SCHEDULE AND FORMAT
Laboratories will begin on September 14, 2015 and run through December 11, 2015 . There will be 12 experiments. The purpose of this course is to learn how to make measurements of physical quantities 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 given in the laboratory manual. Two of these experiments will be practical labs in which you will work alone. You will rotate lab partners throughout the semester. Experiments in the course will involve material before it is covered in PHY 231C. With the exception of the first experiment and the two practical labs, each lab will have a pre-lab LON-CAPA homework assignment. There will be a syllabus homework assignment due at 7:30AM on Monday, September 21.

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. In addition to preparing for the class, reading the lab materials will help you to answer the pre-lab homework assignment.

PRE-LAB LON-CAPA HOMEWORK

With the exception of experiment 1 and the practical labs, there will be a pre-lab LON-CAPA homework assignment and in general will be available to complete 1 week prior to the due date. The due time for the pre-lab homework is 7:30AM on Monday. Additionally, there will be a syllabus homework assignment due at 7:30 AM on Monday, September 21 (this set is available as of the official start of the semester). Each homework assignment will be worth 5 points. The number of questions within an assignment will vary, but the total points per assignment is always 5. For example, one assignment might have 4 questions. Answering 3 correctly will result in (3/4)*5=3.75 homework points. Another assignment may have 5 questions. Answering 4/5 correct will earn 4 homework points for the assignment. Within LON-CAPA each click of the submit button is considered one question. For example, some questions may be several true-false type statements, but have only one submit button associated with them. While multiple true-false statements are present, questions like this are considered one question.

The answers to these pre-lab homework questions and the formulas needed to solve for any numeric questions are in the lab manual linked HERE. The purpose of the pre-lab homework is to make sure all are prepared to immediately start work on the experiment and have thoroughly read the lab manual prior to class. Additionally, they will help you think about the end of lab questions prior to doing the lab. With this in mind, the TAs have been instructed not to assist with answering questions about how to do the pre-lab homework. Assistance, hints or solutions to these pre-lab homework assignments will not be provided.

You will need to use your MSUnet ID and password to log into LON-CAPA

• Log in to LON-CAPA here: https://loncapa.msu.edu/
• Help getting started with LON_CAPA: https://www.loncapa.msu.edu/gettingstarted.html

There are a total of nine pre-lab homework sets plus the syllabus homework set for a total of ten sets. You are allowed to miss two of these sets. Your final grade will be based on the best eight pre-lab homework sets.

EXPERIMENTS

All the materials to be graded (your lab report including data sheets, graphs, answers to questions) 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 into your spreadsheet to verify it was done correctly. At the bottom of any graph must be a statement of what is being plotted, and if a straight line fit is done, a brief statement as to why you are plotting this data and what you want to find from the graph (i.e. what is the significance of the slope and/or intercept). In addition, any worksheets containing questions to be answered should be turned in with your data.

All labs, including practical labs will be graded by your instructor on a 15 point scale and will be handed back at the beginning of the next lab. The points will be distributed roughly as follows: acquisition of data (4 pts), graphs and calculations (5 pts), and answers to questions (6 pts).

The questions in each lab are meant to assess the understanding of the material covered in the lab. As such, your TA has been instructed not to answer questions like "is this right?" or "how do I do this?"

PRACTICAL LABS

During practical labs, no outside notes, use of the Internet, calculators or discussions with other students are allowed. Students making use of unauthorized help for the practical will receive a 0.0 for that practical. 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 after the last section has completed Elastic Collisions for practical 1 and Waves on a String for practical 2. During the practical lab, you will be given a copy of the experimental write-up to use. The practical lab will be based on one or more of the experiments that you have already completed. It could consist of measuring and analyzing data, analyzing a prepared set of data and/or answering questions. The time limit on the practical lab will be 45 minutes.

PRE and POST Lab online surveys with participation bonus

Now through the end of the first week of labs (Sunday, 9/20) a short online pre-lab survey will be available for you to complete.

