Data Processing with Matlab for the Experimental

Physics Laboratory
Amrozia Shaheen, Muhammad Wasif,
Waqas Mahmood and Muhammad Sabieh Anwar
LUMS School of Science and Engineering

May 24, 2017

Data analysis and representation are vital steps in any experimental exercise. They lend
meaning to the experiment and provide insight leading to a more fundamental understanding
of the underlying concept. Intelligent data processing and representation also help the exper-
imenter in re-designing the experiment for increased accuracy and precision. Clever thinking
may even encourage her to adapt and tailor the procedural steps to elicit some otherwise
hidden facet.

In the experimental physics lab, we will use Matlab for,

ˆ analyzing experimental data and computing errors,

ˆ curve fitting, and

ˆ graphically representing experimental data.

The present write-up serves as a first introduction to Matlab. Students who are not familiar
with Matlab, or even with the computer, need not to worry. We will proceed slowly, allow-
ing everyone to familiarize and acclimatize with the culture of computing. Luckily, Matlab
is a highly user-friendly and interactive package that is very easy to learn. Furthermore,
subsequent laboratory sessions will give all of us ample opportunity to practice Matlab.

It is important that every student independently works through all the examples given in this
hand-out and attempts all challenge questions. These challenge questions are labelled with
the box Q .

APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 6-8 hours of independent work.

1
1 Introduction to Matlab

Matlab is a technical computing language and interactive environment for data visualization,
data analysis, algorithm development and numerical computation. It is an important and
versatile tool used to perform basic arithmetic operations, graph functions, solve equations,
accomplish statistical tests and much more.

1.1 Starting Matlab

You can start Matlab by clicking the Matlab icon located on the Desktop, a special window
called the Matlab desktop. The desktop is a window that contains other windows and a Start
button similar to that used in Window 2000 or XP. The default configuration of the Matlab
desktop is shown in Figure (1).

Current Directory

Workspace

Command Window

Command History

Figure 1: The default Matlab desktop.

The accessible major tools are,

1. The Command Window

2. The Current Directory

3. The workspace

4. The Edit/Debug Window

The function of these tools will be discussed here.

2
1.2 The Command Window

The Command Window is on the right of default Matlab desktop, whereby a user can enter
commands at the command prompt (), and they are executed on the spot.

Suppose we want to calculate the area of a circle with a radius of 2.5 m. This can be done by
typing,

 area = pi * 2.5 ˆ 2

area =

19.6350

Matlab calculates the answer as the command is entered, and stores the answer in a variable.
As in the above example the variable is area. The contents of the variable are displayed in
the Command Window as shown in Figure (2).

Command Window

Figure 2: The Command Window.

1.3 The Current Directory

The current directory shows the contents of the working directory. Whenever you have to
execute any function file, it is necessary that the executed file must be in the current direc-
tory of Matlab. For example if you are going to type a lsqcurvefit(@straight,[20 1],n,f )
command in the Command Window, the function file straight is in the current directory to
execute it without error.

3
1.4 The Edit/Debug Window

An Edit Window is created when you create a new M-file. You can create a new M-file
with the File→New→M-file selection from the desktop menu or with the selection of
Start→Desktop Tools→Editor.

The Edit Window is a programming text editor with the Matlab languages features displayed
in different colours. In an M-file, comments appear in green, variables and numbers in black,
complete character strings in magenta, incomplete character string in red and language key-
words in blue.

An Edit Window showing an M-file named calc area.m is depicted in Figure (3). This file
calculates the area of a circle and displays the result. After saving an M-file, it can be executed
by typing its name in the Command Window. For the M-file of Figure (3), the output is,

 calc area

The area of the circle is 19.635

Figure 3: The Matlab Editor as an independent window.

1.5 The Workspace

A workspace contains all the variables and arrays that can be used by the Matlab when a
command, M-file or function is executing. All commands executed in the Command Window
have a common workspace, a way by which they can all share variables.

A statement such as,

4
 x=10;
creates a variable named x, stores the value 10 in it and saves it in the Workspace characterized
as a part of the computer memory.

The contents of any variable or array may be accessed by typing the appropriate name in the
Command Window, e.g., the contents of string can be found as,

 string

string =

The area of the circle is 19.635

Figure (4) shows the workspace displaying the string content and the Array Editor. The Array
Editor can be accessed by clicking a variable in the workspace Browser, allows to change the
values of a variable.

Array Editor
Workspace

Figure 4: The Workspace and the Array Editor.

