EXERCISE 4: FIT EXPERIMENTAL DATA TO THE MODEL KNIFE-EDGE PROFILE

Imagine that you have gone to the lab, set up the experiment to determine the beam profile, and obtained the data shown in the table below. Uncertainties in x are Δx=±0.0001 in., and the uncertainties in P(x)/P0are ±0.001.

x [in.] P(x)/P0 x [in.] P(x)/P0
-0.0366 1.000 0.0014 0.420
-0.0346 1.000 0.0034 0.315
-0.0326 1.000 0.0054 0.229
-0.0306 0.999 0.0074 0.156
-0.0286 0.999 0.0094 0.105
-0.0266 0.998 0.0114 0.066
-0.0246 0.998 0.0134 0.040
-0.0226 0.998 0.0154 0.025
-0.0206 0.995 0.0174 0.016
-0.0186 0.992 0.0194 0.012
-0.0166 0.983 0.0214 0.010
-0.0146 0.968 0.0234 0.008
-0.0126 0.947 0.0254 0.007
-0.0106 0.915 0.0274 0.007
-0.0086 0.870 0.0294 0.007
-0.0066 0.814 0.0314 0.006
-0.0046 0.738 0.0334 0.006
-0.0026 0.638 0.0354 0.005
-0.0006 0.532

On the same graph, plot: the experimental data with error bars: the “guess” function  with mm; and the fit function.