Understanding trend line equations in Excel

[SimonK]

Hello Everyone, In looking at some biological data, I found that the follow equation was provided that closely matched my data:

y = 1E-06x^4 - 0.0007x^3 + 0.1692x^2 - 17x + 637.61

I'd like to assess the match of this equation to other data. I guess this is more of a math question rather than Excel, but how do I interpret the term 'E' given in the formula?

 

[NARAYANK991]

Hi ,

E is not a term , but a way of representing large or small numbers in what is called Exponential notation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_notation

1E-06 stands for the number 0.000001

In the case of large numbers , the exponent is positive , while in the case of small numbers , the exponent is negative.

Some examples :

1E3 ------- 1000

1E4 ------- 10000

1E5 ------- 100000

1E6 ------- 1000000

1E-02 -------- 0.01

1E-03 -------- 0.001

1E-04 -------- 0.0001

Narayan

 

[SimonK]

Thank you!

 

[Chihiro]

Be careful when you use polynomial regression in statistical analysis that you don't fall into common mistake of overfitting the curve.

https://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/mks/statmistakes/ovefitting.html

 

[SimonK]

Excellent advice - more than what I was looking for in asking this question but just what I needed to see. Thank you.