Manchas Solares y la Ley de Newcomb-Benford.; Manchas Solares e a Lei de Newcomb-Benford; Manchas Solares y la Ley de Newcomb-Benford.; Manchas Solares e a Lei de Newcomb-Benford; Sunspots and the Newcomb-Benford Law.
Abstract
The Newcomb-Benford's Law (LNB) of first digits is introduced to high school students in an extracurricular activity through the study of sunspots. The LNB establishes that the first digits of various sets of data describing natural occurrences are not distributed uniformly, but according to a logarithmic distribution of probability. The LNB is counter-intuitive and is a good example of how mathematics applied to the study of natural phenomena can provide surprising and unexpected results serving also as a motivating agent in the study of physical sciences.
- Publication:
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Latin American Journal of Astronomy Education
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008RELEA...6...21A
- Keywords:
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- Teaching of astronomy;
- Extracurricular activity;
- Sunspots;
- Newcomb-Benford's Law