Question

what does a residual value of -4.5 mean in reference to the line of best fit?
the data point is 4.5 units above the line of best fit.
the data point is 4.5 units below the line of best fit.
the line of best fit is not appropriate to the data.
the line of best fit has a slope of -4.5.

Explanation:

A residual value is calculated as \( \text{Residual}=\text{Observed value}-\text{Predicted value} \). A negative residual (\(- 4.5\)) means that the observed value is less than the predicted value. In the context of the line of best fit (where the predicted value lies on the line), this implies that the data point is below the line of best fit. The magnitude \(4.5\) indicates the number of units.

Answer:

The data point is 4.5 units below the line of best fit.