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1c Mathematical Modeling
Introduction
In this activity you will collect and analyze data in order to make predictions based
on that data. You will use both manual and computer methods to record, manipulate,
and analyze the data in order to determine mathematical relationships between
quantities. These mathematical relationships can be represented graphically and by
equations, also known as mathematical models. You will then use the mathematical
models to make predictions related to the quantities.
Equipment
Engineering notebook
Pencil
Computer with Excel
Wooden puzzle pieces from Project 4.1 Puzzle Design Challenge
Triple beam balance or scale
Procedure
Part 1. Determine a mathematical model for the mass of puzzle pieces as a function
of the number of wooden cubes in the piece. Then use the mathematical model to
make predictions.
1. Record the number of cubes and mass of each of your puzzle pieces.
Color of Piece
Number of
Cubes
Mass (g)
2. Graph your data points on the grid below such that the number of cubes in the
puzzle piece is represented on the x-axis and the mass of the piece is indicated
on the y-axis. Label the axes and indicate units.
3. Consider the data that you have graphed and answer the following.
a. Would you expect that this data is linear; that is, if you were to measure
the mass of other pieces with more than six cubes or fewer than four
cubes, would the points fall on a straight line on the graph? Explain your
answer.
b. If you were to sketch a line-of-best fit, what would be a reasonable yintercept. That is, where would the line-of-best fit cross the vertical axis?
Explain your answer.
c. Based on your data, what would you predict for the mass of a single
wooden cube? Explain your answer or show your work.
4. Using your predicted y-intercept, sketch a line-of-best-fit for your data on the grid
above.
5. Using your line-of-best-fit, complete the following.
d. Estimate the slope of your line-of-best-fit (include the appropriate units).
Explain the interpretation of the slope in words.
g. Estimate the mass of a puzzle piece that includes two wooden cubes.
Show your work.
h. If a puzzle piece has a mass of 31.5 grams, how many wooden cubes
would you predict were used to create the puzzle piece? Show your work.
6. Use Excel to create a scatter plot of your data and find a trend line.
Input the data in tabular form. Be sure to include column headings. You do not
need to include the piece color column.
Create a scatterplot of the data. Format the axes, label the axes, and title the
chart as shown below.
Add a linear trend line. Set the intercept to the value you suggested in
number 3 and format the trend line to forecast backward to zero cubes and
forward to 12 cubes. Display the equation of the trend line on the chart.
m. How does the slope of your line-of-best-fit compare to the slope of the
trend line? Why is there a difference?
o. If a puzzle piece had a mass of 49 grams, how many wooden cubes would
it contain? Show your work.
Mass
(g)
39
47
57
58
57
Scatterplot with properly formatted axes, axes labels and units, and
an appropriate chart title
Trend line and its equation displayed on the scatterplot
d. How does the slope of this function (relating the number of 1 in. cubes
to mass) compare to the slope of the function you found in number 5
(relating the number of in. cubes to mass)? Explain the difference.
e. Use the function to predict the mass of a puzzle piece (using 1 in.
cubes) if the piece includes 8 cubes. Show your work.
f. If a puzzle piece 95 grams, how many 1 in. cubes are most likely
included in the piece? Show your work.
Part 3. Find a mathematical model to represent the minimum jump height of a BMX
bike as a function of the bike weight. Then use the mathematical model to make
predictions.
9. An engineer is redesigning a BMX bike. He is interested in how the wight of the
bike affects the height that the bike reaches when the rider gets air or jumps the
bike off of a ramp. He asked an experienced rider to test bikes of various weights
and recorded the following minimum jump heights.
Bike
Weight
(lb)
19
19.5
20
Minimum
Jump
Height
(in.)
83.5
82.0
79.2
20.5
21
22
22.5
23
23.5
24
77.1
74.9
73.3
71.0
68.1
65.8
64.2
e. What is the slope of the line (include units). Is the slope positive or
negative? Explain the interpretation of the slope in words.
hundredth of an inch and feet and inches to the nearest inch. Show
your work.
h. Does the predicted height for a one pound bike make sense? Is this
function a good predictor for minimum jump heights at all bike weights?
Explain.
r. What would be the mass of a puzzle piece that is comprised of four gold
cubes?
s. If gold sells for $60/g, what is the four-cube gold puzzle piece worth?
t. How many gold cubes would you expect to be included in a puzzle piece
that has a mass of 1071 g?
Conclusion
1 What is the advantage of using Excel for data analysis?
12. What is a function? Explain why the mathematical models that you found in this
activity are functions.