PHY 201
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.
** #$&* Your General Comment **
June 11 around 10:30 pm
** #$&* Describe what you see on your first 10 clicks **
1 hour and a half
** #$&*Your TIMER data from 20 fast clicks **
Operating the TIMER program
It is easy to operate the Timer program. All you have to do is click on the button labeled Click to Time Event.
Click that button about 10 times and describe what you see.
As I clicked “click to time event” numbers starting coming up on the screen. Every time I pushed the button a different set of numbers would come up. The rows are labeled by 1, 2, 3, etc. and out from the row labels there are two different numbers out from the main number.
#$&*
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 0 0
2 .8125 .8125
3 1.515625 .703125
4 1.746094 .2304688
5 1.996094 .25
6 2.214844 .21875
7 2.417969 .203125
8 2.636719 .21875
9 2.839844 .203125
10 3.058594 .21875
11 3.261719 .203125
12 3.464844 .203125
13 3.683594 .21875
14 3.886719 .203125
15 4.105469 .21875
16 4.320313 .2148438
17 4.539063 .21875
18 4.757813 .21875
19 4.976563 .21875
20 5.195313 .21875
#$&*
You got at least 20 time intervals. Based on your data what was the average of the first 20 time intervals? Note that you could get this average by averaging the first 20 intervals. My first few intervals were .15625, .15625, .1875, .171875, etc; I could just add up the first 20 intervals and divide by 20 to get the average. However there is an easier and quicker way to get the result, so use the easier way if you can.
Give your result, number only, in the first line, and starting in the second line explain how you got it.
3.06
The intervals between your quick clicks were all between .2 and .25 seconds. The average of the intervals can't be 3.06 seconds.
Since the numbers are in numerical order, I used the median approach. I just looked for the number that is the middle of all the rest of the numbers and that is the average of the numbers.
#$&*
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.
0, 1
.203125, 5
.2148438, 1
.21875, 9
.2304688, 1
.25, 1
.703125, 1
.8125, 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?
I think that the timer is producing the same intervals is because the person that is hitting the button is hitting it at a constant pace, which is producing the same intervals. It rounds the number off to the nearest four digits in order to be accurate. This means that the time is not flawed nor is it useless, it can count time way more precisely than a human can by working it out.
#$&*
Here are a few more lines of data, with an added column showing the difference between each time interval and the next.
clock time time interval difference from one time interval to next
9 13.10938 0.1875 -0.01563
10 13.28125 0.171875 -0.01563
11 13.4375 0.15625 0.03125
12 13.625 0.1875 -0.01563
13 13.79688 0.171875 0.015625
14 13.98438 0.1875 0.015625
15 14.1875 0.203125 -0.03125
16 14.35938 0.171875 -0.01563
17 14.51563 0.15625 0.03125
Take a good look at that last column and tell us what you see in those numbers, and what this tells you about the TIMER program
It seems like that the two differences’ repeat themselves often and in a pattern as well. Sometimes it’s negative and sometimes it’s positive on both of the difference intervals. This tells me that the application can only go so close when the person clicked the button, which is why that is all in a pattern.
#$&*
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:
2.164063
6.34375
10.1875
15.77344
21.30469
28.5
34.38281
#$&*
If you have any comments please insert them here
#$&*
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?
This is exactly what we would expect, because the I was not hitting the button quick enough and letting seconds slip by and at an untimed rhythm.
#$&*
Which of the following statements do you think is the most accurate?
a. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .1 second.
b. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .01 second.
c. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .001 second.
d. The TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .0001 second.
Enter your answer and your reasoning below:
I think the TIMER program is capable of determining the time between two events accurately to within about .0001 second. But, I think it could and would record even lower numbers if a person could click fast enough.
If it was that accurate, the same intervals wouldn't keep popping up.
#$&*
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.
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:
Series or regular breaths time at beginning of inhalation
event number clock time time interval
1 2.164063 2.164063
2 6.34375 4.179688
3 10.1875 3.84375
4 15.77344 5.585938
5 21.30469 5.53125
6 28.5 7.195313
7 34.38281 5.882813
Good answers on most questions, but you didn't calculate your average time interval correctly.
&#Please see my notes and submit a copy of this document with revisions and/or questions, and mark your insertions with &&&& (please mark each insertion at the beginning and at the end).
Be sure to include the entire document, including my notes. &#