PHY 101 Term Paper — detailed instructions

• The paper should have this format:

Title

Author

Abstract

Text, including one figure, of 2.5 to 3 pages

Bibliography

• The figure must be one and only one diagram that you have created. A diagram is a sketch that explains some physics feature. A diagram is not a photograph. I will not accept diagrams downloaded from the Internet. (Of course you may use the internet to get an idea for a diagram, but you must create the diagram yourself.) A diagram that isn’t very good will lose points.
• The figure must include a caption that explains briefly what the figure shows. You don’t need to explain the diagram in detail in the caption, assuming the explanation is in the text. The caption does not need to be a complete sentence. The caption may be as short as a phrase; or as long as a few sentences, depending what the figure is and how it is explained in the text. The caption should appear right above or below the figure.
• All pages should have a page number.
• The line spacing in the text should be 1.5 lines spacing – not single-spaced and not double-spaced but 1.5 line spacing.
• The Abstract and Figure Caption should be single-spaced.
• Grammar and spelling should be correct. I’ll take off points for run-on sentences and sentence fragments.
• Grading: the paper will be graded for these characteristics:

Correctness

Quality of the writing

Quality of the diagram

You will lose points if you leave out any part of the proper format, including page numbering.

• If the bibliography causes the total length of the paper to run over 3 pages — that is OK; I won’t deduct any points. The text itself (including the figure) should be from 2.5 to 3 pages long.

Due Dates

Tuesday, October 30 — Complete rough draft

Tuesday, November 20 — Final paper for grade