• The physics department is beginning the process of updating their laboratory courses to give students more opportunities to do experimental work. These updates will be occurring over the next few years.
• As part of our work to update the labs, we want to know about your ideas about physics and physics experiments. We have a short (10 minute) survey that will give you opportunity to express those ideas.
• There are no right answers, we just want to know what you think. Everyone's ideas are helpful.
• Your answers will have no bearing on your grade and your instructor will not be able to review your individual responses, only the collection of all responses.
• We will know that you completed it, so we will be giving you 2 points of participation bonus credit for completing the survey. Again, it will only take you about 10 minutes.
• We will ask you again about your ideas at the end of the class. If you complete this second survey, you will receive 2 points of participation bonus credit. A link and the availability of the post-lab survey will be announced and copied here near the end of the semester.
• If you complete both surveys, you will receive a total of 4 points bonus credit added to your final point total. If you only complete one of the surveys, you will receive 2 points of bonus credit.
• Added 11/29/2015:
• To access the post-course survey, go to: https://goo.gl/vOIuj3
  1. After reading through our consent form, select whether you will let us see your individualized responses. If you select "no," you are still welcome to take the survey, your responses will simply be included in the average with no identifying features.
  2. Enter your MSU Net-ID (which is the same as your MSU E-Mail address) in the form. Click "Submit."
  3. Follow the link on the next page. It will take you to the survey offered through the Colorado PER group.
  4. After reading their consent, click the arrow button to advance to the survey.
  5. Enter your information, which will include your first name, last name, and MSU PID (the number on your student ID). Please do not include the "A" in your PID, the numbers are enough.
  6. Proceed to take survey.
• Access to this survey will end at 11:59PM on 12/13.

 

GRADES
Each of the ten best in-class experiments are 15 points for a total of 150 points. Each of the eight best pre-lab homework assignments are 5 points for a total of 40 points. The total number of possible points are 190 points. In order to ensure equality of grading between different lab instructors, the in-class experiment score out of 150 points will be normalized so that the mean for each instructor is the same. The pre-lab LON-CAPA homework points will not be normalized. The grade you receive in the class will be based on the normalized total experiment score plus the pre-lab homework score

 

Normalized points ≥	114	125	136	147	158	169	180
Grade	1.0	1.5	2.0	2.5	3.0	3.5	4.0

Please obtain from your instructor and save your graded lab reports. You will need all of these if, at the end of the semester, you think your score wasn't correctly calculated.

PLAGIARISM, COPYING AND CHEATING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
Lab partners are expected to turn in copies of the same Excel data sheets and graphs BUT answers to the questions and comments on graphs are not to be the same. Lab partners turning in identical answers (or slightly modified versions) will BOTH receive a penalty grade of zero for that lab. Any plagiarism, copying or cheating will result in a penalty grade of zero for the lab and the submission of an Academic Dishonesty Report for placement in the student's permanent record. MSU's policy on Academic Integrity is part of this syllabus, please review it at https://www.msu.edu/~ombud/academic-integrity/index.html. Penalty grades will not be used as a dropped lab.

TARDINESS POLICY
Attendance in the lab is mandatory and there will be a penalty for arriving late to class. Point deductions for tardiness are as follows

• 0 to 5 minutes late: 2 point deduction from experiment
• 5 to 10minutes late 4 point deduction from experiment
• greater than 10 minutes late a score of zero for the experiment

Your instructor is in charge of all aspects of laboratory procedures. Please confer with your instructor if you have a problem, since he or she can ordinarily solve most problems.

The laboratory coordinator for this course is Richard Hallstein. His office hours are Mondays 10AM - 11AM in room 1253BPS. If you cannot make this office hour and would like to make an appointment send an e-mail to hallstein@pa.msu.edu. Please include a phone number and a copy of your academic schedule so he can get back to you and set up a mutually convenient time.

Communications regarding the day-to-day operations of your section should be directed to your TA NOT the lab coordinator.

