Using Data from Graphs: Interpolation Vs. Extrapolation

Logic, Mathematics
[caption id="attachment_28677" align="alignright" width="480"] Fig. 1. Plot of cook time vs. temperature[/caption]A familiar technique used when collecting data is to graph the results. For instance, suppose you want to see how quickly the internal temperature of a roast of pork rises in a 250° F oven. Nine internal meat temperature measurements are taken over a period of an hour-and-a-half, or 180 minutes. Collecting the Data After 20 minutes, the internal temperature of our pork roast is 60° F. Twenty more minutes yields 95° F. At 60 minutes, the temperature is 118° F, whereas the temperature is 139° F after 80 minutes. At 100 minutes, we read 148° F. When two hours have passed, we obtain 156° F. 140 minutes of cooking puts us at 163° F, while 160 minutes gives…
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