Melody

You may well be right Ginger. 

Certainly all the evidence suggests/shows  that there is NO polynomial of degree 5 that fits the data.

Thanks Ginger,

I read that but why does it stop it from being used for a simultaneous solution?

I thought it might be because the coeff of x^5 was zero. 

So I tried repeating it by not using one of the equations.

This way the degree wold be 4, not 5

But exactly the same thing happened.  

If I had to, I would do it by matrix elimination.  

Can anyone point out to me why the matrix calculator would not give me an answer?

What is the significance of a matrix being singular?

At first glance many would say that    p(8)=8/63 which is approx  0.127  but that is not going to be correct.

I solved it graphically, though the answer may not be exact.

Here is the link,  It says the polynomial is of degree 4 not 5.  (Even though I specifically asked for degree 5)

I can't check it easily because the coefficients are rounded to 2 decimal places.   

Es ist nicht zwölf.  Es ist zwölf minus eins.  

Ja, ich habe dich erwischt.   LOL  

yes, you click on the heart.  :)

All true, however, there are different 'degrees' of infinity.   My wording is probably not correct.

\(\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty}\;\;3x=\infty \\ \displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty}\;\;x=\infty \\ but\\ \displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty}\;\;\frac{3x}{x}=3\)

This is the infinite sum of a GP where r = 2/3

You can find the formula and finish it.

Tinfoilhat:   Good logic       Give yourself a point  

AlgebraGuru:   You should give Tinfoilhat a point too.  

Well you can thank me by understanding and learning.

As opposed to just copying.