Schedule: We will spend two weeks on most of this semester's experiments. When you come to lab on the first day of a particular experiment, you should have with you the notes you have written in your lab notebook on the asigned topic, based on materials you have found in the library, your textbook, other books, or the Internet. You won't be allowed to start the actual laboratory work until you have taken these notes in your lab notebook.

The first week of each 2-week cycle will be devoted to carrying out the experiment, making certain you have collected all the data you need to carry out the analysis. You should run through the necessary calculations before coming to lab the second week. You are then in a position to repeat any measurements necessary, as well as to make corrections in the analysis or to do the necessary error analysis.

Informal Lab Reports: Lab reports are due by noon the Monday after the last lab meeting of each cycle. Late lab reports will not be accepted. Biweekly lab reports should follow the format posted in the Introduction to Laboratory Practices (for Upper-level Labs). (Please also consult the Sample Lab Report.) There should be a brief Introduction, including a summary of the results of your library research, sketches and commentary which describe what you did in lab, appropriate data with proper analysis, and finally a Conclusion. The Conclusion needs to describe the following, and should do so in paragraph form [i.e. in full sentences, without tables, and without the numbers], with no more than 2-3 sentences for each part: (1) What you did, (2) What your results were, and (3) What you conclude from these results.

You must keep a lab notebook for every lab, which you will use to record all pertinent observations you make during your lab work. Please leave the first page blank to serve as a Table of Contents for the entire notebook.

Formal Lab Reports: In addition to your biweekly lab reports, you will be required to submit two formal laboratory reports, based on the experiments you perform during the semester. You may choose any of the labs done in the course to write up formally, but the second one of them should be the Microwave project which will be described at the bottom of this page. The first formal report is due Friday, Oct. 21, the second on Friday, Dec 9. I will be happy to read drafts of your reports up to two days before each due date.

Individual Microwave Projects: At the end of the semester you will all work on a set of individual experiments involving microwave optics. You will each be required to present a description of your experiment and results in a public symposium. We will talk about how to present a scientific talk, and practise the talks, before the symposium takes place.

GRADING POLICY: Your final lab average will be calculated        
from the following:      

Lab notebook	40%
Two formal reports	45%
1 Oral presentation	15%

INFORMAL REPORT 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?