The second video for the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, concerning least squares and curve fitting.
The text version of this lecture is here: Least Squares Analysis and Curve Fitting.
Additional Resources:
- Lab Procedure for Least Squares and Curve Fitting
- Concerning plotting this by hand, you’ll need to see this: Linear Regression by Hand.
- One topic that isn’t covered in the video lecture is multiple independent variables. It is covered in the handout; however, this is one of those times when a job is best left to someone else, and a video on how to use the spreadsheet LINEST function to accomplish this is here: Using LINEST for Least Squares Regression With More Than One Independent Variable.
- Least Squares and Curve Fitting Using a TI Business Analyst Calculator. For some, an interesting approach that combines a lot of manual input with automated number crunching. For others, a trip down memory lane from the early years of multifunction calculators.
- Choosing the best trendline for your data. Some advice from Microsoft.
- A comparison of the results of 1-norm to 2-norm data fitting
- For those of you who haven’t done much (if any) spreadsheet plotting, you might find this useful: Plotting Graphs With a Spreadsheet.
- What’s Really Important When You Hit the Field
Chet Aero Marine 