During the early days of the Internet, growth in the number of users worldwide could be approximated
Question:
During the early days of the Internet, growth in the number of users worldwide could be approximated by an exponential function. The following table gives the number of worldwide users of the Internet.
Use a calculator with exponential and logistic regression capabilities to complete the following.
(a) Letting t represent the years since 1990, plot the number of worldwide users of the Internet on the y-axis against the year on the t-axis. Discuss the shape of the graph.
(b) Use the exponential regression function on your calculator to determine the exponential equation that best fits the data. Plot the exponential equation on the same graph as the data points. Discuss the appropriateness of fitting an exponential function to these data.
(c) Use the logistic regression function on your calculator to determine the logistic equation that best fits the data. Plot the logistic equation on the same graph. Discuss the appropriateness of fitting a logistic function to these data. Which graph better fits the data?
(d) Assuming that the logistic function found in part (c) continues to be accurate, what seems to be the limiting size of the number of worldwide Internet users?
Step by Step Answer: