Math Is Fun Forum
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#1 2012-11-23 01:05:25
Do you and should you trust empirical formulae?
Mode = 3 (median) - 2 (mean)
The above is an empirical formula of calculating the statistical mode of a data.
I have a few questions:
1. What are 'empirical' formulae?
2. Is the mentioned formula for mode proved? If not, then how did we come around it?
3. 'Mode is that outcome with the maximum frequency' This means that the Mode of the data is definately a member of the set of data. However, if we calculate mode according to the formula, it might not always be one of the members of the data. Any explanation for this?
'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
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#2 2012-11-23 01:45:24
- Bob
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- Registered: 2010-06-20
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Re: Do you and should you trust empirical formulae?
Hi Agnishom
Empirical means it is spotted from observations rather than derived from theory.
http://www.pinkmonkey.com/studyguides/s … 404601.asp
I cannot find anything that explains how Karl Pearson found the rule, but it is quite easy to make up examples where it is not true.
A good example of an empirical law is Bodes law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bode%27s_law
Of course it may be that we just lack the right theory to explain the relationship at this time.
You could argue that all scientific laws start as empirical (eg. Kepler's laws)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s … ary_motion
before someone comes along and provides the underlying theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s … ravitation
Bob
Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you! …………….Bob 
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#3 2012-11-23 14:04:46
Re: Do you and should you trust empirical formulae?
Hmm.....Thanks for helping
'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
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