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Tolerance.tex
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- Fix typo.
- $<$ used for less than.
1: \label{Tolerance}
2: A \textbf{tolerance\index{tolerance}} parameter determines how closely
3: the system will require the student's answer to be in order to count it correct.
4: The tolerance will default to zero if it is not defined.
5: The tolerance parameter should always be defined for a numerical problem
6: unless you are certain only integer answers are generated from your script and
7: you want students to reply with exactly that integer.
8:
9: If the computer answer is a floating point number, the tolerance should not
10: be zero. Computers can only approximate computations involving real numbers. For instance,
11: a computer's {[}decimal{]} answer to the simple problem $\frac{1}{3}$ is
12: {}``0.33333333333333331''. It \emph{should} be an infinite series of 3's,
13: and there certainly shouldn't be a {}``1'' in the answer, but no computer
14: can represent an infinitely long, infinitely detailed real number. Therefore,
15: for any problem where the answer is not an integer, you \emph{need}
16: to allow a tolerance factor, or the students will find it nearly impossible
17: to exactly match the computer's idea of the answer. You may find the
18: default tolerance too large for some problems, so adjust as appropriate.
19:
20: There are three kinds of tolerance. For some answer $A$ and a tolerance $T$,
21:
22: \begin{enumerate}
23: \item an \textbf{Absolute} tolerance\index{absolute tolerance}\index{tolerance, absolute}
24: will take anything in the range $A\pm T$. So if $A=10$ and $T=2$, then
25: anything between 8 and 12 is acceptable.
26: Any number in the tolerance field \emph{without} a \textbf{\%} symbol is
27: an absolute tolerance.
28: \item a \textbf{Relative} tolerance\index{relative tolerance}\index{tolerance, relative}
29: will take anything in the range $A\pm aT$, where \emph{T} is interpreted
30: as a percentage/100. Any number in the tolerance field \emph{followed by} a \textbf{\%}
31: symbol is a relative tolerance. For example, $a=10$ and $t=10\%$ will accept
32: anything between 9 and 11.
33:
34: \item a tolerance that is a calculated variable (identified by \$ sign as
35: the first character). For example, if an answer is $\$X$,and for a student
36: possible values range from $-\$X1$ to $+\$X1$, you could choose $T =
37: \$tolerance = \$2X1/100;$ acceptable answers would then be from
38: $\$X-\$tolerance$ to $\$X+\$tolerance$. (This is especially useful when answers
39: close to zero are possible for some students)
40:
41: \end{enumerate}
42:
43: Some care is necessary when setting the display format of the computer answer.
44: Before testing the tolerance, LON-CAPA converts the computer answer,
45: as generated in the script block, according to the
46: format attribute in the numericalresponse tag.
47:
48: Next, the formatted comptuer answer is "graded" relative to the significant
49: figures parameter, if it is set (see section \ref{Significant_Figures}.
50: If that test was passed, then a numerical comparison of the Computer's
51: answer is made with the range of values:
52:
53: (\$computerAnswer - \$tolerance) $<$ \$formattedcomputerAnswer $<$
54: (\$computerAnswer + \$tolerance)
55:
56: If the \$formattedcomputerAnswer satisfies the permitted range, then
57: "correct" is returned for the computer answer. It is good idea to test multiple
58: randomizations to make sure that your tolerance is compatible with the display format.
59:
60:
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