A variable can be deleted from the Workspace using the clear command, and it takes the form
as,

 clear x

In order to remove a number of variables in one go, you need to follow the command,

 clear var1 var2 var3 .....

where, var1, var2 and var3 are the names of variables to be deleted. The command clear
all or clear deletes all the variables from the current workspace.

5
2 Basic mathematics

2.1 Arithmetics

It is important to learn how some basic elementary operations are performed in Matlab and
what would be the proper way. In this section we will practice some basic arithmetic operations
being executed in Matlab.
Numbers can be entered directly in the Command Window using the keyboard. For example,
if we type 5 and press Enter, the screen shows,

5
ans =
5

The Matlab displays the variable name ans to the resulting quantity if you do not assign a
specific name. Suppose we desire to assign the name x to the value 5, so we type,

x=5
x=
5

If we terminate the command with the semi-colon,

 x = 5;
the output 5 will not be displayed.

Suppose we wish to add two values to form z1 as the sum, we write,

 z1 = 5 + 3
What do you see? Indeed, 8.
Multiplication of scalars is done by placing (∗) between the numbers, hence we can write,

 z2 = 5 ∗ 3;

Similarly division with scalars can be achieved using the forward slash (/),

 z3 = 5 / 3;

However, making use of variables, a better approach is,

 z4 = x / y;

Now take the square of a number, for example, by typing,

 z5 = 5 ˆ 2

and verify if you get the correct answer.

The numbers entered so far have all been very simple. What if we have very small or very large
values, for that we make use of the exponential form. For example, a microwave frequency

6
f = 15 GHz (1 GHz= 109 Hz) can be entered as,

 f = 15e9
f =
1.5000e + 010

The square root of a scalar quantity can be written as,

 z6 = sqrt(x);

2.2 Creating vectors and matrices

Matlab is centred around the manipulation of matrices. In fact, the word Matlab is acronym
for MATrix LABoratory. Let us generate a simple list of numbers, called a vector. This vector
comprises all even numbers greater than or equal to 2 and less than 20. We call this vector
evenlist.

 evenlist = [2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18]

The vector will be displayed, all entries ranging from 2 to 18 lined up in a row. We have just
created a row vector. A compact way of creating evenlist would be to write,

 evenlist2 = 2:2:18

with the first 2 representing the first element, the second 2 representing the step size and the
18 showing the last element of the vector. Indeed evenlist and evenlist2 are equal. At some
later stage, if we want to recall what the vector evenlist2 is, we just retype the label.

 evenlist2

How do we make a column vector, where all the entries are arranged vertically instead of
horizontally? We can use the semicolon as a delimiter among rows.

 evenlist3 = [2; 4; 6; 8; 10; 12; 14; 16; 18]

Alternatively, we can avoid keying in the numerical entries by taking the transpose of the row
vector evenlist2.

 evenlist4 = evenlist3’;

2.3 Matrix arithmetic

Another simple example illustrates matrix multiplication in MATLAB.

 a = [2 4 6; 1 3 5; 7 9 11];

The above operation generates a matrix of order 3 × 3.

7
  
2 4 6
1 3 5  . (1)
7 9 11

If we desire to know the size of matrix a, we type,

 size(a)

Type in the command,

 a ˆ 2;

This performs the product of the matrices as a a and the resulting matrix is,

 
50 74 98
 40 58 76  . (2)
100 154 208

Now perform the following operation on the same matrix,

 a. ˆ 2

This operation just takes the square of each entry as shown,

 
4 19 36
 1 9 25  . (3)
49 81 121
By typing a’ in the command window, we get the transpose of the generated matrix a as,

 
2 1 7
4 3 9  . (4)
6 5 11

The inverse of a matrix a is determined by the simple command,

 c = inv(a);

To understand how MATLAB interprets the forward slash / and the backward slash \, we
try some simple commands.

By typing,

 a=4/2

8
We obtain the answer 2, the result of a division operation. That is, the number on the left
hand side of the forward slash is being divided by the number on the right hand side. On the
other hand, if we type,

 b=4\2
The answer is 0.5, which clearly indicates that the number on the right hand side is being
divided by the number on the left hand side.

2.4 Extracting Elements from Matrices

Now suppose, we wish to select some entries from a generated row or column vector or from
matrices. Define the row vector,

 a = [2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20]

We want to extract the entries from column 3 to 7. We write,

 b = a(3:7);

The colon operator will extract the entries from column 3 to 7, thus giving us the output,

 b = [6 8 10 12 14]

Similar procedure can be repeated with a column vector.

