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[Phys-l] experimentation 101



Here is an interesting question (not original with me):

A group of students are told to use a meter stick to find the length of a hallway.
They take 6 independent measurements (in cm) as follows: 440.2, 421.7, 434.5,
492.5, 437.2, 428.9 What result should they report? Explain your answer.

So, the actual questions for today are:

a) What result would you expect your students to report?
What explanation(s) would they give?

b) What result would *you* report in this situation?
What explanation would you give?


As you might imagine, I have an opinion about this, which I will post
shortly, but perhaps some folks would enjoy taking a whack at these
questions, without any bias from me.