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Graphing is one of the basic techniques used in experimental physics. The

following are some of the common uses of graphs:

(a) Determination of the value of some physical quantity, usually represented by the
slope or the intercept of a straight line.

(b) Graphs may be used as visual aids. Experimental data are usually recorded first
in tabulated form. The variation or trend of the data as a function of some
experimentally controlled parameter is most easily seen when plotted in a
graph. Also, the experimental data can be easily compared with a theoretical
curve when both are plotted in the same graph.

(c) An empirical equation may be obtained from experimental data by curve fitting.


The following general rules should be observed in plotting graphs:

(a) Choice of Scales

In drawing graphs, choose scales such that the data points are spread over the
graph paper. Do not cramp your graph into one corner or a small section of the
sheet (See Fig. 1(a) and Fig. 1(b)). The scale need not be the same for both
axes, but make them convenient, i.e. have each division equal to 1, 2, 5, 10, etc.
units. Do not use 3, 7, 9, etc. The numbers increase from left to right and from
bottom to top. It is customary to plot the independent variable as abscissa (x-
axis) and the dependent variable as ordinate (y-axis).

Fig. 1(a) is not a very useful graph. The results are plotted on an expanded
scale in Fig. 1(b) which is more informative.

(b) Plotting

Locate experimental points by small, sharp dots. Draw around each point a
small circle in ink. A cross and other symbols may also be used. Draw a
smooth curve, first in pencil and then in ink, passing through (or near) as many
points as possible, but do not draw the final line through the circles. The curve
should indicate the average trend of the data (See Fig. 2). The "smoothness" of
a curve can be tested by looking along with the eye on the same level as the

graph paper. Any sudden bends or kinks in the curve will show up from this
angle and must be smoothed out.

(c) Labelling Curve and Coordinates

Write the title of the curve on the sheet. Along each axis label the coordinates,
stating the quantity plotted and the units in which it is expressed (See Fig. 3).
When two or more curves are plotted on one sheet, use different colors of ink if
possible for the different scales and corresponding curves, or else use dotted or
broken lines.

(d) Interpretation of Curves

Try to find out what physical law or conclusions may be drawn from such a
curve. For example, if a curve of distances (covered by a body falling from
rest) against squares of the time is plotted, and this comes out as a straight line
passing through the origin, the conclusion would be that the distance covered by
a falling body is directly proportional to the square of the time.


Sometimes in a physical problem the dependence of one quantity upon another

can be deduced theoretically, and sometimes it must be arrived at experimentally. The
mathematical relationship between two quantities may be determined experimentally
by observing a series of values of one of them corresponding to various arbitrary values
of the other (all other factors being kept constant). And then the data can be fitted into
a curve. At this stage an equation which describes the curve may be obtained. An
equation established in this way is called an empirical equation.

In the graphical analysis of experimental data, the straight line assumes a

fundamental role since it can readily be recognized, whereas the exact nature of a
nonlinear graph is often difficult to identify.

If data plotted on rectangular graph paper results in a straight line, the variable y
is linear in x, then the graphical plot is a straight line of the form

y = mx + c

where m is the slope of the curve and c is the y intercept.

Many equations which are not linear can be made so by changing the variables
which are actually being plotted. This can be seen by a few examples given below:

(i) If the equation is of the form

y = x2

a plot of y vs x yields a parabola but a plot of y vs x 2 yields a straight line (See

Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 4(b)).

1 1
(ii) For y = , a plot of y vs x yields a hyperbola but a plot of y vs yields a
x x
straight line (See Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 5(b)).

(iii) The mathematical statement of a power function is

y cx n

where c and n are constant. Taking the logarithms of both sides of the above
equation yields
log y = log c + n log x .

A plot of log y vs log x gives a straight line. Its slope is the value of the
constant n and the constant c can be determined from the intercept along the log
y axis.

We give two methods for fitting the best, i.e. most probable, line through a set
of points:

(a) The Method of Least Squares

Suppose there are n pairs of measurements ( x1 , y1 ), ( x 2 , y 2 ), .., ( x n , y n )

and the errors are entirely in the y values. We want to fit them into a straight

y = mx + c .

For a given pair of values for m and c, the deviation of the ith reading is (See
Fig. 6)

The best values of m and c are taken to be those for which

( y i mxi c ) 2

is a minimum - hence the name method of least squares. In the above

summation, the subscript i runs from 1 to n. The required values of m and c are
obtained by solving simultaneous equations

0 (4.1)

0 (4.2)

which are the same as

m xi2 c x i x i y i (4.3)

m xi cn y i (4.4)

respectively. Eq. (4.4) shows that the best line passes through the point

1 1
x xi , y yi (4.5)
n n

On solving eq. (4.3) and eq. (4.4) simultaneously we have


xi x y i

xi x 2

c y mx (4.7)

