PHY 431 - OPTICS LAB, FALL 2009

Lab coordinator: Prof. Chih-Wei Lai
Room 4238 BPS Building
Telephone: 884-5675
Email: cwlai@msu.edu
Office Hours: 2-3 pm Wednesdays & Fridays, 4238 BPS

Teaching Assistant: Tim Evans, email: evansti4@msu.edu
Office Hours: email to schedule a personal appointment.
Instrument Coordinator: Mark Olson

The Lab meets in BPS 1250 with the schedule:

Sec 001 -- Mon 6pm (closed)
Sec 002 -- Wed 6 - 8:50 pm
Sec 003 -- Tues 6 - 8:50 pm
Sec 004 -- Wed 3 - 5:50 pm

Below is a summary of the content and requirements of the lab.

Requirements

You are required to attend one 3 hour lab per week. Bring a lab notebook to assist you in organizing your notes and to record raw data. The notebook need not be turned in with your write-ups but may be checked for a variety of reasons. Digital cameras are available in the lab but you may also use your own.  Please also bring a 3.5” floppy or a USB flash memory drive for saving digital images and data. There will be no opportunities to make up missed labs. Please consult the instructor in the case that more than one lab is missed for legitimate reasons (such as an extended illness). If possible, notify the instructor in advance of missing the lab.

Partners

The experiments are performed in groups of two. You should divide the labor equally with your partner and record the data in your own lab notebook. Although each group must perform the experiment independently of the others, you are encouraged to observe and discuss experimental issues with other groups.

Lab Notebooks

Requirements for laboratory notebooks can be found here.

Write-ups

Click here for a write-up example.

Each student is required to write an individual formal report for each experiment. The lab reports are due the following Tuesday at the beginning of the lecture. There are 11 experiment with each report worth a maximum of 10 points. The write-ups should be prepared using a word processor, such as MS Word or LaTeX, with imported graphics and images when applicable. Hand-written reports will not be accepted. The format should be based on the style of an American Institute of Physics (AIP) journal such as The Physical Review. The following sections must be included (point values shown in brackets).

Title [0]
Title of experiment. Include your name and the name of your partner at the top of the title page.

Abstract [1]
This briefly states the major result of the experiment. For example: “A Michaelson interferometer was used to determine the difference in wavelength of the sodium D lines. A value of 5.9 ± 0.2 Å was found, which agrees with the accepted value.”

Introduction [2]
This summarizes the main ideas of the experiment and the relationship to the appropriate theory. A sketch of the experiment should be included.

Analysis & Discussion [5]
Analyze data and compare quantitatively with expectations. Error estimates must always be given. Do not recopy all the raw data for your report. Give examples and/or the range of the numerical values where appropriate. Present data with graphs whenever possible. Do the measurements with the error estimates agree with theory? If not, can you suggest possible sources of the discrepancy?

Conclusion [2]
A brief statement summarizing your results is needed here. Did you find what you expected? What improvements would you make if you were to repeat the measurements?

Writing Reources

The MIT Junior Lab course website provides an APS style report example and TeX/LaTeX template. You can also find several very useful links to writing resources. Check http://web.mit.edu/8.13/www/writtensum.shtml.

Labs

Here is a tentative list of the laboratory topics. Click below to see the complete procedures. You are encouraged to read them in advance of each lab.  Labs are due the following week in class.

Grades

Your score will consist of the highest 10 of the 11 write-up scores. Hence the maximum point total is 10 x 10 = 100. At the end of the semester your point total will be scaled to count 35% toward your final grade. Note that it is required that you print and study the lab instructions posted online in advance. You will lose 1 point out of 10 for that lab report if you do not bring a printed copy of the lab instruction to the lab.

Absence / Late Policy

There will be no opportunities to make up a missed lab. If only one lab is missed, there is no need to provide an excuse, as only the highest 10 of 11 labs count toward the final grade. If more than one lab is missed with a legitimate excuse, such as an extended illness, you should inform me by email or phone no more than 48 hrs after the lab. In most cases I will ask for some documentation, such as a doctor’s note.

Students who arrive late may not be allowed to do the lab at the instructor's discretion. Labs that are turned in after their due date will be penalized by one point per day. For example, a lab turned in a week late will be penalized by seven points. If the lab was turned in late for a legitimate reason, once again you should notify me within 48 hours.