uncertainty

[LUDWIK KOWALSKI <KOWALSKIL@alpha.montclair.edu>]

> > What exactly do you want the program to calculate? Just standard 
> > deviation of the mean or errors in linear fit parameters?
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> None of the above. I want it to carry through error propagation 
> calculations. Simple example: If length = 3.0 +/- 0.2 m and 
> width = 5.0 +/- 0.2 m then area = 15 +/- 1 m^2
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In practical terms, nothing beats numerical simulations. Use a program,
such as True Basic, to simulate measurements (with imposed random errors)
and calculate what you want from such data. Then analyze the outcome.
I would ask students to create little programs for this purpose; this
helps "to feel" the results. Simulations are not restricted to 
expressions in which separations of variables are easy.