it?

9/30/2005 1:25:16 PM

lol

9/30/2005 1:25:57 PM

would... your mother? oooo

9/30/2005 4:07:21 PM

[Edited on October 1, 2005 at 12:32 PM. Reason : ooooo]

10/1/2005 12:32:16 PM