We define a matrix by,

 a = [5 8 9; 2 4 6; 1 3 5]

 
5 8 9
2 4 6 . (5)
1 3 5

The order of the matrix a is 3 × 3. Starting from the easiest concept of selecting one single
entry from a matrix, we will move on to select the whole row or column of that matrix.
Suppose we want to select the entry 4 in the above matrix. We look at the position of that
specified entry inside the matrix. The element is located in the second row and second column
of the matrix.

 b =a(2,2)

This command takes the value from second row and second column of a and saves it in b.
The displayed output is 4.

To select a complete row or column of any matrix we have to use the colon operator, “:”
which means that all entries of that specified row or column will be selected. For example,

9
  a(2,:)

displays all the entries of the second row of the matrix, and

 a(:,2)

displays all the entries in the second column of the matrix a.

If we write d=a(:,:) in the command window, we get the complete matrix again, i.e., we have
selected all the rows and all the columns.

3 Data manipulation

3.1 Introduction to ‘for’ Loops

For loops are very powerful when we want to continuously update elements of any vector.
The typical structure of a for loop is

for (condition)
statements
end

Now define a row vector,

 a = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10]

A row vector stores information in the following way,

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

a(1) a(2) a(3) a(4) a(5) a(6) a(7) a(8) a(9) a(10)

If we now want to add +1 to all the elements of a, we can write a for loop,

 for k = 1:10

 a(k) = a(k) + 1;

 end

Matlab now updates every element of a by +1. The new array will look like,

10
 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

a(1) a(2) a(3) a(4) a(5) a(6) a(7) a(8) a(9) a(10)

Note that a for statement needs an accompanying end statement marking the end of the
statements that are being executed.

4 Exercises

Q 1. Suppose that u = 1 and v = 3. Evaluate the following expressions using Matlab.

4u
(a) 3v

2v −2
(b) (u+v)2

v3
(c) v 3 −u3

4
(d) 3
πv 2
√
(e) 13 − v 2

(f ) −1.6 × 10−19 × π 3

Q 2. The distance traveled by a ball falling in the air is given by the equation

1
x = xo + vo t + at2 .
2
Use Matlab to evaluate the position of the at time t = 5 s if xo = 10 m, vo = 15 m/s and
a = 9.81 m/s2 .

Q 3. Assume that a, b, c and d are defined as follows,

     
1 0 −1 2 3
a= , b= , c= , d = 5.
2 1 0 1 2

What is the result of each of the following mathematical operations?

(a) a + b

(b) a ∗ b

(c) a ∗ c

11
(d) a. ∗ d

(e) a. ∗ b

(f ) a−1 b−1

Q 4. Answer the following questions for the array shown below. Show command typed into
Matlab.

 
1.1 −3.2 3.4 0.6
c = 0.6 1.1 −0.6 3.1 .
1.3 0.6 5.5 0.0

(a) What is the size of c?

(b) What is the value of c(2, 3)?

(c) List the subscripts of all elements containing the value 0.6.

(d) How do you access all the elements of second row?

(e) Determine c(1 : 2, 2 : end), c(4 : end), c(1 : 2, 2 : 4), and c([1 3], 2). Briefly describe your
results.

Q 5. A certain physical system has three unknown variables, x1 , x2 and x3 , that can be
described by the following linear equations:

x1 + 2x2 − x3 = −8
−x1 + x2 + 3x3 = 7
3x1 + 2x2 + x3 = 4

Solve for the three unknowns using matrix algebra. (Hint: Use Ax = b).

Q 6. Use for loop to calculate squares, square roots and cube roots of all integers between
1 and 10.

5 Graphs and plotting

Graphs are extremely important in experimental physics. There are three important uses of
graphs [1].

ˆ First, with the help of graphs we can easily determine slopes and intercepts.

12
 ˆ Second, they act as visual aids indicating how one quantity varies when the other is
changed, often revealing subtle relationships. These visual patterns also tell us if there
exist conditions under which simple (linear) relationships break down or sudden transi-
tions take place.

ˆ Third, graphs help compare theoretical predictions with experimentally observed data.

It is customary to plot the independent variable (the “cause”) on the horizontal axis and the
dependent variable (the “effect”) on the vertical axis. In Matlab, the data for the independent
and dependent variables are typed in as vectors.

5.1 Introduction to plotting

Matlab has the capability to generate plots of many types, including linear plots, line plots, log-
arithmic plots on both scales, logarithmic plots on one scale, bar graphs and three-dimensional
plots. In order to achieve a two-dimensional plot, we need to create two vectors containing
the x and y values and use the plot function.

