Unless you are extraordinarily -- unbelievably -- lucky the measurement errors will result in three equations in two unknowns that do not have a solution as happened in the example. This usually happens because two lines in three dimensions usually do not intersect. Although the two theoretical lines do intersect the slight changes caused by measurement error cause the measured lines to no longer intersect.


Copyright c 1995 by Frank Wattenberg, Department of Mathematics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717