For many years we have used an in-house "fit" routine, one which has evolved
from a clunky, main-frame dependent (and user unfriendly) package into a set
of macros embedded in a spreadsheet.
Our current version works in Quattro Pro, generates graphs with error bars,
and calculates reduced chi-squared values for linear, exponential, and power
law fits. Students learn to evaluate goodness of fit partially based on
this statistic, but also on which graph looks most reasonable (feel for this
takes a couple of semesters' practice), and which functional relation makes
physical sense.
For more details, feel free to explore our on-line lab manual. You can
access it from my home page, URL given below.
George Spagna **********************************************
Department of Physics * "The purpose of science is to get paid *
Randolph-Macon College * for doing fun stuff if you're not a *
P.O. Box 5005 * good enough programmer to write *
Ashland, VA 23005-5505 * computer games for a living" *
* - E. Robert Schulman *
phone: (804) 752-7344 * Ann. Improb. Research, *
FAX: (804) 752-4724 * Vol 2, No. 5, p. 8 *
e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu **********************************************
URL: www.rmc.edu/~gspagna/gspagna.html