Finding an oscillator's period with a dataset in Mathematica

[Shukie]

Homework Statement

I have a dataset of an oscillator with 51 measurements, I uploaded it http://home.orange.nl/~kuip3148/osc.dat . It's in the form of {time, position}. I have to find the period of this oscillator in Mathematica.

Homework Equations

I have to use the NonLinearRegress function to find it.

The Attempt at a Solution

I started with the following code:

data = {oscdata};
{tdata, xdata} = Transpose[data]

Homework Statement

That gives me the first problem, because I get an error saying the two lists are not the same shape, while they clearly are. Anyone know why that's happening?

"Lists {tdata,xdata} and \
{{{0,0.369}},{{0.1,0.0999}},{{0.2,0.0904}},{{0.3,-0.054}},{{0.4,-0.1}}\
,{{0.5,-<<6>>}},{{0.6,-0.328}},{{0.7,-0.388}},{{0.8,-0.486}},{{0.9,-0.\
576}},<<51>>} are not the same shape"

 

[CompuChip]

That's strange, it worked perfectly here

data = Import["[PLAIN]http://home.orange.nl/~kuip3148/osc.dat"][/PLAIN] 
{tdata, xdata} = Transpose[data]

 

[thomate1]

As a scientist, your first step would be to troubleshoot and identify the source of the error. In this case, it seems like the issue could be with the formatting of the dataset. It is possible that there are extra characters or formatting errors that are causing the lists to be of different shapes.

To address this, you can try using the Import function in Mathematica to directly import the data from the provided link. This may help to eliminate any potential formatting errors.

Once the dataset is properly imported, you can use the NonlinearRegress function to fit a nonlinear model to the data and determine the period of the oscillator. This function allows you to specify the model, in this case, a sinusoidal function, and it will provide the best fit parameters, including the period.

Overall, it is important to carefully check the formatting and structure of the data before attempting to analyze it in Mathematica. Troubleshooting errors and ensuring the data is clean and properly formatted will lead to more accurate and reliable results.