Decide whether you need to conduct linear regression or exponential regression. If the line is curved then exponential must be used to solve the problem. A curved line will have a variable with an exponent such as x^2.
Gather and confirm the data for the equation the curved line. The form of the equation of the curved line for exponential regression is as follows:
y = b * m^x
Where b is the y intercept, m is the slope and x is the exponent.
Apply the "LOGEST" function to calculate the statistics of the exponential regression using the formula above. The function appears as follows when typing it into Excel:
=LOGEST(known_y's, known_x's, const, stats)
The "GROWTH" function uses the same variables but produces the points needed to plot the graph of the curved line. The LINEST function uses the same variable structure as well but should not be used because it is dedicated for straight (linear) lines.
Enter the variables that you know based on the equation into the LOGEST function then hit "Enter." A result with the display of the exponential regression will appear.