[Donut]

Hey guys,

Im trying to write up a practical report that requires me to "calculate the probability that an Au particle will stick to the surface using a non-linear least squares fit of Abs = kt^1/2. So, I have no idea how to actually 'do' a non-linear least squares fit. I know that once I do have the trend I can then get the k which I can use to calculate my probability.

So basically, does anyone know how to do one of these 'non-linear least squares fit' things in excel? Is it even an option?! Im getting really frustrated!

Thanks!

[Yggdrasil]

Non-linear least squares fitting is not easy to do an AFAIK Excel cannot do it.  You would need some more advanced software like Matlab (perhaps you can get access to matlab from your school).

An alternative would be to convert your relation into a linear relation.  For example, if you plot (Abs)² v. time, you should get a straight line and Excel can do least-squares linear fitting to give you the slope (it's up to you to figure out how the slope relates to k).

[Donut]

Ok cool, thanks.