Physics A level question (AQA)

[blooskie]

Can anyone please confirm whether "lines of best fit" will only need to be done by eye in AQA physics, not be calculated using a mathematical method?

I'm asking because one of my son's homework questions could only be answered correctly using linear regression. However, I suspect the teacher who originally set the question (probably several years ago, as it was from a question bank) may have either been over-zealous or just too daft to realise their multi-choice options were too similar to be distinguished if the line was fitted by eye.

If you look up Maths skills for A level Physics on the AQA website, that should provide the answer to your question.
For a 1 mark question, I would expect to have to use a calculator. Questions involving plotting graphs would be more than 1 mark and there would be a range of values allowed in the answer.
Your criticism of the teacher who wrote the paper is unreasonable imho.

If you look up Maths skills for A level Physics on the AQA website, that should provide the answer to your question.

I wasn't able to find confirmation one way or the other from the AQA website.

My son has the AQA textbook for the course and it implies it can/should be done by eye, but it doesn't say explicitly.

For a 1 mark question, I would expect to have to use a calculator. Questions involving plotting graphs would be more than 1 mark and there would be a range of values allowed in the answer.

The question didn't involve plotting a graph, it involved finding the gradient of a line of best fit through a pre-plotted graph.

Finding a line of best fit precisely using a calculator is a more advanced skill than doing it by eye, so I would expect it to be worth more than one mark.

The homework question wasn't from an exam paper so there was no marking scheme, it was a multi-choice question that was simply right or wrong.

Not up to date.

It seems to me that if they wanted a linear regression they would say something like 'calculate the line of best fit' as opposed to a by eye 'draw the line of best fit'.

OP, your original post did not state that a graph was provided with the question.
For your information, I have taught Science at A level and would expect my students (rather than their parents) to approach me directly if there was an issue with one of the homework questions that I had set rather than asking strangers on the internet.
For multiple choice questions it is rare for working to be shown on a markscheme. It's one mark and either correct or incorrect as you state.
Maths skills were only formalised for the new syllabus and there is sometimes a shortage of "good" questions that cover this well.
There are Maths skills for A level Physics type books available from CGP that may be a help as well.

For aqa A level physics you just draw the line by eye. They'll have set an internal tolerance when marking but a general rule of thumb is an equal number of points above and below the line.

Thanks @Mummy08m , that's helpful and in line with what I thought.

I have taught Science at A level and would expect my students (rather than their parents) to approach me directly if there was an issue with one of the homework questions that I had set rather than asking strangers on the internet

@catndogslife If my son's teacher was approachable perhaps he would have asked her, but as he started at a new selective sixth form 4 weeks ago, one of just a handful that transferred from a non-selective school, he is still working out what he should and shouldn't know. He asked me about it because I have a degree in physics. I showed him how to work out the answer using linear regression. The physics teacher had not taught him that, which is what made me suspicious that it is not needed for physics A Level. I am asking Mumsnet because I know that some of the "strangers" here are very knowledgeable.

You didn't know the answer to my question, so you have made judgemental comments instead, making assumptions where you didn't have all the information. That is par for the course on Mumsnet and water off a ducks back as far as I'm concerned. However, thank you for bumping the thread.

I'm sure my son will cover regression in maths soon and the dots will join up. In the meantime the person who wrote the question may have assumed all the students have done further maths GCSE (which my son didn't do but most others inn his class did do).

They don't even need linear regression for the AQA physics required practicals. I think it's only taught in statistics as part of further maths A level but you'd have to check the further maths spec.

If in doubt, download the aqa physics practical handbook which will explain all about how we do uncertainties, error bars and everything related.