Re: [Phys-l] independent variables, or not

["Robert Cohen" <Robert.Cohen@po-box.esu.edu>]

I have asked my middle-school colleague for some clarification about the
"plot A vs. B" language and am waiting his response.

It is hard to tell which online documents are posted by physicists as
opposed to biologists.  Maybe someone can ask a biology colleague?

In the meantime, I did a search online for "biology graph" (without
quotes) and found a guide for creating graphs by someone I think is a
biologist.

<
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWtablefigs
.html>

In it, the author uses the "A vs. B" terminology twice but only as part
of parenthetical examples.  He never seems to use it when referring to
his own graphs and, in fact, explicitly tells the reader NOT to use that
language in figure captions (this warning is highlighted in a different
color, so it must be important).  So, could it be that biologists rarely
see the language used?

Robert A. Cohen, Department of Physics, East Stroudsburg University 
570.422.3428   rcohen@esu.edu    http://www.esu.edu/~bbq 


-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of
LaMontagne, Bob
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 7:03 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] independent variables, or not

I would direct you to "Yahoo", the ultimate arbiter of all things
mathematical and scientific.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080310215542AAblPuV

Bob at PC

________________________________________
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] on behalf of Robert Cohen
[Robert.Cohen@po-box.esu.edu]
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 6:06 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] independent variables, or not

I was having a conversation the other day about this very issue with a
middle school teacher who has a PhD in biology.  What I found
interesting is that this person had never heard of the phrase "plot A
vs. B".  I've found that my students aren't familiar with the phrase
either and just passed it off as poor preparation.  However, might it be
a phrase only used in physics or only some scientific fields?

Robert A. Cohen, Department of Physics, East Stroudsburg University
570.422.3428   rcohen@esu.edu    http://www.esu.edu/~bbq

On 01/13/2012 11:07 AM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:
> Suppose you go to a local stream and measure the temperature and the 
> speed of flow of the water. A plot of temperature vs time has an 
> obvious dependent and independent variable - because you are in 
> control of the time. Likewise for flow speed vs time. But suppose you 
> decide to plot the two variables temperature and speed of flow against

> each other  - which is dependent - which is independent?
>
> Unless you have deliberate control over the choice of one of the 
> variables, I don't really see where dependency and independency enter 
> the choice of axes. I simply state to my students that the expression 
> "plot A vs B" has a standard interpretation of A on the vertical axes 
> and B on the horizontal.
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