The sum of squared errors (SSE) is a measure used to assess the accuracy of a model's predictions. It is calculated by taking the differences between the observed values and the predicted values, squaring these differences, and then summing them up. Here's a step-by-step outline of how SSE is calculated:

1. Predict the values using the model (in this case, the ideal gas law $P = \frac{nRT}{V}$).
2. Calculate the errors: Subtract each observed value from its corresponding predicted value.
3. Square the errors: Square each of these differences to ensure they are positive and to penalize larger errors more.
4. Sum the squared errors: Add up all the squared errors to get the SSE.

Mathematically, for a set of observed values $P_i$ and predicted values $\hat{P}_i$, the SSE is given by:

$\text{SSE} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} (P_i - \hat{P}_i)^2$

Where:

• $P_i$ is the observed pressure.
• $\hat{P}_i$ is the predicted pressure using the ideal gas law.
• $n$ is the number of observations.

In the context of the given problem, we calculated the predicted pressures for each temperature using the ideal gas law, subtracted the observed pressures from these predicted pressures, squared the differences, and summed them to obtain the SSE for both students' data.

Would you like more details or have any other questions?

Here are 5 questions you can ask next:

1. Can you show the step-by-step SSE calculation for one of the data points?
2. What are the assumptions behind the ideal gas law?
3. How does the volume of the gas affect the pressure in the ideal gas law?
4. What are some real-world applications of the ideal gas law?
5. How do we handle outliers in experimental data analysis?

Tip: When interpreting SSE, remember that a smaller SSE indicates a better fit of the model to the observed data.