Math 130 Spring 2009
Math 130 - QProject 1: Linear Functions
Background: Many scientists are interested in the subject of global warming.
The basic issue concerns whether human activities are influencing the climate of
the entire planet. One widely held theory says that the amount of carbon dioxide
(CO2) in the atmosphere is increasing as a result of burning various kinds of fuel.
According to this theory, the atmosphere will heat up as a result of the increased
carbon dioxide levels. How much? And how soon? These questions are studied
by developing models and making predictions. The models are very involved,
and consider many variables. In this project, we will look at just one of the
variables: the number of automobiles in the U.S. This variable is used to predict
how much gasoline is burned in the U.S., and that leads to predictions about the
amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. In the table below are data
on the number of automobiles in the U.S1. The figures are in units of one million,
so that in 1959 there were roughly 59,500,000 automobiles (rounded to the
nearest hundred thousand).
You should use Excel to complete the following explorations. The explorations
will enable you to write a well-written report describing in detail your results.
Include graphs as appropriate in the body of your report. It is this report that will
be graded. (You should not turn in this sheet as part of your final report but you
may wish to turn it in with a rough/preliminary draft.)
Year Number of Automobiles
1959 59.5
1964 72.0
1969 86.9
1975 106.7
1979 118.4
1. Consider the year 1959 to be our starting year, or time zero. Fill in the
remaining times in the table below.
Time Number of Automobiles
0 59.5
72.0
86.9
106.7
20 118.4
1
QP1 Page 1
Note the
change in
years is
not the
same
each time
