PHY.5:4.1 - Choose the physical consequence and its resolution

State what the answer will let someone interpret, choose or do. Identify the relevant quantity and how it is used: an instantaneous value, a time integral, a spatial average, a peak, a correlation or a probability can require different descriptions of the same situation.

Include the preparation, forcing, spatial range and observation interval when they affect that answer. For example, the first moment after switching can include a motion that has already decayed when a later reading is taken. A question about a wave’s arrival concerns a propagating disturbance and the wavelengths present in it.

Use the working question to choose adequate resolution. If a bound already determines the choice, recovering a detailed trajectory may add nothing to that choice. C.11.DUA helps when the value of further inquiry is uncertain. B.5.MPC connects the mathematical result and its conditions to the physical question.