It can be shown that the standard errors in m and c are given by

1 d i2
m 2 (4.8)
D n2

1 x
c 2 (4.9)
n D
n 2


D xi x 2
and d i y i mxi c

(b) Points in Pairs

Without the help of a calculator, the method of the least squares is laborious.
The following method is much simpler in practice and is often adequate for the

In order to illustrate the method, suppose that we have 8 points ( x1 , y1 ), (

x 2 , y 2 ), . . . , ( x8 , y 8 ) that lie approximately on a straight line and we require

the best value of the slope m and its error. Let the points be numbered in order
from 1 to 8 (See Fig. 7). Divide the points into pairs:

( x1 , y1 ) and ( x5 , y 5 ),
( x2 , y2 ) and ( x 6 , y 6 ),
( x3 , y 3 ) and ( x7 , y 7 ),
( x4 , y 4 ) and ( x8 , y 8 ),

Next find the slopes corresponding to each pair:
y 5 y1
m1 ,
x5 x1

y6 y2
m2 ,
x6 x2


We take their mean m as the best value of m and find its error by the common
sense approach. The best line given by this method is the one with the slope m

that passes through the point ( x, y ).


1. L.R. Ingersoll, M.J. Martin, T.A. Rouse: A Laboratory Manual of Experiments

in Physics.

2. H.F. Meiners, W. Eppenstein, K.H. Moore: Laboratory Physics.

3. G.L. Squires: Practical Physics.


1. (a) On a single graph plot the following curves:

y 1.5 x 3

y x2

1 3
y x
for values of x between - 3 and + 3.

(b) By observing the points of intersection of the curves in (a) find the roots
of each of the equations:

x 2 1.5 x 3 0

1 3
x 1.5 x 3 0

(Note that in order to obtain reasonably accurate values for the roots, the grid
x should not exceed 0.1 in the regions near the solutions).

2. The relation between the time of swing or period, T, of a pendulum and its
length L is given by

T 2 L g

where g is a constant.

The value of L and T obtained from an experiment are:

L(cm) : 24 49 74 105 150

T(sec) : 1.02 1.45 1.80 2.07 2.48

(a) Determine g by the following way. Substitute each pair of the values for
L and T into the above formula to obtain a value for g, then find the
mean g .

(b) Determine g from the graph of T2 vs L.

(c) State which method you would consider to give the more accurate value
of g, and why.

3. To obtain the coefficient of friction between two wooden surfaces the following
formula was used:
mass of pan mass in pan
coefficient of friction
mass of tray mass in tray

p w


p = mass of pan, w = mass in pan
T = mass of tray, W = mass in tray

The values of w and W obtained by experiment were as follows:

W(gm) : 0 200 400 600

w(gm) : 21 86 143 208

What is the value of the coefficient of friction, ?

4. The relation between the current i sent through a galvanometer of resistance G

by a cell of constant e.m.f. E, when the external resistance is R, is given by


The relation between the current i and the deflection it produces in a tangent
galvanometer is given by
i = k tan

where k is a constant.

Determine graphically the resistance G of the galvanometer from the

experimental results:

R (ohm) : 1 5 14 26 38 61
(degree) : 71 63 51 40 32 23

5. A ball rolls down a slope. The distances s covered at different times t are given

t (sec) : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
s (m) : 0 2 8 18 32 50 72

Plot the graph of s against t.

(a) The velocity, v, of the ball is the instantaneous rate at which distance is
covered, (i.e. the velocity is the rate of increase of s with respect to t).
What is the velocity after 1 sec., 2 secs., 3 secs., 4 secs., and 5 secs.?

(b) The acceleration, a, of the ball is the instantaneous rate at which the
velocity increases, (i.e. the acceleration is the rate of increase of v with
respect to t). Draw the velocity - time graph and from it find the
acceleration after 1 sec., 3 secs., and 5 secs. Is the acceleration
constant? What is the relation between v and t?

(c) Find the area (in velocity - time units) under the (v, t) curve between the
third and the fourth seconds. Compare your answer with the distance
covered during the fourth second as read off from the (s, t) graph. What
conclusion can you draw from your observations?

6. Using the values of s and t of Problem 5, plot log s against log t. Hence
determine the relationship between s and t.

7. The data below refer to the amplitudes of successive swings of the pendulum
vibrating in a viscous medium.

Number of swings (x) : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Amplitude of swings (): 7.6 6.3 5.2 4.3 3.6 2.9 2.5 2.0 1.7 1.4

The relation between and x is of the form

ae bx

where is in radians.

(a) Show that the above relation can be converted to

log = log a + 0.4343 bx

(b) Plot log vs x and determine the constants a and b from the graph.

8. (a) Using the method of "Points in Pairs", find the slope and its error for
the best line that passes through the experimental points:

x : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
y : 0.2 1.0 1.9 2.9 4.2 4.8 6.2 7.1 8.0 8. 8

(b) Plot the experimental points and the best line determined in (a) on the
same sheet.