Let’s consider an example of a stretched string fixed at one end to a rigid support, is strung
over a pulley and a weight of 1.2 kg is attached at the other end. The sting can be set
under vibrations using a mechanical oscillator (woofer) connected to the signal generator.
The relation of angular velocity (ω) with the wave vector (k) is called the dispersion relation
and given by,
s s
T T π
ω(k) = ×k =n × , (6)
µ µ L

where L (1.5 m) is the effective length between the wedge and woofer and n is the number of
mode. The experiment is to sweep the signal generator frequency, and note down frequencies
at which the resonance occurs. The data obtained is given in Table (1),

Resonance mode 1 2 3 4 5
Frequency (Hz) 20.82 41.82 61.32 82.32 104.1

Table 1: Relationship between frequency and resonance modes.

Now let’s plot frequency as a function of number of mode, keeping frequency on the vertical
and number of mode on the horizontal axis.

The best way to perform the task is to create a row vector containing all values of the
independent variable at which points are to be determined. This can be done by typing the
number of modes, then enclosing the brackets to form a vector.

13
  n=[1 2 3 4 5];

We can also write it as,

 n=[1:5];

Next, we define a row vector for the dependent variable.

 f=[20.82 41.82 61.32 82.32 104.1];

The general command for a linear plot is,

 plot(n,f )

where n is the horizontal variable and f is the vertical variable. Note that no semicolon at
the end of the command.
If we will enter another plot command, the previous plot is omitted and the new one is
displayed. So in order to avoid this inconvenience, we will prefer to open a new plot window
each time we plot a function.

A new plot window can be opened using the figure command,

 figure;plot(n,f )

Usually the desired commands for most of figures are xlabel, ylabel and title, their names
are self explanatory. First we enter the xlabel command,

 xlabel(‘Resonance mode (n)’)

Note that the desired quantity is enclosed by (‘’). Next, we type the ylabel command,

 ylabel(‘Frequency (Hz))’)

Same as the title command is entered as,

 title(’Dispersion relation for a bare string’)

The resulting graph is a solid line joining the individual points as depicted in Figure (5a).
The data points can be highlighted using the symbol ’o’, ,’+’, ’•’ etc. The colour can also be
adjusted. Suppose we want to plot a solid red line with data points circles, for that we need
to type the command,

 figure;plot(n,f,’r-o’)

Furthermore, if it is required to display the data points only, suppressing the line that connects
between these points, we type,

 figure;plot(n,f,’ro’)

This latter plot, shown in Fig (1c) in fact, represents a more justifiable picture of the exper-
imental data. This is because the lines drawn in (a) and (b) represent more than what the

14
 (a) (b)

(c)

Figure 5: (a) Output from figure; plot(n,f ); a solid jagged line connects the data points; (b)
output from figure; plot(n,f,‘r-o’); a solid red line connects the data points that are now
highlighted; (c) output from figure; plot(n,f,‘ro’); showing just the data points.

data warrants: the lines show that the frequency and the resonance mode have some kind of
jagged relationship, something that is highly likely. A more reasonable prediction is that the
relationship is a straight line. In the next section, we will discuss how to draw one such line,
using the procedure of least squares curve fitting.

15
5.2 Multiple Plots

It is also possible to plot multiple curves on the same figure. This is a highly useful feature
as you will soon realize. Suppose we wish to plot graphs of the following functions,
y = 2cos(x), and (7)
y = 2sin(x). (8)
for the range of x ∈ [0, 4π].

Let’s define the input vectors,

 x=0:0.1:4*pi;

 y=2*cos(x);

 y1=2*sin(x);

The cosine function can be plotted by using the command,

 figure; plot(x,y,‘r-d’)

where we have used ”r-d” for red line with data points in diamond symbol. The output is
shown in the Figure (6 a).

The sine function is plotted as,

 figure; plot(x,y1,‘b-*’)

Here we have used “b-*” to plot blue line with data set in star shape as depicted in Figure
(6 b)

To plot both the graphs simultaneously, one on top of another, we will use the hold on
command,

 figure; plot(x,y,‘r-d’)

 hold on

 plot(x,y1,‘b-*’)

The result is shown is Figure (6 c).

5.3 Resolution of the Graph

Suppose we have a sine curve,

sin (t), (9)
sampled at interval of 1 s for a duration of 10 s, it means there are eleven data points contained
within the sampled duration. We know from experience that a plot of the sine function should

16
 (a) (b)

(c)

Figure 6: (a) Graph of y = 2cos(x), (b) y1 = 2sin(x), and (c) Overlaid both plots.

be smooth, unlike the irregular curve shown. Why is this discrepancy? The reason is that
we have not sampled enough points. Decreasing the sampling interval to 0.1 s and hence,
increasing the number of samples to 101, we recover a smooth sine curve, shown in Figure
(7 b). These plots have been made using the following commands.

 t1=0:1:10;

 x1=sin(t1);

 figure; plot(t1,x1,‘b-s’); (for the subfigure (a))

 t2=0:.1:10;

 x2=sin(t2);

17
  figure; plot(t2,x2,‘r.’); (for the subfigure (b))

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 7: (a) Lower resolution graph, (b)higher resolution graph, (b) the two graphs have
been drawn on top of each other.

