[Phys-L] Re: Average earlier or average later?

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

At 07:02 AM 9/9/2005, you wrote:
> Thanks to Michael Edmiston for starting this thread.  I have routinely
> asked students to do the calculation both ways - "average earlier or
> average later" - and to then compare.  What they usually find is similar
> to what his student found - within the uncertainties, the two methods
> are not distinguishable.  If they still want to know which is "the right
> answer" I ask how they might decide between the two - with the usually
> teased out answer to "get more data."
>
> **********************************************
>  "I never think of the future.
>      It comes soon enough"
>                          -Albert Einstein
> **********************************************
>
> Dr. George Spagna
> Chair, Physics Department
> Randolph-Macon College
> P.O. Box 5005
> Ashland, VA 23005-5505
>
> phone: (804) 752-7344
> fax: (804) 752-4724
> e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu
> http://faculty.rmc.edu/gspagna


I think this is misleading direction.
One can demonstrate that for ANY amount of data
  disposed equally about one value, a calculation can show a difference
  between two processing methods for a result depending on multiplying
  one well defined variable against another scattered variable.
The case in point involves multiplying the well defined length
  by the inverse of (scattered) time.



Brian Whatcott    Altus OK    Eureka!
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