Lab experience:  The labs should be done in groups of 2: one person in the lab, the other virtual; both partners must be present at all times when the lab is being done. Clean up each day, although you may leave things out on the side counters of 320. 5% of your lab grade will depend on equipment being put away in the right place by the end of Monday before the lab is due. Report broken equipment.

While you can work on any part of the lab with others, the lab write-up is your own, and each individual should turn in their own lab. You writing should be your own.

Be sure to check out the Computer Hints if you have questions about software. And be sure to check out the expectations and regulations.

Lab Components

Each lab may have the following components

• Research the background/literature on the internet, in journals, and in your physics texts.  It would be interesting to make note of any web-sites you find which you believe are not very valid sources of information.  You must find at least one good web-site reference for each subject we cover. Discuss why we might care about the topic of the lab.
• Carry out theoretical calculations/simulations using Circuit Maker, MatLab, Excel.
• Run the laboratory.  We will use computer data acquisition: for some experiments, the simple Vernier interfaces will do.
• Analyze the data using the computer.
• Write-up each experiment including text, graphics, equations, and links.

Lab Report Format

• concise, but complete
• experiment title, name and date on the first page
• pre-lab work if assigned
• objective
• theory/background, including web links - be sure to discuss the pertinence of the experiment, why we care
• specific equipment list
• procedure, "following the procedure described in section A2…"
• raw data
• sample calculations
• processed data
• discussions
• conclusions
  • In these last two sections, as well as what is explicitly asked for, we are looking for additional insight into the physics of what is happening in the experiment.  You should try to explain as much as you can even if an explanation to an answer is not explicitly asked for.
• Lab reports must be completely electronic and are submitted as an attachment on Moodle.