Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007: Data Analysis and Business Modeling, Second Edition

Chapter 45. The Power Curve

• As my company produces more of a product, it learns how to make the product more efficiently. Can I model the relationship between units produced and the time needed to produce a unit?

A power curve is calculated with the equation y =ax^b. In the equation, a and b are constants. Using a trend curve, we can determine the values of a and b that make the power curve best fit a scatter plot diagram. In most situations, a is greater than 0. When this is the case, the slope of the power curve depends on the value of b, as follows:

• For b>1, y increases as x increases, and the slope of the power curve increases as x increases.

• For 0<b<1, y increases as x increases, and the slope of the power curve decreases as x increases.

• For ...