Yoman Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Hello everyone! I am in the process of doing an extended essay in physics. I built a trebuchet and through the use of some applied calculations tried to determine its range. I then experimented in real life and got results that don't match the calculations. I tried my best to explain it away by citing air resistance and friction within the system, but I feel that this only goes so far. Is it alright if I just say "I have no idea why this is happening"? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 No idea what a trebuchet is, but to answer your question: No, don't say you have no idea why it's happening. Explain it away in all the ways you can. Find mistakes with every small thing you did. Or even hypothesize a new version of the theory you are testing. If you run out of ways to explain your error, ask your teacher. Find a university professor. Find anyone. But ending your EE by saying that you couldn't find out what went wrong probably won't get you marks for completeness of investigation. If you have time, repeat the experiment at least once more. Then you can look for error margins and compare your technique. If the results do differ the second time, you should probably do it a third time, otherwise your theory will be based on a 50% margin of error (which is huge). They say the third time is lucky... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoman Posted January 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Thanks a lot. I think the final is due tomorrow so I'm just going to wing it. How many marks out of 36 is a C? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Grade boundaries are the same for all EE subjects. They go: A: 30-36 B: 25-29 C: 17-24 D: 9-16 E: 0-8 C is the usual grade, apparently. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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