SCHEDULE
Laboratories will begin on August 25, 1997 and run through December 5, 1997.
There will be 13 experiments. The purpose of this course is to teach you
how to make measurements of physical parameters and how to analyze and interpret
them. Working in groups of two, you will make measurements, tabulate and
graph your data, evaluate uncertainties on your measurements, analyze the
results of your experiments, and answer the questions for each experiment
which are given in the laboratory manual.
PREPARATION FOR THE LAB SESSIONS
You will find it very helpful to prepare well, i.e. read and study the materials
for the laboratories before you come to class. Being prepared before
you come to your lab session will enable you to finish on time, enjoy the
lab more and help you get a higher grade. During the first 10 minutes of
every lab period (except for the first lab of the semester) a closed book
quiz will be given and collected. These quizzes are aimed at testing your
readiness to perform that day's experiment. Only the material covered by
the manual will be tested. Please arrive on time or you will miss the quiz
and the credit for it. All the materials to be graded (your lab report
including data sheets, graphs, answers to questions, etc.) must be completed
during your lab period and handed in to the instructor before you
leave the lab.
The lab report consists of a cover sheet with your name, your student number and section number. This cover sheet should also contain a short description of the purpose of this experiment and a conclusion based upon your observations and measurements. Both of these parts should be in your own words, do not just copy the manual!!
GRADES
Your final grade will be determined on the basis of your performance in
the lab and in the quizzes. In the recent past the average grade for the
course has varied between 2.6 and 2.8. Laboratory reports contribute about
70% to your grade and quizzes will contribute about 30%.
Laboratory reports will be graded by your instructor on a 10 point scale and will be handed back at the beginning of the next lab. The points will be distributed as follows: purpose (2 pts), data sheets and answers to questions (6 pts) and conclusion (2 pts). If you want to produce a good lab report you should take care to have excellent data, have a complete and correct analysis and show a good understanding of the experiment in your answers to the questions and in your description of the purpose and the conclusion. Explain how you identified and tried to solve problems in the experiments, if there were any. Try to avoid wordiness and excessive detail since no credit will be given for that. Sloppy and agrammatical reports will be penalized.
Quizzes will in generally have 4 questions and will be graded on a 4 point scale.
MISSING LABS/MAKE-UP LABS
Due to the shortage of space and personnel it is virtually impossible to
arrange for makeups of missed labs. We shall therefore adopt a policy of
dropping the lowest scoring lab at the end of the term. Thus you may miss
one lab for any reason. You are, however, strongly encouraged to perform
all of the labs as experience has shown that grades of students who miss
EVEN ONE LAB are lower than those who attend and complete all labs.
Missed labs beyond one will automatically get a grade of zero. Should you
find yourself in a situation where you need to miss more than one lab for
valid medical reasons, you should consider the option of dropping the course.
Your instructor is in charge of all aspects of laboratory procedures. Please confer with your instructor first if you have a problem, since they can ordinarily solve most problems. The laboratory coordinator for this course is Prof. M. Abolins. His office hours are Monday, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The office and phone numbers are: room 256D and tel: 353-1677. If you cannot make these office hours and would like to make an appointment, please feel free to call his secretary (353-5180) or send an e-mail to abolins@pa.msu.edu. If you include a phone number, he will get back to you.
During this semester and the coming semesters computers will be used in the physics undergraduate labs. This is done for several reasons:
1) We want to remove lengthy and repetitive calculations from the labs, so that you can concentrate on the interpretation and analyses of the physics experiments performed.
2) We want to acquaint you with computers because they are modern tools used in nearly all fields of education and business.
3) We do NOT want to use the computer as a black box which does the experiment for you. It is a tool just like a voltmeter or an oscilloscope, except that it is more versatile.
There are five software tools you will use in the physics labs:
I. Microsoft Excel 5.0
This is a spreadsheet program which you use to record/store your data. An
empty spreadsheet is available at the start of each lab. The program allows
you to do ALL calculations on your data. This tool removes all repetitive
calculations from the lab, so you can concentrate on graphing and interpreting
your data. However, the spreadsheet does not do ALL the calculations for
you. In order to start the calculations you must perform at least one of
them by hand. After you enter the correct formula into the spreadsheet for
that particular quantity, the program will do all the other calculations
for you.
II. Kaleidagraph
This tool is a general plotting program. It takes its input from columns
of data and allows you to either plot a histogram of the contents of one
column and/or graph any column versus any other column. Although some of
these things are possible in Excel, Kaleidagraph has a very user friendly
interface for adjusting axes/labels/text/bins etc. in any of the graphs.
The input for the graphs is copied/pasted from the Excel spreadsheet. Once
you are satisfied with your graph (binning is correct, labels are clear,
axes are labeled and have units !!), you should save the graph on disk.
It can then either be printed separately or copied/pasted into your final
lab report.
III. Microsoft Word 6.0
Word is used as the standard wordprocessor for the lab. In the beginning,
it should be used for writing your introduction and conclusion. Toward the
end of the semester it is expected that you submit your completed report
in Word. This will allow you to include the relevant parts of your spreadsheets,
graphs, introduction, and conclusion.
IV. Video Point
This software allows you to collect coordinate data by clicking on locations
of interest on video images with a mouse. You are able to study two dimensional
motions by locating, displaying, and analyzing coordinate data obtained
from sequences of digitized video frames.
V. Graphing Calculator
This is a tool very similar to a graphics calculator, but much more flexible.
It allows you to graph functions in a very convenient way and even print
them out.
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Last updated on August 22, 1997 by Maris Abolins