Consider the data in the following table showing the boiling point (in oC) of 8 hydrocarbons in a homologous series, along with n, the number of carbon atoms in each molecule.
|
Methane
|
1
|
-162
|
|
Ethane
|
2
|
-88
|
|
Propane
|
3
|
-42
|
|
n-Butane
|
4
|
1
|
|
n-Pentane
|
5
|
36
|
|
n-Hexane
|
6
|
69
|
|
n-Heptane
|
7
|
98
|
|
n-Octane
|
8
|
126
|
What does this data set imply about the possibility of predicting the boiling point of compounds in this series on the basis of the number of carbon atoms? Compute the correlation coefficient between these two variables, even though the number n is not a random variable. Comment on what the computed value indicates.