Chronology | Current Month | Current Thread | Current Date |
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] | [Date Index] [Thread Index] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] | [Date Prev] [Date Next] |
... I tell the students to carry out the calculations entirely in
the calculator, or Excel, or if using paper write down intermediate
results to 5
significant digits... and then report the final answer rounded to
3-significant digits.
... I don't want them to waste time worrying about precision and error
analysis on problem sets and exams for which error analysis is not the
point of the problem. If the goal is to learn the physics (or test the
physics knowledge of the student) why throw extra non-physics hurdles in
front of the student?
... I don't have to worry about how I give my data. I can write 2 m/s
rather than writing 2.00 m/s. Why throw extra hurdles at myself when I
am writing exams and problem sets?