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Formatting Chart Elements
■ Exponential—An exponential trendline, most often found in science, describes a pop-
ulation that is rapidly increasing over successive generations, such as the number of
fungi in a Petri dish over time.
■ Logarithm—A logarithmic trendline results when there is an initial period of rapid
growth that levels off over time.
■ Polynomial—This trendline can describe a line that undulates due to two to six exter-
nal factors. When you specify a polynomial trendline, you have to specify which order
of polynomial. For example, in a third-order polynomial, the line is fit to the equation
y = b + c
1
x + c
2
x
2
+ c
3
x
3
.
■ Power—A power trendline ...