These plots can be overlaid one on top of each other using the command,

 figure; plot(t1,x1,‘b-s’); hold on; plot(t2,x2,‘r.’);

The result is shown in Figure (7 c).

6 Exercises

Q 7. The deflection of a cantilever beam is the distance its end moves in responce to a
force applied at the end. The following table gives the deflection x that was produced in a

18
particular beam by the given applied force f. Find a functional relationship between x and f
and plot the graph.

Force f (Pounds) 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Deflection x (inches) 0 0.09 0.18 0.28 0.37 0.46 0.55 0.65 0.74

Table 2: An experiment to measure force and deflection in cantilever beam.

Q 8. The following Matlab statements plot the function y = 2e−0.2x for the range 0 ≤ x ≤
10.

Q 9. Draw a graph of the function,

sin t
y= (10)
t
for 0 ≤ t ≤ 10.

Q 10. For the values of x, 0 ≤ 2π, show by drawing a graph that,

sin2 x + cos2 x = 1. (11)

Q 11. Draw a graph of the function,

z = exp(−0.5t) cos(20t − 6) (12)

for 0 ≤ t ≤ 8.

Q 12. Draw a graph of the function,

y = −x exp(−x) (13)

for 0 ≤ x ≤ 10.

Q 13. Suppose the relationship between the dependent variable y and the independent
variable x is given by,
y = ae−x + b (14)
where a and b are constants. Sketch a curve of y versus x using arbitrary values of a and b.
Is it possible to obtain a straight line that represents this functional relationship?

7 Curve Fitting

Linear relationships occur naturally in numerous natural instances and that is why they have
become the scientist’s favourite. Linear relationships 1 are direct manifestations of direct
1
F = ma
(Newton’s law)

19
proportionality. If the variables x and y are directly proportional (x ∝ y), an equal increase
in x always results in an equal increase in y . Be it the extension of a spring when loaded
with masses, the acceleration of an object as it experiences a force or the magnetic field that
winds around a current carrying conductor, linear relationships are ubiquitous. When these
linear functions are drawn on paper (or on the computer screen), they become straight lines.

7.1 Least Squares Curve Fitting of Linear Data

Suppose we have a data set of Table (1). The graph between frequency and the resonance
mode is shown in Figure (8). Can we draw a straight line through these points, not necessarily
touching them? What could be the significance of such a line?

110

100

90

80
Frequency (Hz)

70

60

50

40

30

20
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Resonance mode (n)

Figure 8: Data points from vibrations on a string and resonance.

Consider Figure 9 where a straight line has been drawn around a set of experimentally mea-
sured data points (xi , yi ). In this example we have N = 7 pairs of measurements. The line is
represented by the equation,
y = mx + c (15)
where m is the slope and c is the intercept. Of the many lines that can be drawn, this particular
line has a special property that we now investigate. If the reading along the abscissa (x axis)
is xi , the corresponding measurement along the ordinate (y axis) is yi , but the line we have
just drawn takes up the value, mxi + c instead, which in general, is different from yi . This
F = −kx
(Hooke’s law)
B = µ0 N I
(Ampere’s law)

20
 y = mx + c di

mxi + c

yi
xi

origin

Figure 9: Setting for the least squares best fit.

difference
di = yi − mxi − c (16)
is called the residual or deviation. The special line we have drawn has the property that it
minimizes the sum of the squares of the deviations,
S = ΣN 2 N 2
i=1 di = Σi=1 (yi − mxi − c) , (17)
and hence the name least squares curve fit. If the di ’s are considered to be the errors, the least
squares curve fit is the best fit in the sense that it minimizes the squares of the errors.

Now we will fit the data given in Table 1 to a least squares curve using Matlab. The input
vectors are,

 n=[1 2 3 4 5];

 f=[20.82 41.82 61.32 82.32 104.1];

Our best fit will be of the form,

y=mx+c, (18)
where m is the slope and c is the intercept. The curve fitting procedure determines approxi-
mations to these parameters, m and c.

Instead we use the inbuilt Matlab command lsqcurvefit. We first make a new function file
named straight.m that contains the fitting function. Follow the below mentioned steps to
make a new function file, also called an “M-file”.

