Syllabus for PHY252

Syllabus for PHY252

Spring 2012

LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS

Coursepack: PHYSICS 252 Introductory Physics Laboratory II, Spring 2012 can be purchased only at the Spartan Bookstore in the International Center. Make sure that you've got the packet for Spring 2012 since the experiments are different semester to semester.

Calculator: Trigonometric and logarithmic functions are required. Statistical functions might be useful, but are not required.

USB Stick: The files on the computers are volatile...that is, if the computer is restarted your files will have been erased. It is a good idea to have a USB stick inserted that you backup to periodically during the lab in case the computer crashes.

Pens and a Straight-Edge: Pencils are not allowed, ink is required.

PHY252 on the Web : http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2012spring/PHY252

Cover Page: Fill out this cover sheet each week and bring it with you to lab.

SCHEDULE
Laboratories will begin on January 9, 2012 and run through April 27, 2012. There will be 11 experiments and 2 practical labs. 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 in your measurements, analyze the results of your experiments, and answer the questions for each experiment given in the laboratory manual. For the practical labs you will work alone. A schedule of the lab experiments is available from the course web page at http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2012spring/PHY252/schedule.html

PREPARATION FOR THE LAB SESSIONS
You will find it very helpful to prepare(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 5 minutes of every lab period an open book quiz will be given aimed at testing your readiness to perform that day's experiment. Please arrive on time or you will miss the quiz and the points. The quiz cannot be started when there is less than 1 minute to go in the 5 minutes allotted.

All materials to be graded must be completed during your lab period and handed in to the instructor before you leave the lab; there will be ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS. The lab report consists of a cover sheet (that can be downloaded from here) plus any spreadsheets (both data and formula views from Excel) and plots requested. Please print out and fill in the cover sheet each week before coming to lab. Sample calculations are required for each formula that was entered your spreadsheet to verify it was done correctly. At the bottom of any plot must be a statement of what is being plotted, and if a straight line fit is done, a quote of its parameters (e.g. slope and its uncertainty). In addition, any worksheets containing questions to be answered should be turned in with your data.

During practical labs, no outside notes, calculators or discussions with other students are allowed. Each student will perform one of the experiments that was done earlier in the semester by him or herself. The experimental write-up for the practical will be posted on the course website the week before the lab. It will be worth 20 points and you'll have 45 minutes to complete it. During the week of a practical, half of the class will do the lab during the first 45 minutes and the other half during the last 45 minutes of the lab period. A schedule will be arranged a week before the practical. There will be 2 practical labs (one the week before spring break, the other the last week of class) this semester.

GRADES
All labs, including the practicals, will be graded by your instructor on a 20 point scale and will be handed back at the beginning of the next lab. The points will be distributed roughly as follows: quiz (3 pts), acquisition of data (5 pts), graphs and calculations (6 pts), and answers to questions (6 pts).

Your grade will be based on the total number of points for the labs and quizzes. Since the instructors for the various sections do not necessarily grade identically, the scores for a given instructor's sections will be considered as a group for grading purposes. Each of the groups will receive approximately the same average grade in the course, so that there is no advantage to having one instructor rather than another. Within the group, the grades will be assigned strictly in order of points achieved. The grade will be assigned by a curve, not a "straight scale". In the past, the average for the course was about 2.6. Please obtain from your instructor and save your graded lab reports and quizzes. You will need all of these if, at the end of the semester, you think your grade wasn't correctly calculated.

Plagiarism or copying will not be tolerated. Lab partners are expected to turn in copies of the same Excel spreadsheets and graphs. However, answers to the questions and comments on graphs are not to be copied. Any lab report which copies directly from the lab manual will receive a zero. Students turning in identical or slightly modified versions for the answers to questions will receive zeros for that lab. Please review MSU's policy on Academic Integrity at https://www.msu.edu/~ombud/academic-integrity/index.html.

MISSING LABS/MAKE-UP LABS
Because personally participating in each laboratory is an essential part of this course, you must be present for each session. Should you find yourself in a position where you must miss a session, you should contact your instructor beforehand and provide an explanatory note with suitable documentation. Make-up labs will be limited to attending another lab section during the same week (as the equipment changes each week) that has less than 20 students enrolled. Please note that most sections are currently full so it may not be possible to find room in another section for a make-up lab. If you miss a lab for an unanticipated reason, such as illness, you must notify your instructor no later than 24 hours after the missed lab and provide suitable documentation (i.e. a note from your doctor). Your TA is in charge of finding you an open lab slot for a make-up. Do not show up at another section without prior arrangements or you will not be admitted. To ease the burden on students who miss a lab due to a legitimate reason, we will drop the lowest lab score of the semester (which can be one of your practical labs) before computing your grade. Absences that are not excused will receive a zero for the lab and cannot be used as your dropped score.

Your lab instructor is in charge of all aspects of laboratory procedures. Please confer with him/her if you have a problem, since they can ordinarily solve most of them. Communications regarding the day-to-day operations (i.e. a missed lab) of your section should be directed to your TA and NOT the lab coordinator.

If there are issues that your instructor cannot address, you should contact the lab coordinator Professor Kirsten Tollefson. Her office is in 3247 BPS. Please set up an appointment by e-mail to tollefson@pa.msu.edu.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

· Bring a USB memory stick so you can save your files as you work. There is no space on the computers in the lab for your files.

· SAVE YOUR DATA OFTEN!!! There are no student data back-ups and all data is deleted when you log-off the computer at the end of the lab period.

· All the necessary computer software and spreadsheets will be on the computer when you start, so you should not have to search for items.

· No food or drinks of any kind are allowed in the laboratories....there are NO exceptions.

YOUR LAB REPORT SHOULD CONTAIN:

Your lab report must be completed during the lab period and handed in to the instructor before you leave. More details and instructions regarding the components of a lab report are listed in Appendix C of your lab manual. In brief, the report should include the following components in this order:

In your report, explain how you identified and tried to solve problems in the experiment. If your data do not correspond to the anticipated results, you should explain what went wrong. "Human error" does not count as an explanation, be more specific if your results are different from what you expected. Your grade will depend on how clear, accurate and brief you are. Copying of text from others is expressly forbidden. Lab reports that show evidence of plagiarism will receive a 0.

COMPUTERS IN PHYSICS 252

Computers controlled by a central server are used in all the physics undergraduate labs. It is your responsibility to close all applications and log-out of your computer account when you leave the laboratory. Refer to Appendix D in your lab manual for more advice concerning computers and uncertainties in measurements.

Here is a brief description of the software tools you will use in the physics labs:

I. Microsoft Excel
This is a spreadsheet program which you will use to record/store your data. Each experiment has its own Excel spreadsheet already set up for you on the lab computer. Appendix B of your lab manual has a list of useful Excel commands.

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 can make a best fit for the parameters of an expected functional dependence and include the results on the plot. The plot can be saved, printed and should be attached to your worksheets.