Physics 111 Laboratory

Winter 2014

Professor:         Scott M. LaBrake, Ph.D.                                  Course:  Physics 111 Lab          

Email:               labrakes@union.edu                                          Phone:    388-6053 & 6562

Office Hours:    MWF  9:00^am – 11:00^am                                           Office:    S&E N331 & N008B 

                          By Appointment

Web:                  http://minerva.union.edu/labrakes

Course: 

This course serves as an introduction to those basic concepts of physics that form the foundation of all the natural sciences.  The second of a two-course sequence in Physics for the Life Sciences, this course serves to introduce the student to the fundamental laws of electricity, magenetism, optics and nuclear physics. These laws are applied to a variety of simple systems including many from the biological sciences.  Throughout the course the conservation laws serve as unifying physical principles.  Mathematics, a powerful tool in the understanding of natural phenomena, assumes its natural role.

Attendance/Expectations: 

·              Attendance is mandatory!  It is expected that you will attend lab at your scheduled time and be present for the duration of the laboratory time.  If you cannot attend a lab class then it is your responsibility to notify the instructor a minimum of 48 hours in advance.  Do not assume that you may merely attend the other section.  The instructor reserves the right to ask you to leave and come to a make-up session at a time convenient for the instructor. 

·              In order to pass physics 111 you must obtain a passing grade in lab.  In order to do this, you need to do more than just attend the labs.  You need to hand in a written report for every laboratory exercise that you perform.  If you do not attend a lab then you cannot hand in a report.  In short you may not just “take someone else’s data.” 

·              Your participation in the completion of the laboratory will be factored into your final grade.  This means that you should not just sit idly by and let your lab partner perform the lab.  Further, it is the responsibility of the student to have with you at the start of the laboratory, a copy of the week’s laboratory exercise.  The instructor will not provide copies.

·              Make sure that you have copies of all necessary data or graphs to complete the labs before you leave the lab.  Not having the data or graphs is no excuse for not having the lab completed on time. 

·              Further it will be expected that you will have your calculator, textbook and a copy of the lab with you at every laboratory exercise. 

·              Laboratory sections will be capped at 18. 

Course Grade: 

Your laboratory grade will be determined based on a professional judgment of your work by turning in each of the associated handouts for each laboratory assignement located below.

•      The due date will be announced in the laboratory class as well as posted with the assignment below.
•      The writing assignments for the lab can be emailed to me, handed in to me in person, or left in my mailbox in the physics department office.
•      Writing assignments are on the dates as noted below. Late writing assignments will be accepted with a penalty of 10% per day.  This includes weekends.

Honor Code: 

Union College recognizes the need to create an environment of mutual trust as part of its educational mission. Responsible participation in an academic community requires respect for and acknowledgement of the thoughts and work of others, whether expressed in the present or in some distant time and place. Matriculation at the College is taken to signify implicit agreement with the Academic Honor Code, available at honorcode.union.edu. It is each student's responsibility to ensure that submitted work is his or her own and does not involve any form of academic misconduct. Students are expected to ask their course instructors for clarification regarding, but not limited to, collaboration, citations, and plagiarism. Ignorance is not an excuse for breaching academic integrity.

For Physics 111 laboratory, any written work, derivations not done in the lecture or laboratory portion of the class, calculations, computer generated code, interpretations of data/graphs must be your own work and a reflection of your understanding of the material. Data and any graphs made, by using the data taken with your lab partner during the laboratory period, may be created with your lab partner only. Please cite your lab partner when submitting any data or graphs.

Students are also required to affix the full Honor Code Affirmation, or the following shortened version, on each item of coursework submitted for grading: ``I affirm that I have carried out my academic endeavors with full academic honesty.'' [Signed, Jane Doe]

Recitation: 

Brief outline of the theory and techniques necessary for successful completion of the lab will be given promptly at the start of the lab.  It is the responsibility of the student to be ready (know the background theory, have read the laboratory ahead of time and worked out any pre-lab materials) when the laboratory class starts.  Occasionally the start of the lab class will be used as a short lecture class.  In other words, I may use the beginning of the lab class as a time to lecture on the theory behind a topic pertaining to class, but not covered in detail in class.

Additional Comments:

• All numbers in Physics need to have units attached.
• All graphs need to have a descriptive title, a figure number with caption, and the axes need to be labeled.
• All graphs and tables need to be referred to by figure number in the body of the text, and attach them at the end of the report.
• Grammar and spelling count.
• Assume that the reader of your report has neither a lab handout nor knows anything about the topic you performed.
• DO NOT include subjective statements about your feelings or thoughts in the lab report.  For example, don’t write “This lab was sort of hard for me” or “I learned a lot in this lab” or “our results were pretty good”.
• DO NOT use the term “human error”. It is a vague “catch-all” which does’t convey any useful information.  When you discuss errors and uncertainties, try to be as specific as possible. Vague expressions like “pretty good” and “close enough” are to be avoided.  If you can compare your result with an expected or accepted value, note whether the expected value falls within the experimental range predicted.  If it doesn't, try to track down where the problem lies and describe your findings in the discussion.  NEVER attribute lack of agreement to calculation error!
• Lab reports need to be written in a clear, logical, succinct manner and contain sufficient detail so that the reader understands what you have done.
• Lab topics, or variations of lab topics, may be tested on in-class exams or quizzes.
• To get the highest grade possible, you need to demonstrate a clear mastery of the topic at hand.  It is not simply enough just to report on only what the lab handout asks.  You need to suggest further experiments that could be done.  Perform additional calculations/extensions of the experiment that could be reasonably expected.
• Since the report is a record of what you did, it should be in the past tense.
• Do not wait until the night before the lab is due to start writing it.
• Come and see me often for help.
• The handouts can be sumbitted electronically if you wish to do so.  Please email me your completed lab by the date and time due if you want to submit them electrocically.
• If you submit the lab report electronically, please submit them in a .pdf format or the like.  If I cannot open your document I will not grade it.  If you write your lab reports in another format, that is fine.  Please provide me with a means of opening and displaying your document.
• All pictures, drawings, tables, and graphs need to be submitted in the document of the lab report.  Please do not submit your electronic lab report with out them included or the lab report will be considered late. 

Lab Schedule

Week 1            No Lab

Week 2            The Electrostatic Force: Coulomb's Law                          Coulomb's Law Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday, 1/14/14. Report due on or before Tuesday, 1/21/14)                                     

Week 3            Circuits I: Resistor - Capacitor Circuits                             RC Circuits Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday, 1/21/14. Report due on or before Tuesday, 1/28/14)                                            

Week 4            Circuits II: Current, Voltage & Resistance                        Resistor Circuits Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday, 1/28/14. Report due on or before Tuesday,  2/4/14)                  

Week 5            Magnetic Forces on an Electron Beam                             Magnetic Forces Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday 2/4/13. Report due on or before Tuesday 2/11/14)                      

Week 6            No Lab

Week 7            No Lab                                                            

Week 8            Geometric Optics                                                              Geometric Optics Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday 2/25/14. Report due on or before Tuesday 3/4/14)                                             

Week 9            Photoelectric Effect                                                           Photoelectric Effect Handout for Lab Report: (Performed on Tuesday 3/4/14. Report due on or before Tuesday 3/1/11)                                                     

Week 10          The Radioactive Decay of Barium