1. Least Squares Fit to a Data Set by a Linear Function

The following nine data points are nearly linear and can be approximated by a linear function .

X	-1.0	0.0	2.1	2.3	2.4	5.3	6.0	6.5	8.0
Y	-1.02	-0.52	0.55	0.70	0.70	2.13	2.52	2.82	3.54

Enter the x and y coordinates of the data points as column vectors and respectively.

Set

Compute the least squares solution to the linear system using the method developed in class.

Suggestion: Set and . then will equal the last column of .

and then

Now try out the MATLAB \ operation which will do all the work for you and return the least squares solution automatically.

To see your least squares line graphically, set

and

then plot the original data points and the least squares linear fit, using the MATLAB command

x .