#$&*
Phy 121
Your 'timer program' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
#$&* Your General Comment **
#$&* Describe what you see on your first 10 clicks **
40 min
#$&*Your TIMER data from 20 fast clicks **
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.
The timer starts recording time between each click.
#$&*
Now click on Initialize Counter, which will clear all the data from the timer window. Click the mouse as fast as you can until the TIMER window fills up. Be sure you get at least 20 time intervals.
If you miss a click, try again. Keep trying until you get at least 20 intervals without a missed or delayed click.
Copy your data starting in the next line:
1 205.5703 205.5703
2 205.8047 .234375
3 206.0625 .2578125
4 206.3125 .25
5 206.5469 .234375
6 206.7891 .2421875
7 207 .2109375
8 207.2578 .2578125
9 207.5078 .25
10 207.7813 .2734375
11 208.0156 .234375
12 208.2734 .2578125
13 208.5078 .234375
14 208.7656 .2578125
15 209.0234 .2578125
16 209.2422 .21875
17 209.5078 .265625
18 209.75 .2421875
19 210.0234 .2734375
20 210.2344 .2109375
#$&*
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.
Give your result, number only, in the first line, and starting in the second line explain how you got it.
.240
The average time in between clicks was approxoimatley a quater of a secound
#$&*
When I did this activity the first few lines of my data were as follows:
event number clock time time interval
1 11.67188 11.67188
2 11.875 0.203125
3 12.0625 0.1875
4 12.20313 0.140625
5 12.375 0.171875
6 12.54688 0.171875
7 12.73438 0.1875
8 12.92188 0.1875
9 13.10938 0.1875
10 13.28125 0.171875
11 13.4375 0.15625
It looks like the same intervals keep popping up. For example .1875 seconds occurs 5 times out of the first 10 intervals, .171875 seconds occurs three times, and .203125 seconds, .140625 seconds and .15625 seconds each occur once.
A frequency distribution for my time intervals would be as follows:
time interval frequency
,140625 1
.15625 1
.171875 3
.1875 5
.203125 1
What different time intervals did you observe in your first 20 intervals, and how many times did each occur? List below the different time intervals you observed and the number of times each occurred. List from the shortest to the longest interval, and use a comma between the time interval and its frequency. For example my data above would be listed at
.140625, 1
.1565, 1
.171875, 3
.1875, 5
.203125, 1
Your list should be in exactly this format, with no other symbols or characters.
.234375, 4
.2578125, 5
.25, 2
.2421875, 2
.2109375, 2
.2734375, 2
.21875, 1
.265625, 1
#$&*
You may make any comments or ask any question about the process so far in the box below
#$&*
On the 10 intervals I've shown you, do you really think I managed to get a time of .1875 seconds, accurate to 4 significant figures, on half of the intervals? If you do, I'm grateful for your confidence but I'm just not that good. No human being has that much neurological and muscular control.
So why do you think the TIMER program reported that time so frequently? Why weren't there times like .1830 seconds, or .1769 seconds? Does this mean that the TIMER program is flawed? Does that mean it's useless?
May be that it is rounding to the nearest point that it can record.
#$&*
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
The time count is so small that it has problems recording information down to the exact time, may be for lack of bit registers.
#$&*
Now initialize the TIMER once more, and take a series of 10 relaxed breaths. Every time you start to inhale, hit the TIMER button.
My results for the first 7 complete breaths are as follows:
series of relaxed breaths
event number clock time time interval difference between time interval and next
1 1569.734 1569.734
2 1582.75 13.01563 0.32812
3 1596.094 13.34375 3.90625
4 1613.344 17.25 2.70313
5 1633.297 19.95313 1.35937
6 1654.609 21.3125 4.23438
7 1680.156 25.54688 2.15625
8 1707.859 27.70313
I didn't go on because the time between my breaths kept increasing, and I was afraid if I relaxed any more I might stop breathing altogether. It's going to take either more statistical analysis to determine whether that's a real danger, or a little common sense.
Report your results by just entering your time intervals, one to each line, in the box below. If I was entering my results I would enter
13.01563
13.34375
17.25
19.95313
21.3125
etc.
Enter your results in the same format:
962.1719
9.46875
12.21875
12.25
12.99219
12.17188
12.17188
#$&*
If you have any comments please insert them here
#$&*
Most likely you did not observe the same exact time interval twice, and if you did it did not happen nearly as often as when you did the fact clicks.
Why do you think this is exactly what we would expect? It is much easier to record data that is further in time apart since it would not fallin the same zone.
#$&*
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:
.001
#$&*
*#&!
@& Good thinking throughout. Your data look good.
The TIMER is accurate to about .01 second.*@