# Find formula from values

Is there any "algorithm" or steps to follow to get a formula from a table of values.

Example:

Using this values:

X                Result
1                3
2                5
3                7
4                9


I'd like to obtain:

Result = 2X+1


Edit

Maybe using excel?

Edit 2

It is not going to be always a polynomial and it may have several parameters (I think 2).

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Unless you have an assumed functional form, your problem is insoluble. –  Ｊ. Ｍ. Nov 23 '10 at 12:44
@J.M.: I thought so too - but then I found the tool mentioned below! –  vonjd Nov 23 '10 at 13:08

The best tool for doing this is that very, very impressive piece of software:

http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/eureqa

Edit: For your abovementioned very easy example, even WA will find the right formula:

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The "using building blocks" portion of the software is assuming a functional form (or a family of them as the case may be)... my point is that one cannot just pull a formula from his arse without insight on where the data came from! –  Ｊ. Ｍ. Nov 23 '10 at 13:12
@J.M.: Ok, now I understand what you mean - I agree with that! –  vonjd Nov 23 '10 at 13:14
...and more or less, Wolfram Alpha/ Mathematica did exactly what I'm doing in my answer. InterpolatingPolynomial[] uses the Newton divided-difference formula in its implementation. –  Ｊ. Ｍ. Nov 23 '10 at 13:15
I didn't know that - interesting! Thank you –  vonjd Nov 23 '10 at 13:17

An easier method (assuming that the values were generated by a polynomial) would be to note that successive divided differences $\frac{y_{i+1}-y_i}{x_{i+1}-x_i}$ are constant and equal to 2; thus your function is of the form $y=2x+c$. The constant $c$ is then determined by replacing both $x$ and $y$ with appropriate values, and then solving for $c$.

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+1: Didn't know that - interesting! Just found this reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divided_differences –  vonjd Nov 23 '10 at 13:20

One way to obtain the desired relationship is to use the regression analysis. In the case that you know what form of the relationship you are expecting, say you know that $f(x) = a * x + b$ it is very simple to find the parameters $a$ and $b$ (see for example). In the case that you don't know what form your formula may take, it is common to use the nonparametric regression techniques.

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