Homework 1 notes:

Don't type in all of the data on your own. Instead, use a tool in the computer program of your choice to read in a data file.

To import in Excel, try Data-> Get External Data -> Import Text File

To import in Matlab, remove the comments in each file (line starts with #) and then type "load filename.dat". The data will go into a matrix called "filename".

If you are working with your own computer, there are lots of other good plotting programs out there. My favorite for linux is called xmgrace; it may also work on Mac OS X, but I'm not sure. Several free plotting programs for windows should also be available from various sources.

Late homework:

Late homework 1 assignments will be penalized using an exponential function,

C/C0 = exp(-k t)
Among other uses, this function is the solution to a first-order chemical rate equation,

dC/dt = -k C

where C is the concentration and k is the rate constant. For this assignment, k = 0.06/day. The concentration C corresponds to the number of possible points that can be earned, and t refers to the number of days that the homework is late.