1. From the File menu item, click New and M-file. A blank text editor opens.
2. Type in the following text in the editor window.

21
 function fout=straight(p,fin)
fout=p(1)*fin+p(2);
end

and save the file in the current working directory as straight.m.

Let’s parse this file, line by line. The first line starts with the label function indicating that
this m-file is a function file, or in other words, this file contains the declaration of a function
named straight that can be called from inside the command window.

The function straight takes in two vector arguments, p and fin. The former is a vector
containing the unknown parameters. In our case p has two elements p(1) and p(2) which are
respectively m and c. The latter fin is the input vector, in our case this is the vector containing
the frequency values. The second line defines the fitting function; this is the Matlab way of
writing Equation (18). Finally, the m-file ends with the statement end.
2
Once the fitting function has been defined, we can find the least squares curve using the
command,

 lsqcurvefit(@straight,[21 1],n,f )

The first argument in small bracket references the function straight we have just created. The
second argument is a vector containing initial guesses of the unknown parameters. It will
be easier for Matlab if we could make intelligent guesses of these parameters. The last two
arguments, n and f are the x-axis and y-axis variable names.

After you enter the above mentioned command in the Command Window, Matlab returns the
values of the parameters, m = 20.7060, c = −0.0420. The initial data points and the higher
resolution curve fit are then plotted using the set of commands given below.

 n1=1:0.1:5; (high sampling rate for plotting the fitted curve)

 cfit=20.7060*n1-0.0420;

 figure; plot(n,f,‘ro’); hold on;

 plot(n1,cfit);

The command,

 [x,resnorm]=lsqcurvefit(@sinusoid,[21 1],n,f )

also returns the sum of the squares of the residuals,

N
X
d2i (19)
i

2
lsqcurvefit requires the optimization toolbox

22
which is a measure of the goodness of the fit.

7.2 Exercise

Q 14. Suppose a rocket is fired into the space from rest. The distance covered (in miles)
by the rocket and the height gained (in miles) is given in the table below,

Distance (miles) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Height (miles) 0 0.53 0.75 0.92 1.07 1.20 1.31 1.41 1.51 1.60 1.69 1.77 1.85

Table 3: Height of a rocket versus Distance.

Plot the graph of distance against height and perform curve fitting using the equation,
√
y = a bx. (20)

Q 15. An object covers a distance d in time t. A measurement of d with respect to t

produces the set of values given in Table 4 [5].

t (s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
d (m) 0.20 0.43 0.81 1.57 2.43 3.81 4.80 6.39

Table 4: Measurements of distance as a function of time.

Plot the distance with respect to t. Then plot with respect to t2 . If the object was initially
at rest, calculate the acceleration. Use curve fitting.

Q 16. Biomedical instruments are used to measure many quantities such as body tempera-
ture, blood oxygen level, heart rate and so on. Engineers developing these devices often need a
response curve that describes how fast the instrument can make measurements. The response
voltage v can be described by one of these equations,

v(t) = a1 + a2 e−3t/T
v(t) = a1 + a2 e−3t/T + a3 te−3t/T
(21)

where t is the time and T is an unknown constant. The data given in Table 5 gives the voltage
v of a certain device as a function of time. Which of the above functions is a better description
of the data [7]?

Q 17. In an RC series circuit, a parallel plate capacitor having capacitance C charges

through a resistor R. During the charging of capacitor, charge Q starts to accumulate on the

23
 t (s) 0 0.3 0.8 1.1 1.6 2.3 3
v (V) 0 0.6 1.28 1.5 1.7 1.75 1.8

Table 5: Response of a biomedical instrument switched on at time t = 0.

plates of the capacitor. The expression for growth of charge V is given by,

V = Vo (1 − exp (−t/τ )) (22)

where the time constant τ = RC. Fit the given data in Table 7 to the equation for the voltage
increase and find the value of τ .

t (s) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
V (V) 0 6.55 10 13 14.5 15 16 16.2 16.3 16.5 16.55

Table 6: Charging pattern for a capacitor in an RC circuit.

Q 18. When a constant voltage was applied to a certain motor initially at rest, its rotational
speed S(t) versus time was measured. The table given below shows the values of speed against
time.

Time (s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
Speed (rpm) 1210 1866 2301 2564 2724 2881 2879 2915 3010

Table 7: Motor speed when it is given a push.

Try to fit the given data with the function given below. Calculate the constants b and c.

