PHYS276 Spring 2008 Instructor:Wendell T. Hill, III TA:Solomon Granor (0101) Michael Richman (0201)

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Experiments: There are seven experiments. All experiments must be done to pass the course. You also will need a lab notebook to keep a record of your work. Acceptable lab notebooks should be 8.5" x 11", bound (with spiral or book binding), and have numbered and quad-ruled pages. Pages should be permanent, not perforated for tear-out.

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Late Arrival: Classes begin promptly on the hour and it is important to arrive on time to receive lab instructions and to have time to finish. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late on a particular day one of the following actions will be taken: (1) you will not be allowed to perform the lab that day and will have to make it up in another section or during the make-up week

Late Arrival: (2) you will be allowed to perform the lab (if there is sufficient time) but possibly at reduced credit. It should be understood that habitual tardiness will result in lowering your overall grade. Attendance will be kept!

Making up Missed Labs: If you miss a lab and cannot make it up in one of the other sections during the week (which is unlikely), it will be necessary to sign up for a make-up during one of the scheduled make-up periods. Failure to perform all of the labs will result in failure of the course.

Schedule Changes If the campus is officially closed at the time of the start of lab on a particular day due to snow or any other reason, all lab activities for that day only will be cancelled and lab activities will be performed the following week. When the meeting of a section is cancelled, please follow the revised schedule that may or may not affect all sections!

Schedule Changes Note! If a section is cancelled a ll assignments are still due even if the campus is closed! There are only two exceptions: (1) I post a note indicating a new due date or (2) the campus network is affected so that no one has access.

Report: You are required to submit a written report of your results for each experiment. The reports will be submitted electronically via ELMS and will generally be due an hour before lab begins the following week. An outline of the requirements for the report is given in the lab manual.

Blackboard (ELMS) We will use ELMS to collect lab reports & homework, and to post grades. The URL is

Lab Partners You must identify your lab partner in your lab notebooks, on your data sheets and on your report. All submitted work, except homework, should include the name of your lab partner. If this information is missing you may not receive full credit.

Discussions: A few class meetings will be devoted to lectrures and discussions of the physics and/or data analysis. Participation in these sessions is just as important as the experiments themselves. Attendance is mandatory; your grade will be adversely affected if missed.

Grading Reports (20 pts) –Completeness and Presentation 0-7 pts. –Proper use of significant figures, units, scientific notation. 0-3 pts. –Analysis 0-10 pts.

Grading Course –Lab Reports65% –Homework 5% –Final Lab15% –Class Performance15%

References on Error Analysis An Introduction to Error Analysis: The Study of Uncertainties in Physical Measurement (2 nd Ed.), John R. Taylor. Data Reduction and Errory Analysis for the Physical Sciences (3 rd Ed.), Philip R. Bevington and D. Keith Robinson.

References on Error Analysis Background: –Taylor Chs. 1 – 2 & Bevington Chs. 1 – 2. Random or Statistical Errors: –Taylor Ch. 4 – 5 & Bevington Ch. 4

References on Error Analysis Systematic Errors: –Taylor Ch. 4 Propagation of Errors: –Taylor Ch. 3 & Bevington Ch. 3. Least squares fitting to straight lines: –Taylor Ch. 8 & Bevington Ch. 6.

Links Course Web page Schedule Random vs. Statistical Errors

Links Course Web page Schedule Random vs. Statistical Errors Significant Figures

Lab I: Ohms Law

Fig 28-4b, p.862 V | ac = I R Diode

Fig 28-2a, p.860

Fig 28-2b, p.860

Fig 28-6b, p.864 Kirchhoffs Rule

Numerical Fits Excel Mathematica