Graphing data Transitional Reasoning Download PDF

Questions

1. 1.

   A student investigates how the temperature of a heated liquid decreases as it cools to room temperature by measuring the temperature every 30 seconds for 10 minutes. To analyze the relationship and determine the cooling trend effectively, the student prepares to construct a two-dimensional graph of the experimental data. Which of the following approaches correctly follows scientific graphing conventions for presenting and interpreting these data?

   • A) Plot temperature on the horizontal axis as the independent variable, and connect every adjacent data point using sharp line segments.
   • B) Plot elapsed time on the horizontal axis as the independent variable, and draw a smooth best-fit curve that reflects the general trend of the data.
   • C) Plot elapsed time on the vertical axis as the dependent variable, and force the trendline to pass through every single plotted point.
   • D) Plot temperature on the vertical axis as the independent variable, and space the axis values using unequal intervals based only on the recorded readings.