Spline Bottles

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2000

Publication Title

The American Statistician

Abstract

The relationship between the volume of a liquid in a bottle as a function of the height of the liquid is used to illustrate polynomial regression and the fitting of spline models. A polynomial regression exercise is provided where students attempt to determine the shape of a bottle using only the height and volume data from the bottle. The height and volume data for bottles are easy to obtain and provide an interesting data-collecting activity for introducing spline models in a regression course.

Original Citation

Tarpey, T., & Holcomb, J. (2000). Spline bottles. The American Statistician, 54(2), pp. 129-135.

Volume

54

Issue

2

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