2. Pediatricians monitor for normal growth of chidren by the annual measurement of height and weight. These are expected to increase annually, the growth curve paralleling a standardized curve. In the note introducing the idea of a derivative, there are data on juvenile heights from birth to age 18. Below is a table of both heights and weights for American girls in the 50th percentile.

age(years)

height(cm)

weight(kg)

0

50

3.4

0.25

60

5.4

0.5

66

7.3

0.75

71

8.6

1

75

9.5

1.5

81

10.8

2

87

11.8

3

94

15.0

4

102

15.9

5

108

18.2

6

114

20.0

7

121

21.8

8

126

25.0

9

132

29.1

10

138

32.7

11

144

37.3

12

151

41.4

13

156

46.8

14

160

50.0

15

161

52.3

16

163

56.4

17

164

57.7

18

164

58.6


a. Use the data from ages 4 through 18, together with the trendline feature of Excel, to find a power law relationship between height and weight. Give a physiological explanation for this relationship.

b. Include the data back to birth (age 0). What happens to the power law? Why does this happen? (Think about the morphological changes between an infant and a small child.)

c. Create a graph of weight versus age, then create another graph of rate of change in weight versus age (much like the graphs seen in the notes). Recall that the rate of growth (in height) was relatively constant over the ages 3 to 12. What happens with the rate of change in weight? Describe the graph for the rate of weight gain over the early years (0-3), the ages 3-12, then adolescence (13-18).