The temperature of water (w∘Cw^\circ\text{C}w∘C) in a kettle t t\,t minutes after it was boiled is recorded in the table below
| ttt | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 20 |
| www | 92 | 76 | 65 | 50 | 46 | 33 | 25 |
The data is coded using the changes of variable x=tx = tx=t and y=log10wy = \log_{10} wy=log10w
The regression line of x x\,x on y y\,y is found to be y=1.99−0.031xy = 1.99 - 0.031xy=1.99−0.031x
Given that the data can be modelled by an equation in the form w=abtw = ab^tw=abt where a a\,a and b b\,b are constants. Find the values of a a\,a and b b\,b to 3 significant figures.
Give an interpretation of the constant a a\,a in this equation.
Explain why this model is not reliable for calculating the temperature after 1 hour.
104 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Maths 1.6 Exponentials and Logarithms, covering 1.6.1 Properties of the exponential function, 1.6.2 Gradient of e^(kx) (A-level only), 1.6.3 Definition of the logarithm, 1.6.4 The natural logarithm function, 1.6.5 ln x as inverse of e^x, 1.6.6 Laws of logarithms, 1.6.7 Equations involving exponentials, 1.6.8 Reduction to linear form, and 1.6.9 Modelling using exponential functions. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.