syllabus

toc There will be a new lab every week with all sections on the same schedule. So weeks in which there are holidays are a little different:
 * In PHY252 the first Wednesday, August 28, will pretend to be Monday, Sept 2 (which is Labor Day). If your section falls on a Monday, attend your first class on Wednesday, August 28 at the regular time.
 * **The classes scheduled for Thursday will not meet** on August 29. If your section falls on a Thursday, your first class will be Thursday, September 5.
 * In fact, all of the other first-labs (apart from Monday) will meet on their expected days during the week of September 2rd.

Got it? Good! That's the hardest part of the whole semester.

=The Lab Schedule.=

Cover sheet:

Each lab writeup consists of a brief introduction, instructions on performing the lab, and a Questions section at the end. You may come to class with that lab a) printed out, b) on a tablet, or c) on your portable computer. You may not use your phone. Room on the bench surface is limited so two computers might be a problem – so a) or b) is much preferred. Regardless, you must come to lab with the Questions section printed out.

The order of the labs is as follows. || notice that you'll want to be familiar with the spreadsheet and KaleidaGraph...and, of course the uncertainty calculations from the Appendices. . || || this section changed on Saturday morning, September 28. The procedure #2 on page 75 was changed slightly (leave the multimeter in the circuit) and the last question was slightly rewritten. ||
 * = **week #** ||< **Week starting:** ||= **Lab #** ||< **Lab Title** ||< **notes** ||
 * = 0 || September 2* || ......... || Organize, no experiment || You need to attend, but the class will be short orientation. ||
 * = 1 ||< September 9 ||= 1 ||< Equipotentials and Electric Fields Mapping ||  ||
 * = 2 ||< September 16 ||= 2 ||< [[file:lab-manual-phy252_ohms.pdf]]
 * = 2 ||< September 16 ||= 2 ||< [[file:lab-manual-phy252_ohms.pdf]]
 * = 3 ||< September 23 ||= 3 ||< Electrical Energy ||  ||
 * = 4 ||< September 30 ||= 4 ||< RC circuits   [[file:lab-manual-phy252_RC.pdf]]
 * = 5 ||< October 7 ||= 5 ||< Oscilloscope [[file:ab-manual-phy252_scope.pdf]] ||  ||
 * = 6 ||< October 14 ||= - ||< Amplifier[[file:lab-manual-phy252_amplifier2.pdf]] || Wednesday night, this was swapped out due to some strange font problem. Fixed now. ||
 * = 7 ||< October 21 ||= 6 ||< practical[[file:practicalLabFall2013.pdf]]  || No quiz this week. Read the file and you'll know what to do for the practical! ||
 * = 8 ||< October 28 ||= 7 ||< Bioelectric measurements[[file:lab-manual-phy252_bio.pdf]]  || added 10.13.2013 ||
 * = 9 ||< November 4 ||= 8 ||< Diffraction and Interference[[file:lab-manual-phy252_inter.pdf]]  ||   ||
 * = 10 ||< November 11 ||= 9 ||< Emission Spectra[[file:lab-manual-phy252_spectra.pdf]] ||  ||
 * = 11 ||< November 18 ||= 10 ||< Color[[file:lab-manual-phy252_color.pdf]] ||  ||
 * || November 25 ||  ||   || Holiday this week, no labs. ||
 * = 12 ||< December 2 ||= – ||< Practical #2 Files are found : here || **Sunday, 6:00pm (naturally)**. There was a typo on the worksheet example. The version that's posted now is correct. "...diffraction minima..." not "...secondary minima..."

There are two files. • The one called "Questions" you may **NOT** bring to the lab. You will be provided with a version to do your work on. That and the spreadsheet on the computer will contain your results. • The one called " PHY 252 Fall 2013 Practical Lab: Diffraction" you **MUST** bring to the lab • You do not need a cover sheet.

You may not have any other paper or electronic devices open during the lab except for the second document above. || =About the lab book...the //free// lab book, that is!= The lab manual is free and downloadable from the above links. The appendices are important and include the following sections: You can download them. =The First Class= PHY252 lab is only scheduled during full-weeks and so we don't start real experiments until the week of September 9 and we don't meet during Thanksgiving week. But, we do meet briefly during the week of August 26/September 2 (see the above caveat about the weird Wednesday-is-Monday thing) to get acquainted, get your seat assignments established, do paperwork, and go over any questions you might have.
 * = ooooooooo || oooooooooooooooo ||=  || ooooooooooooooooooooooooo ||   ||
 * August 28 for the Monday people.
 * Appendix A Dealing with Uncertainties
 * Appendix B Excel Commands
 * Appendix C Contents of a Lab Report
 * Appendix D Introduction to Computer Tools and Uncertainty