MISSING LABS
There are no make-up labs in PHY 251. You must attend the section in which you are enrolled. You are allowed to miss two labs for any reason. For example, you may be sick, it may be a religious holiday, you may have enrolled after the official start of the session, you may missed your bus, had car trouble, had to return home for a family emergency or any other reason. Your in-class experiment part of your grade will be based on the best ten out of the twelve experiments (150points). Any additional miss will be scored as a grade of zero for the experiment and as such, will have a substantial negative impact on your final grade.

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Students with disabilities and/or any other special needs should identify themselves to the instructor during the first week of lab (September 14-September 18). You must provide a copy (or an e-mail) of your VISA from the RCPD office to both your TA and the lab coordinator by the end of the first week of class. Individual arrangements will be made to accommodate those needs on a case-by-case basis. It may not be possible to honor VISAs that are presented to the instructor after the first week of lab.

CONCERNS/PROBLEMS
Your lab instructor (the TA) 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, such as a missed lab should be directed to your TA, NOT the lab coordinator. Your TA will provide you with his/her e-mail address and office hours at the beginning of the semester. If you have concerns about a score on a lab you must make an appointment to meet with your lab instructor outside of lab time. TAs will not respond to questions concerning individual lab grades while a lab section is in session.

If there are issues that your TA cannot address, you should contact the lab coordinator Richard Hallstein. Please set up an appointment by e-mail to hallstein@pa.msu.edu Office hours are Mondays 9AM-10AM or by appointment.

COMPUTERS IN PHYSICS 251

Computers will be used in all the physics undergraduate labs and they are controlled by a central server. It is your responsibility to close all applications and log-out of your computer account when you leave the laboratory.

There are four software tools you will use in the physics labs:

I. Microsoft Excel
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 to your user space on the server or on a floppy disk. It can then be printed separately or copied/pasted into your final lab report.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND HINTS:

• No food or drinks of any kind are allowed in the laboratories --there are NO exceptions.
• Bring a flash memory stick so you can save your files as you work. There is no space on the computers to save your lab files!
• SAVE YOUR DATA OFTEN!! If something happens to your work during the lab and it is destroyed, you will have to do the lab again.
• All the necessary computer software and spreadsheets will be on the computer when you start, so you should not have to search for items
• Cell phones must be turned off and put away.
• Lab sections are 1 hour and 50 minutes long during which time you must complete your lab and turn in all materials to the TA.  You will not be allowed to stay late to finish your write-up.
• If you are unsure about a procedure or equipment please ask the TA.  They will be moving around the room answering questions so just raise your hand.
• Do not ask your TA to answer the questions from the lab manual that should be addressed in your lab report.  Your TA will not tell you how to answer these questions or if your response is "right" or "wrong". These questions are to determine what you have learned from the experiment.  You may discuss them with your lab partner but do not submit identical answers in your lab reports.
• All computers and printing services are strictly limited to the current lab experiment.  No printing of lab manuals, homework assignments, etc.  No reading e-mail, surfing the web or using the lab computers for any purpose other than completing the lab.
• Your TA will have lab partners rotate throughout the semester.

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:

• The coversheet which is available here. You must come to the lab with the coversheet filled out completely (add your partner's name in class) each time.

• Your data: this is a printout of the Excel spreadsheet in which you and your partner took data so it will be identical for the two of you. Fit your spreadsheet to one page and write you name and the date at the top.

• Your formulae: this is a printout of your spreadsheet in "formula view". Use Ctrl~ to get this view. Include a sample calculation for each formula entered into your spreadsheet to verify it was done correctly. Fit your spreadsheet to one page and write your name and the date at the top.

• Graphs with your observations. Whenever your lab report includes a graph, write down what you learned from the graph, or any conclusions you made from looking at the graph. Graphs must have a title and axis labels which include the correct units. Refer to Appendix C in your lab manual for more details about the requirements for your graphs. Make sure to put your name and the date at the top.

• Answers to the questions. Answer the questions in your lab manual and remove those sheets from your book.

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, the internet, old lab reports, the lab manual etc. is expressly forbidden. Lab reports that show evidence of plagiarism will receive a penalty grade of 0.

Last update: August 31, 2015