SUNY-Geneseo/Physics & Astronomy
Spring 2000
Analytical Physics II Laboratory
(Phys 126, Section 04)
Tu 2:30pm, Greene 231
See any current class announcements
 
 
Dr. Pogo  (pogo@geneseo.edu)                                                                             Pogo's Home Page                  
        Office: Greene 232
        Phone: 245-5287
        Office Hours:         MW 3:30-5:30
What am I doing here? In this lab, we will be doing experiments to learn about electricity, magnetism, waves, and light. However, we have a few objectives in addition to understanding the underlying physics of each experiment. First, you should become familiar with some of the methods and equipment used for scientific investigation of these phenomena. Second, as a continuation of your progress in Analytical Physics I Lab, you should become more accustomed to the limitations and uncertainties associated with scientific measurement. Finally, you should continue to develop your written communication skills so that you can present your work in a clear, orderly, and understandable way.

Part of the intent of laboratory is that it is "discovery based leaning". Learning will sometimes include trial and error, and you will not always know what the results will be ahead of time. You should take advantage of this opportunity to investigate, instead of merely going through the steps in the lab manual.

 wpe5.jpg (4996 bytes)
How will I be graded? As with Analyt I Lab, your grade is relatively independent of how well your lab results match the "predicted" results. Instead, your grade will be determined by:
Lab Quizzes (weekly):                               25%
Written Abstracts:                                     50%
Lab Notebook:                                         15%
Participation (tardiness, effort, neatness)    10%
                                                              100%
 wpe6.jpg (2529 bytes)
 
Is there really a quiz every week? Yes. Quizzes are intended to insure whether you have read and understood the appropriate sections of the lab manual before coming to lab.

Why all the abstracts? Besides building character, writing abstracts will give you a professional edge when you finally leave college. For any of you who find employment in science, whether in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, etc., you will find that recognition and promotion are based to an astonishing degree on how well you can communicate the work you do. The grade for each abstract will be based on whether you include the appropriate material, whether you can express yourself clearly and succinctly, and whether you use correct grammar and correct spelling.

Although the experiments will be performed with partners, each student must submit a unique abstract for every experiment. Abstracts are due at the beginning of the next lab session. Late reports will lose 20% credit. Lab reports handed in more than one week late will not be accepted (please see me if you have an emergency situation).
A Few Tips on Writing Abstracts

Take a look at the sample abstract about "Hooke’s Law". Read it every week while you are working on your own abstracts.

An abstract is a short summary of the things that you did during the experiment.

  • A reader should be able to understand it without having to look at the lab manual. Pretend that you are writing to someone who has never done or previously heard about the experiment.
  • Shorter is better.
  • Use the past tense, and try to avoid personal pronouns ("I" or "we").

As indicated in the lab manual, an abstract should include:

  • A statement of purpose (the lab manual sometimes provides a good start for this). Approach the labs as though they have never been done before, by anyone. In an abstract, your purpose is never "so we could learn about force"… Instead, your purpose is usually to measure a certain quantity, or perhaps to verify a theory.
  • A brief description of the experimental technique, equipment, and procedure used.
  • A discussion of the analysis you performed, especially the methods used.
  • A summary of the important results, including errors (but NOT a discussion of all the sources of error).
  • Conclusions. Was the statement of purpose (see 4 lines up from here) fulfilled? You may not use any sentence similar to: "The lab was successful", or "I learned a lot".

You should proofread your reports, and get someone else to proofread them. I get annoyed when I have to function not only as lab instructor, but as your grammar checker as well. If you’re too lazy to check your report, then I’ll be too lazy to give you a good grade.

Things other than Abstracts

In some places, the lab manual asks questions about the lab. Often, you will be required to submit a sheet of paper with answers to these questions. These questions must be answered using complete sentences, Your "answer" must make it clear to the reader (me) what the question is. For example, suppose that the lab manual asks:

When measuring the location of each dot in a series printed on a paper tape, is it better to record the positions of the dots relative to some fixed origin on the tape, or the distance between neighboring points?

Your answer should be something like this:

When measuring the location of each dot in a series printed on a paper tape, it is preferable to measure the position of each dot relative to a fixed origin on the tape, as opposed to measuring the distance between neighboring points. This prevents any errors made while measuring the positions of the earlier dots from affecting the results of the later measurements.

In addition to an abstract (which contains no figures), you’ll often have to turn in a printout of a plot of your data. Plots should have:

  • A name.
  • Clearly labeled axes. The labels should include the appropriate units.
  • A white background. Note that Excel usually creates plots with a gray background.
  • A legend, if there is more than one set of data shown. Legends are not desired if there is only one set of data. In any case, "series 1" is never an acceptable legend. 

If you’re unsure of something, come talk to me, either during lab, or afterwards in my office. It’s better than guessing wrong and getting a bad grade.