Practical Guide to Data Analysis for Physical Science Students

Zusammenfassung This textbook is intended for undergraduates who are carrying out laboratory experiments in the physical sciences for the first time. It is a practical guide on how to analyse data and estimate errors. The necessary formulas for performing calculations are given! and the ideas behind them are explained! although this is not a formal text on statistics. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; Glossary; 1. Experimental errors; 1.1. Why estimate errors?; 1.2. Random and systematic errors; 1.3. Distributions; 1.4. Mean and variance; 1.5. Gaussian distribution; 1.6. The meaning of s; 1.7. Combining errors; 1.8. Systematic errors; 1.9. An example including random and systematic errors; 1.10. Combining results of different experiments; 1.11. Worked examples; 1.12. Does it feel right?; 2. Least squares fitting; 2.1. What are we trying to do; 2.2. Weighted sum of squares; 2.3. Determining the parameters; 2.4. The error on the gradient and the intercept; 2.5. Other examples; 2.6. Observed numbers; 2.7. Parameter testing; 2.8. Distribution testing; 2.9. Worked example of a straight line fit; 2.10. Summary of straight line fitting; Problems; Appendices.

Product details

• Authors: Louis Lyons
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.11.1991
• EAN: 9780521414159
• ISBN: 978-0-521-41415-9
• No. of pages: 112
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Astronomy: general, reference works