62. Ted opened his notebook again, this time with a renewed sense of purpose.

Ted opened his notebook again, this time with a renewed sense of purpose. He carefully laid out his graphing paper, arranged his reference materials, and placed the oscilloscope readings in front of him – the differential equations with the particular integrals evaluated. This was it. He wasn’t going to let the numbers get the better of him.

First, he reviewed the problem statement from the Electrical Technology assignment. It involved analyzing the phase shifts between voltage and current in an AC circuit under varying loads – varying distances between bearings. He had already worked out the theoretical assumptions, but something about the experimental data didn’t align.

He put down his Daddy’s slide rule and picked up his newly purchased calculator, and began cross-checking his calculations. The impedance of the circuit seemed correct—resistance, inductance, and capacitance all factored in. But when he compared the calculated phase shift to the oscilloscope readings, there was still a discrepancy. So it wasn't his Daddy's slide rule to be blamed.

Ted frowned and flipped through his notes, searching for an error. Could it be a calibration issue with the oscilloscope? Or maybe I’ve overlooked a factor in the circuit’s behavior under load? His mind raced as he considered the possibilities.

He decided to approach the problem methodically. He created a new table to organize his data, listing the voltage, current, and observed phase shift for each trial. Then he calculated the expected phase shifts based on his theoretical model. Comparing the two columns, he spotted a pattern: the discrepancy increased with higher frequencies – considering the natural frequency of the system.

Of course, he thought, almost smacking his forehead. The parasitic capacitance in the wires! I completely forgot to account for it.

Excitedly, he grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and adjusted his equations to include the parasitic capacitance. The new calculations matched the experimental data almost perfectly. Ted felt a wave of relief and satisfaction wash over him.

With the error identified and corrected, he moved on to finalizing his assignment. He redrew the graphs to reflect the corrected data, annotated the charts with explanations, and wrote a concise summary of his findings. By the time he finished, the report was polished and ready to submit.

Ted leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath. The task that had seemed insurmountable just hours ago was now complete. He felt a sense of accomplishment, but also a reminder of the importance of patience and methodical thinking.

As he packed up his materials, he couldn’t help but smile. The day had tested his resolve, but he had come out stronger for it. Maybe this Wednesday wasn’t so bad after all.