Re: [Phys-L] Sig Figs homework from my 7th grader

[Ze'ev Wurman <zeev@ieee.org>]

Not disagreeing with the sig figs debate, I would point out that such 
periodic behavior based on school calendar can be obtained for many 
(all?) terms predominantly used at school. Try law of sines/cosines, 
Pythagorean, geometric sequence, binomial distribution, etc. So I would 
be careful of using google search frequencies as a supporting argument 
for intrinsic value of anything.

Ze'ev

NB -- Some terms show inverse behavior implying use throughout school 
year but not during the summer, other show peaks late in the school year 
indicating "advanced" concepts introduced mostly around May.

On 10/9/2013 10:52 AM, Paul Nord wrote:
> I knew that would get a rise out of you, John.
>
> Excellent example.  And it would seem that the Indiana state standards must drill "Sig Figs" pretty hard:
> http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=%22significant+figures%22#q=%22significant+figures%22,+shiitake&geo=US
>
> As a Hoosier, I am ashamed.
>
> Paul
>
> On Oct 9, 2013, at 12:25 PM, John Denker <jsd@av8n.com> wrote:
>
> >   http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=%22significant+figures%22#q=%22significant%20figures%22%2C%20shiitake
> >
> > The sig-figs rules that are taught in high-school chemistry do
> > not work in practice.  Simple examples suffice to prove this.
> > Students know this!  They take it as evidence that the teacher
> > cannot be trusted.
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