Instructor: Catherine L. Jahncke
Office: 225 Bewkes Phone: 229-5496
Text: D. C. Baird, Experimentation: An Introdcution to Measurement Theory and Experimental Design.
Course overview: This sophomore level lab accompanies the Modern Physics Course. Some experiments are designed primarily to reinforce the material learned in the classroom. Others aim primarily to teach you laboratory skills. We will be using Baird to learn about error analysis.
Course requirements: The requirements for this course will consist of keeping a detailed lab notebook, writing lab reports, and completeing an independent microwave project which will be presented orally. Most lab experiment will last two weeks. Before beginning each experiment, you will find out some background information using your textbook, the library, or other resources. This information should be in your lab notebook when you come to lab with appropriate citations regarding your sources. You will not be able to begin the experiment until this information is in your notebook.
Formal Lab reports: You will need to turn in two formal lab reports. These should follow a formal lab write up procedure that will be handed out in class. For the first Formal lab report you may choose any experiment completed prior to October 17. In the second formal report you will present your microwave project. Your first report will have two drafts; the report on your microwave project will only have a final draft. A half a letter grade will be deducted from your report grade for each day that the final report is late.
Individual Microwave Projects: Each of you will complete an optics experiment using Microwave Apparatus. These independent projects will be presented orally in the Microwave symposium, and in written format for your second Formal Lab report.
Lab Notebook: Your lab notebook is an important part of this course. Each experiment that you conduct should be well documented in your notebook. In order to determine if you have been complete, a good question to ask yourself is "could someone repeat this experiment if they were given my lab notebook?" In this course your labnotebook will function as an informal lab report. It should include the following sections:
| Introduction | This contains background information obtained from written sources and should be accompanied by references. You will be expected to complete this section before you come to lab. You will be required to use at least one source other than your textbook and other than the internet. You may use another Modern Physics text. |
| Procedure | This section describes your apparatus, how it is connected, and how your data is obtained. If you measure anything, you should describe how you measured it. Sketches are very useful here. |
| Data | Any data you collect should be in your notebook in tables and in graphical format when possible. Whenever you measure something, you should think about the sources of uncertainty in the measurement and record them quantitative and qualitative. |
| Analysis | What is the theory you use to analyze your data? What does your data tell you? What equations are you going to use? Where do they come from? What do the symbols mean? What is the uncertainty in your result? |
| Conclusions | BRIEFLY summarize your experiment. State your primary results both quantitative and qualitative. Explain what you can conclude based on your results. How might your experiment be improved on? |
| Week | Lab Activity | what is due |
| Sept 5 | Michelson Morely Interferometer | Read Baird Chpt 2.2 section |
| Sept 12 | Relativistic Time Dilation | M&M informal report; read Baird 2.3-2.9 |
| Sept 19 | Measurement Uncertainty | Relativistic Time Dilation informal report; read Baird chpt 3. |
| Sept 26 | Photoelectric Effect | |
| Oct 3 | photoelectric Effect/report writing workshop | Measurement Uncertainty informal report |
| Oct 10 | catch up time | |
| Oct 17 | Charge to mass ratio of an electron |
Photoelectric Effect informal report |
| Oct 24 | Continue | draft of Formal report #1 |
| Oct 31 | Begin Microwave projects | e/m informal report |
| Nov 7 | continue | final draft of Formal report #1 |
| Nov 14 | oral presentationworkshop | draft of Presentation due |
| Thanksgiving Recess | ||
| Nov 28 | Microwave Symposium | Presentation due |
| Dec 5 | Electron Diffraction | Optional Draft of Microwave report due |
| Dec 12 | Continue | Microwave formal Report due |
| Dec 19 | finals week | Electron Diffraction informal report |
Grading:
| Lab notebook and other assignments | 50 % |
| Formal Lab reports 2@ 15% each | 30 % |
| Microwave project and presentation | 20 % |
Academic Honesty:
The student handbook states on page 149 that "All students at St. Lawrence University are bound by honor to maintain the highest level of academic integrity. By virtue of membership in the St. Lawrence community, every student accepts the responsibility to know the rules of academic honesty, to abide by them at all times, and to encourage all others to do the same." You are responsible for your own work. In this class you will be expected to use reference materials to complete the introduction of your lab reports. The materials you use should be cited properly. You are expected to cite the lab instructions if you draw from them in your reports. You are also expected to create your own images using a digital camera or a drawing program where appropriate.