=The "Regular" Lab Process= Your lab workflow will be similar each week:
 * 1) First there will be an approximately 5 minute open book quiz on the lab. Come prepared. It will be strictly timed.
 * 2) You'll come to lab with your **cover sheet** already printed out. Do not print them in the lab.
 * 3) You'll come to lab with the **Questions** part of each lab printed out from home (see 6 below). Do not print them in the lab.
 * 4) You'll perform your experiments, taking data with the spreadsheets provided on the computers with your partner.
 * 5) You'll plot your data as necessary with the Kaleidagraph program on the computers with your partner.
 * 6) You'll answer the questions from your lab book by separating the sheets from the writeup from the section called **Questions**.
 * 7) You'll put your materials together with the cover sheet (below) and bring them to the instructor who will attach your quiz.
 * 8) Staple everything together in the following order as described in the next section.

Your Lab Report
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 the PHY252 Lab Manual in Appendix C. In brief, the report includes the following in this order:
 * 1) **The coversheet** which is available here:[[file:coversheet.pdf]]//**You must come to lab with the coversheet filled out completely (add your partner's name in class if you need to) each time.**//
 * 2) //**The "Last Question"**//...I know. It comes first! But it's a reflection on what you did and is a part of the coversheet.
 * 3) **Your data:** this is a printout of the Excel spreadsheet in which you and your partner took data and so it will be identical for the two of you. At the top, write your name and the date. Fit your spreadsheet to one page.
 * 4) **Your formulae:** this is a printout of your spreadsheet in "formula view," Ctrl~ . Fit your spreadsheet to one page. At the top, write your name and the date.
 * 5) **Graphs with your observations.** Refer to the Coursepack, Appendix C for more details about graph requirements. At the top, write your name and the date.
 * 6) **Answers to the questions**. Answer the questions on your printed-out question sheets, At the top of each page, write your name and the date.
 * 7) **Quiz.** The quiz will be stapled as the back page when you hand in your report.

When you are done with your lab, take the above materials to the instructor who will add your quiz at the back, you will staple the whole package, and turn it in.

While data-taking is a group project, your report-writing is not: it's done by each of you. In your report, you should explain what happened: how you identified and tried to solve problems in the experiments. If your data do not correspond to your expected results, you should explain what went wrong. "Human error" doesn't count as a sole explanation...be more specific. Here, you must be brief, accurate and clear; your grade will depend on that. Copying text from others - like your partner - is not allowed. Lab reports that show evidence of plagiarism will be discounted by 50% for both.

="The Shuffle"=

Lab partnering is a random thing and sometimes it's great, and sometimes...notsomuch. So periodically during the semester, you'll come to class and the TA will announce a "shuffle" (not this) in which you find a new lab partner. The TA may have suggestions already worked out (I will). Expect this to happen probably two or three times.

=The "Practical" Lab=

During Week 6 and Week 12 each of you will perform one of the experiments already done previously by yourself. The techniques will be similar but these "Practical Labs" will be shorter and maybe with slightly different goals. The writeup materials will be on the website the week before and you'll be given a copy of it at the lab. It will be worth 20 points and you'll have 45 minutes to complete it. During each such week, half of the class will do the Practical during the first 45 minutes and half during the last 45 minutes. A schedule will be arranged when we get close to that week. = = =Grading=


 * Reports are graded by your instructor on a 20 point scale and will be handed back at the beginning of the next lab.
 * Note that labs vary; the balance between data analysis and manual questions will change. Points on the Lab will be approximately distributed as shown in the table below. (The exact distribution of points will actually vary a bit for each lab.)
 * Each practical lab will worth a total of 20 points, but will not have a quiz. Note: the practical grade is not one of those that can be dropped.

A grade distribution for a particular lab might look like this (they will be different week-to-week): Your final grade will be based on your total points from each lab - with the lowest score thrown out - plus both Practical Lab scores: a total of (10-1)*20 + 2*20 = 220 points. The overall average of each section will be equalized to minimize differences among instructor grading. There is no set grading scale, but rather grades will be assigned "on the curve."
 * ~ Graded topic ||~ points ||
 * < Data collection ||< 5 ||
 * < Data analysis/ graphs/ error analysis ||< 5 ||
 * < Answer to questions ||< 5 ||
 * < What did you learn that you didn't know before? ||< 2 ||
 * < Quiz ||< 3 ||
 * < **TOTAL** ||< **20** ||
 * < ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ||< oooooooooo ||
 * Please save your graded lab reports and quizzes as backup should you feel that your grade was incorrectly calculated

//Last updated: August 26, 2013//