How To Straighten An Inverse Curve

An inverse curve is a curve of the general form y = (a/x) + b, where a and b are constants or coefficients. An inverse curve can be plotted as a straight line, which has the general form y = mx + c, where m is the gradient and c is the y-intercept, by calculating the inverse or "reciprocal" of the x coordinates and then replotting them against the original y coordinates. You can straighten a curve to easily determine the coefficients of the inverse curve.

Step 1

Write down in a table your x and y coordinates.

Step 2

Plot the x and y points on a graph and draw an inverse curve line of best fit through the points.

Step 3

Calculate the inverse, 1/x, of every x point and write them in your table of x and y coordinates.

Step 4

Plot the calculated inverse, 1/x, and corresponding y coordinates on your graph. Add a straight line of best fit to your linearized data.