A student investigates the strength of a spring, one end of which is anchored at a fixed point. The student pulls the spring with a force scale and records the force exerted by the spring, in newtons (N), and the position of the end of the spring, in centimeters. The student's results are shown in the graph below.

Based on the data, which of the following equations could represent the line of best fit?

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To find the \(y\)-intercept, we need to extend the line of best fit. We can find the slope by choosing two arbitrary points near the data points.

Using the line above, we approximate the \(y\)-intercept to be approximately \((0,-10)\) and the slope to be \(m \approx 1\)

The choices will typically be significantly different so that there are no "close" answers. In our situation, even if we drew the line of best fit differently, we would still get a negative \(y\)-intercept and a slope closer to \(1\) rather than \(0.5\).