course Phy 202 2. I now may use the triply-reduced ruler because it has no optical distortion unlike a normal ruler that sits about 3-8mm off the surface. Also since we know the scale factor is accurate to 4 significant figures it is more likely that we will know how to approximate the length. 3. I would use either one because the advantages and disadvantages of each ruler seem to be equal. Since I have knowledge of optical distortion this would not affect which ruler to pick. The single-reduced ruler may be easier because it not as precise. Since I know that the length must be between 1 and 2cm, the triply-reduced ruler may be better due to the more accurate readings. 4. Uncertainty would be expected in the observed depths due to the properties of water. Considering that one is measuring through a rounded surface on the cylinder it may be difficult to accurately measure the depth. After figuring the first-difference and the second difference, the accuracy may be less in the second difference. Due to experience from previous labs, the first difference helped show the overall trend, in this cases the graph may show with decreasing depth, time increases. If a second difference were to be calculated a graph of the results may not show an overall trend. 5. As said in the previous question the graph of the first difference vs. midpoint clock time may show an overall trend rather than the graph of the second difference vs. midpoint clock time. The second difference may show a scattered graph which may make it difficult to understand the trend. I believe the first graph would be somewhat reliable for understanding the actual behavior of the experiment, but if one was looking for precise measurements it may not be very reliable. The second difference graph would not be as reliable because in order to fine the average or line best fit, one would have to deviate a lot from the actual data points. 6. The first difference tells us the velocity of the system. The second difference I believe calculates the acceleration. 7. If the second difference graph were to plot linear, estimating a slope may be possible but it may not be precise or a good estimate of the actual behavior. I am not sure what it would mean if the slope was linear