S(t) = b(1 − ect ) (23)

Q 19. The yield stress of many metals, σy , varies with the size of the grains. Often, the
relationship between the grain size, d, and the yield stress is modelled with the Hall-Petch
equation,
σy = σ0 + kd−1/2 (24)

d (mm) 0.006 0.011 0.017 0.025 0.039 0.060 0.081 0.105

σy (MPa) 334 276 249 235 216 197 194 182

Table 8: Measurement of flow velocity.

Determine the constants and best fit the data points.

24
8 Appendix

A Linear Relationships

Figure 10(a) is a reproduction of the data points as given in Table (9), taken from the Mil-
likan’s experiment [4]. However, in this graph we have also drawn two straight lines. Why
straight lines? The straight lines we have drawn in Figure 10(a) represent a kind of inter-

Frequency (Hz) 0.5488 0.6914 0.7413 0.8219 0.9597 1.1834

Stopping voltage (Volts) - 2.1 - 1.524 - 1.367 - .9478 - .3718 .3720

Table 9: Millikan’s readings for the stopping voltage as a function of frequency of the incident
length; results extracted from [4].

polation. In the real experiment, we measure the variables, (xi , yi ). In our case these are
frequency and stopping voltage. In a set of measurements, we have six pairs of data points
(x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), . . . , (x6 , y6 ). What if we want to determine the stopping voltage for a fre-
quency that was not used by Millikan? We could either repeat his experiment with a light
source with the desired frequency or estimate using available data. In the latter case, we draw
a straight line around the available measurements (xi , yi ). This line negotiates data points
not available to the experimenter.

0.5 -0.6

-0.8
0
-1
-0.5
-1.2
Vs / V
Vs / V

-1 -1.4

-1.6
-1.5
-1.8
-2
-2

-2.5 -2.2
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 5 5..5 6 6..5 7 7..5 8 8..5 9
14 14
f / Hz x 10 f / Hz x 10

Figure 10: (a) Data points from Millikan’s experiment [4] with two possible lines defining the
functional relationship between f and Vs ; (b) magnified region from the graph (a), closely
showing the data points and the straight lines.

But what straight line do we actually draw? This is a matter of choice. For example, we have
drawn two lines in the Figure. The light colored line takes the first and the last data points

25
as reference and connects these points; whereas the dark colored line connects the mean (or
the centre of gravity of the data) to the end point. Both lines are different and at the outset,
are equally suitable for defining the linear relationship between the variables of interest.

Let’s briefly digress to see how we plotted, say, the red line. To plot a line, we need an equation
for the line. Given two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x6 , y6 ), a straight line through these will be given
by,
y − y1 x − x1
= , (25)
y6 − y1 x6 − x1
and in our case (x1 , y1 ) = (0.5488 × 1015 , −2.1) and (x6 , y6 ) = (1.1834 × 1015 , 0.3720). (These
numbers have been taken from the row vectors f and vs.) After some basic arithmetic (also
done in Matlab) we arrive at the following equation for the red line,

y = 3.895 × 10−15 x − 4.2375, (26)

where in our particular case y is the stopping voltage vs and x is the frequency f . Similarly,
the equation for the blue line was computed by first calculating the means of the x and y
values. The resulting equation is,

y = 3.895 × 10−15 x − 4.2018, (27)

yielding a line parallel to the first, but displaced upwards. Figure 10(b) shows a close-up of
(a), revealing that these lines do not actually touch a majority of the data points, they just
graze within that region.

The graph has been plotted by using the following set of commands.

 line1=3.895e-15*f-4.2375;

 line2=3.895e-15*f-4.2018;

 figure; plot(f,vs,‘ro’,f,line1,‘g-’,f,line2,‘b-’);

Q 20. Why do we minimize the sum squares of the residuals ΣN 2

i=1 di instead of the sum of
the residuals ΣN
i=1 di ?

There is an algorithmic procedure for deriving the equation for the least squares fit. The goal
is to find the parameters m and c that minimize the quantity S. The minimum of S can be
determined from elementary calculus. Take the derivative of S, first with respect to m and
then with respect to c and put the derivatives equal to zero,

N
∂S X
= −2 xi (yi − mxi − c) = 0 (28)
∂m i=1
N
∂S X
= −2 (yi − mxi − c) = 0. (29)
∂c i=1

26
Rearranging Equation 29, we obtain,
N
X
(yi − mxi − c) = 0
i=1
N
X N
X
yi − m xi − cN = 0
i=1 i=1
PN PN
i yi − m i xi
=⇒ c = , (30)
N
N
X N
X
where ≡ . (31)
i i=1

The expression for c is inserted into Equation 28 and after some algebraic manipulation,

