Numeric Response¶

Numeric response areas accept a number for an answer. At their simplest, they can be a single input box expecting an exact value. However they can be controlled to accept a physical unit too, or mark answers to a prescribed tolerance.

Minimum Parameters¶

The minimum parameters needed to create a numeric response area are:

mode which must be Numeric
answer which must be an object containing num, which holds correct answer as a number.

{
  "mode": "Numeric",
  "answer": {
    "num": 3.1415
  }
}

Extra Parameters¶

showUnits must be either true or false. This determines if the user must also put in a correct unit. If true, then answer.units becomes a required parameter. By default, it is false.
units which must be placed within answer, must be a string containing the correct physical constant of the answer. This should only be added to properties if showUnits is true:

{
  "mode": "Numeric",
  "showUnits": true,
  "answer": {
    "num": 1000,
    "units": "kg"
  }
}

negStyle must be either minus, paren or both to allow a minus sign, parentheses or both to be used for negation. By default, it is minus.
numStyle must be a string containing certain keywords words separated by a whitepace. These keywords are:
- thousands which allows a user to use commas as a seaparator in their answer. This is included by default.
- scientific which allows a user to use E+10, E-3, etc. to denote orders of magnitude. This is included by default.
- arithmetic which allows a user to use +,-,*,/ in their answers.
- dollars which allows a user to use predefined variables from the questions. These are called as $VARIABLE_NAME.
grading must be either:
- exact_value which requires the user to give the exact answer. This the default value.
- exact_sigd which requires the user to give an answer correct to a specific number of significant digits. If used, digits becomes a required parameter.
- toler_abs which requires the user to give an answer correct to within a specific error. If used, err becomes a required parameter.
- toler_sigd which requires the user to give an answer correct to within a specific error at a specific decimal place. This means that if an answer had to be within 0.002, it would have an error of 2 at digit 3. If used, err and digit become required parameters.
- toler_perc which requires the use to give an answer correct to within a specific percentage of the correct answer. If used, perc becomes a required parameter.
err represents an absolute error and must be a float or integer. This should only exist if grading is set to toler_abs or toler_sigd.
digit represents the nth digit in a number and must be an integer. This should only exist if grading is set to exact_sigd or toler_sigd.
perc represents a percentage and must be a float or integer. This should only exist if grading is set to toler_perc.

Example Usage¶

Taken from ME2 Fluid Mechanics tutorial sheet 2, this part contains a Numeric response area with some extra parameters. The response area now requires the user to input both a number and a unit using answer.units and showAnswer. The user has also been given a tolerance that their answer must fall into using grading and perc.

In this case, Their answer must be equal to 2 ± 5% m/s in order to get the point.

{
  "statement": "We are going to test a \\(1/25\\) scale model of a \\(100\\,\\mathrm{m}\\) long ship. If the maximum velocity of the full-scale ship is \\(10\\,\\mathrm{m/s}\\), what should the maximum speed of the model be?",
  "response": {
    "mode": "Numeric",
    "grading": "toler_perc",
    "perc": 5.0,
    "showUnits": true,
    "answer": {
        "num": 2.0,
        "units": "m/s"
    }
  }
}