No-fines concrete, made from a uniformly graded coarse aggregate and a cement-
water paste, is beneficial in areas prone to excessive rainfall because of its
excellent drainage properties. The article "Pavement Thickness Design for No-
Fines Concrete Parking Lots," J. of Trans. Engr., 1995: 476-484) employed a
least squares analysis in studying how \(y=\) porosity (\%) is related to \(x=\)
unit weight (pcf) in concrete specimens. Consider the following representative
data:
$$
\begin{array}{l|rrrrrrrr}
x & 99.0 & 101.1 & 102.7 & 103.0 & 105.4 & 107.0 & 108.7 & 110.8 \\
\hline y & 28.8 & 27.9 & 27.0 & 25.2 & 22.8 & 21.5 & 20.9 & 19.6 \\
x & 112.1 & 112.4 & 113.6 & 113.8 & 115.1 & 115.4 & 120.0 \\
\hline y & 17.1 & 18.9 & 16.0 & 16.7 & 13.0 & 13.6 & 10.8 \\
\text { Relevant } & \text { summary } & \text { quantities } & \text { are }
& \Sigma x_{i}=1640.1, \\
\Sigma y_{i}=299.8, \quad \Sigma x_{i}^{2}=179,849.73, & \Sigma x_{i}
y_{i}=32,308.59, \\
\Sigma y_{i}^{2}=6430.06 .
\end{array}
$$
a. Obtain the equation of the estimated regression line. Then create a
scatterplot of the data and graph the estimated line. Does it appear that the
model relationship will explain a great deal of the observed variation in \(y\)
?
b. Interpret the slope of the least squares line.
c. What happens if the estimated line is used to predict porosity when unit
weight is 135 ? Why is this not a good idea?
d. Calculate the residuals corresponding to the first two observations.
e. Calculate and interpret a point estimate of \(\sigma\).
f. What proportion of observed variation in porosity can be attributed to the
approximate linear relationship between unit weight and porosity?