Nonlinear regression: Kinetics of sucrose inversion*©
Theresa Julia Zielinski Department of Chemistry, Medical Technology, and Physics Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898 United States mail to: tzielins@monmouth.edu
Abstract
This document provides students with an introduction to nonlinear curve fitting using data from an inversion of sucrose experiment. Students systematically explore the basic concepts of ploting data, writing the fitting function, estimating the fitting parameters and then finding the best fit parameters by minimizing the sum of the squares of the deviations (SSD) between the fitting function and the data. Students compare the SSD before and after obtaining the optimum parameters for the fitted function. In the final step students calculate the residuals and plot them to examine the distribution of residuals compared to ± 2 sigma. Guided inquiry questions are embedded throughout the document. This document can also be used as a template for fitting student data to the same function.
Keywords
Audiences: Upper-Division Undergraduate Pedagogies: Computer-Based Learning Domains: Physical Chemistry Topics: Chemometrics, Kinetics, Mathematics / Symbolic Mathematics
Documents
File Name Description Software Type Software Version tjznonlin.mcd Computational Document. Requires Mathcad 11 or higher. Mathcad 11 nonlin.mcd The foundation document written by Joseph Noggle. Mathcad tjznonlin.pdf Read-Only Document nonlin.pdf PDF for the foundation document.
Comments to: Theresa Julia Zielinski tzielins@monmouth.edu
©Copyright, Theresa Julia Zielinski, 2005. All rights reserved. You are welcome to use this document in your own classes but commercial use is not allowed without the permission of the authors.