#$&*
Phy 231
Your 'timer program' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
#$&* Your General Comment **
#$&* Describe what you see on your first 10 clicks **
1 hour
#$&*Your TIMER data from 20 fast clicks **
Downloading and/or running the TIMER program
If you have a Macintosh computer the preferred timer.exe program might not work (it will if your computer has a Windows emulator), but the alternative Java applet should work just fine.
timer.exe
The program timer.exe should be downloaded to your hard drive and/or flash drive so you have access to it whenever you need it.
There is an alternative Java applet (see the heading timer java applet below) , but the .exe option is preferable. It is worth 15 minutes of effort to get the program working on your hard drive, after which you will have it and won't need Internet access to run it. It will start up instantly, it runs in a small window, and it has the ability to file your data. However if you can't get it working in 15 minutes with the instructions given below, just move on the the Java version.
To use the Windows version:
If you are using a Windows PC, or a Mac with Windows emulator, first take a few seconds to run the program q a prelim. As soon as the form opens on your screen, you can close it. Nothing needs to be submitted. The first thing this program does is to create the c:\vhmthphy folder on your hard drive. As an alternative you can also create a c:\vhmthphy folder.
The timer.exe program opens in a small window and can be run side-by-side with other windows applications on your computer (just size the second window so it leaves room for the Timer program).
Run the program now. If it fails to work then try the following, in order:
If you got the Run-time Error 76, it can be corrected by the step given earlier. That instruction is repeated below:
Run the program q a prelim. As soon as the form opens on your screen, you can close it. Nothing needs to be submitted. The first thing this program does is to create the c:\vhmthphy folder on your hard drive. As an alternative you can manually create this folder.
If this doesn't work, follow the link COMDLG32 to access simple instructions for fixing the problem. Then run timer.exe .
To use the Java version:
Windows users:
The Java applet does require that the Java Runtime Environment be installed. Almost every Apple computer, and most Windows computers, will have this environment installed. If your computer will not run the Java applet, the installation is simple and quick. If you search under 'Java Runtime Environment', using any search engine, you will find information on the Java Runtime Environment and on the installation. You should satisfy yourself that you are downloading from a verifiable, trusted source.
Mac users:
Apple supplies their own version of Java. Use the Software Update feature (available on the Apple menu) to check that you have the most up-to-date version of Java for your Mac.
should check the Apple site for the Software Update feature (available on the Apple menu) to check that you have the most up-to-date version of Java for your Mac.
The Java Applet at the link Timer-Java will work fine for the current experiment, and will do just about everything the timer.exe program will do. The Java applet has a few more or less minor inconveniences and one that's not quite as minor:
You can't put the Java applet on your hard drive or flash drive, so you have to pull it off the Web every time you want to use it.
The applet won't file your data. However it will let you copy and paste your data into a text editor.
If your machine doesn't run Java applets, you would have to set it up to do so (just search the web under 'Java Runtime Environment', which is free and installs easily). This software is pretty standard, and is already installed on most machines.
Operating the TIMER program
It is easy to operate the Timer program. All you have to do is click on the button labeled Click to Time Event.
Click that button about 10 times and describe what you see.
I a table where on one side is the time passed since I opened the timer and on the other side is the time between each click.
Now click on Initialize Counter, which will clear all the data from the timer window. Click the mouse as fast as you can until the TIMER window fills up. Be sure you get at least 20 time intervals.
If you miss a click, try again. Keep trying until you get at least 20 intervals without a missed or delayed click.
1 6.054688 6.054688
2 6.257813 .203125
3 6.476563 .21875
4 6.679688 .203125
5 6.914063 .234375
6 7.117188 .203125
7 7.320313 .203125
8 7.523438 .203125
9 7.726563 .203125
10 7.960938 .234375
11 8.132813 .171875
12 8.335938 .203125
13 8.546875 .2109375
14 8.765625 .21875
15 8.96875 .203125
16 9.171875 .203125
17 9.375 .203125
18 9.59375 .21875
19 9.796875 .203125
20 10.01563 .21875
21 10.23438 .21875
You got at least 20 time intervals. Based on your data what was the average of the first 20 time intervals? Note that you could get this average by averaging the first 20 intervals. My first few intervals were .15625, .15625, .1875, .171875, etc; I could just add up the first 20 intervals and divide by 20 to get the average. However there is an easier and quicker way to get the result, so use the easier way if you can.