N
X
xi (yi − mxi − c) = 0
i
N
X N
X N
X
2
(xi yi ) − m xi − c xi = 0
i i i
N N PN PN N
X X yi − m xi  X
x2i − i i

(xi yi ) − m xi = 0
i i
N i
N N N N N
X X 1 X
X
m X
2
(xi yi ) − m x2i − xi yi + xi = 0,
i i
N i i
N i
(32)

the following expression for m pops out,

PN 1
PN
PN

(x i yi ) − i xi i yi
m= i N
PN
2
. (33)
i xi
PN 2

i xi − N

This cumbersome looking expression can be simplified by noticing that,

PN
i xi
=x (34)
N
is the mean of xi and PN
i yi
=y (35)
N
is the mean of yi , yielding, PN
i (xi yi ) − N x y
m= P N 2 2
. (36)
i x i − N x

27
Furthermore, we can also make use of the following simplifications for the numerator and
denominator of the above expression,
N
X N
X XN
(xi yi ) − N x y = (xi yi ) − ( yi )x
i i i
N
X
= yi (xi − x), and (37)
i
N
X N
X
x2i − N x2 = x2i + N x2 − 2N x2
i i
N
X N
X
= x2i 2
+ N x − 2x xi
i i
N
X N
X N
X
= x2i + x2 − 2x xi
i i i
N
X
= (x2i + x2 − 2xxi )
i
N
X
= (xi − x)2 . (38)
i

This tedious but fruitful exercise yields the following compact expression for the slope of the
least squares curve fit,
PN
yi (xi − x)
m = PiN . (39)
2
i (xi − x)

Substituting the expression for m back into (31) we can determine the intercept,

c = y − mx. (40)

Now we use Matlab to find the least squares curve for Millikan’s experimental data. The
commands that generate the best fit line are given below.

 numerator=sum(vs.*(f-mean(f )));

 denominator=sum((f-mean(f )).ˆ 2);

 m=numerator/denominator;

 c=mean(vs)-m*mean(f );

The values are m = 3.9588 × 10−15 V/Hz and c = −4.2535 V. We can now easily plot the
least squares fit, shown in Figure 11.

 line3=m*f+c;

28
 0.5

- 0.5
Vs / V

-1

-1.5

-2

-2.5
5 -6 7 8 9 10 11 12
14
f / Hz x 10

Figure 11: Data points for Millikan’s experiment and the least squares curve fit.

 figure; plot(f,vs,‘ro’,f,line3,‘g-’)

The straight line, in fact, has real physical value as well. For example, according to Einstein’s
interpretation of the photoelectric effect, light is carried in the form of small packets called
photons. Corresponding to the frequency f , the photon carries an energy hf , where h is
Planck’s constant. As light is shone on the metal surface, a fraction of the energy called the
work function W < hf is absorbed by the metal surface. The ejected electron carries the
energy difference hf − W appearing as its kinetic energy. As the voltage Vs is made more and
more negative, the number of electrons reaching electrode Q diminishes with only the more
energetic electrons being able to overcome the opposing voltage. At the stopping voltage, the
maximum kinetic energy equals the voltage barrier. Given a potential of Vs , the corresponding
potential energy is eVs , e being the charge of the electron. This description allows us to write
the following equation,

eVs = hf − W
h
W

Vs = f− . (41)
e e

Comparing this with the least squares fitted equation 15, we immediately recognize that the
slope m is in fact an estimate of h/e and the intercept c is an estimate of W/e. Using the
slope and intercept from the best-fit and a value of e = 1.6022 × 10−19 C, the Planck constant
calculates to h = 6.342 × 10−34 J s and the work function to W = 6.814 × 10−19 J or 4.2535 eV.

29
References
[1] G.L. Squires, Practical Physics, (Cambridge University Press, 1999).

[2] http://nsbri.tamu.edu/HumanPhysSpace/focus6/student2.html.

[3] http://zirka.dp.ua/Instructions.htm.

[4] R. Millikan, ”A direct photoelectric determination of Planck’s “h””, Phys. Rev. 7 355
(1917).

[5] D. W. Preston, ”The Art of Experimental Physics”, (Cambridge University Press, 1991).

[6] www.maths.dundee.ac.uk/ ftp/na-reports/MatlabNotes.pdf.

[7] W. J. Palm, ”Introduction to Matlab 6 for Engineers”, (McGraw-Hill Companies, 2000).

[8] The Math Works, ”The Language of Technical Computing”, (The Math Works, 2000).

[9] Amos Gilat and Vish Subramaniam, ”Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists”,
(Wiley Companies, 2007).

30