2.10.1 Mean and standard deviation for repeated measurements In everyday terms, everybody is familiar with the word ‘average’, but in science and statistics there are actually several different kinds of average used for different purposes. In the kind of situation exemplified by Table 2, the sort to use is the mean
(or more strictly the ‘arithmetic mean’) For a set of measurements, this is de
1 Developing modelling skills The main teaching text of this unit is provided in the workbook below. The answers to the exercises that you'll find throughout the workbook are given in the answer book. You can access it by clicking on the link under the workbook. Click 'View document' to open the workbook (PDF, 0.2 MB). Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. All materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University. 5.1 Arithmetic with real numbers At the end of Section 1, we discussed the decimals
4.2 Least upper and greatest lower bounds We have seen that the set [0, 2) has no maximum element. However, [0, 2) has many upper bounds, for example, 2, 3, 3.5 and 157.1. Among all these upper bounds, the number 2 is the least upper bound because any number less than 2 is not an upper bound of [0, 2).
3 Proving inequalities In this section we show you how to prove inequalities of various types. We use the rules for rearranging inequalities given in Section 2, and also other rules which enable us to deduce ‘new inequalities from old’. We met the first such rule in Author(s): 10 Conclusion This unit has introduced you to some aspects of using a scientific or graphics calculator. However, in many ways, it has only scratched the surface. Hopefully your calculator will be your friend throughout your study of mathematics and beyond. Like any friend, you will get to know it better and appreciate its advantages as you become more familiar with it. Don't expect to know everything at the beginning. You may find the instruction booklet, or other help facility, a bit hard going to begin 9 When to use the calculator Despite the list of advantages given, here is a word of warning: a calculator is not a substitute for a brain! Even when you are using your calculator, you will still need to sort out what calculation to do to get the answer to a particular problem. However skilled you are at using your calculator, if you do the wrong sum, you will get the wrong answer. The phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies just as much to calculators as to computers. Your calculator is just that – a calculator!< Ease of use Most aspects of the calculator are straightforward to use. Calculations are entered on the screen in the same order as you would write them down. More complicated mathematical functions and features are also reasonably intuitive, and there are ‘escape’ mechanisms, so that you can explore without worrying about how you will get back to where you were. 8.2.2 The screen You can see the calculations that you have entered as well as the answers. This means you can easily check whether you have made any mistakes. 7.2 Square roots Earlier you met the square function and on most calculators the square root is the second function on the same key. Look to see if this is the case for your calculator and check the calculator handbook on how to use this function. In many cases you will need to press the square root key before the number, instead of afterwards, as for the square key. This is the case on the TI-84. Check that you can find the square root of 25 and of 0.49 (you should get 5 and .7 respectively). Now find 2.3 Some calculator conventions Your calculator will interpret the order in which you press the keys, in a particular way. For example if you press the key sequence: 2
3 Aims The aim of this section is to help you to think about how you study mathematics and consider ways in which you can make your study more effective. Pressing onwards Work through Sections 1.6 and 1.7 of the Calculator Book, using the method suggested above of glancing ahead-pressing on-glancing back, if you find it useful. A num Maths as others see it Video: Click to view clip on Whittington Hospital in north London
and asked whether it is possible to add and multiply these numbers to obtain another real number. We now explain how this can be done using the Least Upper Bound Property of Author(s):
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Activity 15