My average time was .208984.
.171875 1
.203125 10
.2109375 1
.21875 6
.234375 2
You may make any comments or ask any question about the process so far in the box below
Is there any for the timer to do the averages for us????
On the 10 intervals I've shown you, do you really think I managed to get a time of .1875 seconds, accurate to 4 significant figures, on half of the intervals? If you do, I'm grateful for your confidence but I'm just not that good. No human being has that much neurological and muscular control.
So why do you think the TIMER program reported that time so frequently? Why weren't there times like .1830 seconds, or .1769 seconds? Does this mean that the TIMER program is flawed? Does that mean it's useless?
The timer is slightly flawed but it isnt useless because it still works.
Here are a few more lines of data, with an added column showing the difference between each time interval and the next.
clock time time interval difference from one time interval to next
9 13.10938 0.1875 -0.01563
10 13.28125 0.171875 -0.01563
11 13.4375 0.15625 0.03125
12 13.625 0.1875 -0.01563
13 13.79688 0.171875 0.015625
14 13.98438 0.1875 0.015625
15 14.1875 0.203125 -0.03125
16 14.35938 0.171875 -0.01563
17 14.51563 0.15625 0.03125
Take a good look at that last column and tell us what you see in those numbers, and what this tells you about the TIMER program
These numbers tell us the accuracy of the timer.
Now initialize the TIMER once more, and take a series of 10 relaxed breaths. Every time you start to inhale, hit the TIMER button.
1 13.74219 13.74219
2 18.90625 5.164063
3 24.82031 5.914063
4 30.73438 5.914063
5 35.28906 4.554688
6 41.66406 6.375
7 46.72656 5.0625
4.554688 1
5.0625 1
5.164063 1
5.914063 2
6.375 1
Most likely you did not observe the same exact time interval twice, and if you did it did not happen nearly as often as when you did the fact clicks.
Why do you think this is exactly what we would expect?
Because the first time we were clicking the button as fast as possible and the second time we had to wait longer before each click.
Which of the following statements do you think is the most accurate?
a. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .1 second.
b. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .01 second.
c. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .001 second.
d. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .0001 second.
Enter your answer and your reasoning below:
B because when you showed the difference between the time in the first trial almost all the time seemed to be about .01 apart from the others so that must be the error.
Note that the TIMER.exe program can save your data in a format that can be read by a spreadsheet (the TIMER applet cannot do so). This will be very handy in the future, so take a minute and do the following:
1. Click on the button at the lower right of the TIMER form, entitled Click to File Data.
2. A box will pop up allowing you to include an identifying message. You should generally choose to include such a message; for the data presently on your timer that might be 'series of regular breaths time at beginning of inhalation' or something similar. Type in whatever you think would serve as a good identifier for this data and OK that box.
3. A typical Save As window will appear. Decide where to save your data and what to call it, and proceed to save it. The program will save the file as a comma-delimited text file.
4. Open your spreadsheet program (typically Excel) and choose File > Open. Browse to the folder in which you just saved your data. Below the File Name line will be a File Type line; set this either to Text Files or All Files so your file will appear. Open it.
5. A series of windows will typically appear. In the first window make sure the file type chosen is Delimited, the proceed to the next window.
6. In the second window you will see a series of checkboxes; check the one entitled Comma, in order to select the comma-delimited file, then just click on Finish.
If you can't run the .exe program, you can't do Steps 1-3. However all you need to do is copy the contents of the program to a text file, using copy-and-paste. Save that text file, using any filename you wish. Then proceed with steps 4-6 above.
Your data should appear in your spreadsheet, and can be manipulated as in any spreadsheet.
Copy a few lines of the data from your spreadsheet below:
11 16.89844 0.140625
12 17.03906 0.140625
13 17.17969 0.140625
14 17.32031 0.140625
15 17.47656 0.15625
16 17.61719 0.140625
17 17.75781 0.140625
18 17.91406 0.15625
19 18.07031 0.15625
20 18.21094 0.140625
21 18.36719 0.15625
&#Your work on this lab exercise looks very good. Let me know if you have any questions. &#