Oops. I might have to switch my position to agree with Robert Cohen. Good
eyes, Robert! If the given instructions were explicitly to graph "distance
versus time" then I think most people take that to mean plot "distance as a
function of time." With that wording my feeling is the time clearly goes on
the horizontal axis.
I accuse my students of not following directions. I may have erred in this
myself. But I originally inferred that Tim was describing a general
discussion about plotting distance and time and that the discussion was not
about the wording of what to plot, but about the data itself. If the
discussion is actually about what "distance versus time" means, then I agree
that time is the horizontal axis. If the discussion is about whether time
more properly belongs on the horizontal axis rather than distance, then I
would say baloney... it depends.
So Tim, what was discussion explicitly about?
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817