Posted by Joel on October 29, 2002 at 00:39:13:
In Reply to: algebra posted by Michelle on October 28, 2002 at 18:50:07:
: is wind speed over a 24-h period continuous or discrete? and why? Thanks
Continuous: over any given period of time the wind speed will take on every value from some minimum to some maximum. This characteristic is true of most physical phenomena.
It would be discrete if there were gaps between the possible values; i.e. if the speed could be 5 mph or 6 mph but nothing in between (which of course is not the case). An example of discrete data is when you are counting things: how many hamsters are in the cage? Valid answers would be 1, 2, 3, etc. Not 0.25, 1.27, and so on (unless a cat got in there). So the number of hamsters in the cage would be discrete data.