Guess & Check Answer Strategy for Methods Assignments?

[GreenNinja]

Hi everyone,

Recently I watched the ATAR Notes lectures. One of the lectures I watched was a methods lecture, the lecturer covered how to complete our assignment to get as many marks as possible. However by the end I had a large question burning in my head which I couldn't get a answer to.

So.... In the lecture, the lecturer (he obtained full marks for assignment) showed his assignment and the functions he had developed to address the problem.
Here is an example of a function he created:

y=-0.2e^1.06tan(0.2(x+3.9))

(I don't think there is a way of getting this function mathematically, but feel free to inform me if I am wrong)

The lecturer said something about trying different values and finding the best fitting one (the solving explanation wasn't clear).

In a methods assignmnet do you think doing guess and check would be a good strategy (to get a complicated formula), and if it is a good stratedy what else do you have to do to keep the answer complex, so not to loose points for not have a complex answer and method of solving?

[GreenNinja]

Attached is a picture of it in desmos:

[fun_jirachi]

There's not enough context here for anyone to really attempt answering your question, unfortunately.

While I can infer that the lecturer was probably doing some sort of curve fitting, I can neither speak for the lecturer (or the used methods) or accurately guess what the problem was.

In general, guessing and checking is good for 'sanity tests' (for checking your answers) and getting your bearings (ie. where to start when constructing an answer). I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to construct an entire answer on guess and check because if asked to show your working and/or prove your answer there's not a whole lot of logic behind your answer outside of why you chose the guesses you chose.

"In a methods assignmnet do you think doing guess and check would be a good strategy (to get a complicated formula), and if it is a good stratedy what else do you have to do to keep the answer complex, so not to loose points for not have a complex answer and method of solving?"  -- again, the context here is minimal; I've answered the first part as best I can but I can't really answer the second part without more context on what your assignment(s) entail (note also that complexity of answers is relative and not well defined).

Hope this helps