PHYSICS 335: INTERMEDIATE LABORATORY, SPRING 2003

Tim Gfroerer, Davidson College

 

 

Email: tigfroerer@davidson.edu, Phone: x2319

Class Meetings: TT 1:00 – 4:00 and F 1:30 – 3:30

Office: Dana 155, Lab: Dana 049

                         in Dana 055

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 – noon and Wednesday, 2:00 – 4:00.  If I am not in my office, please check the laboratories in the basement.

 

Objectives: The successful student will obtain:

  • A practical knowledge of modern instrumentation including computer control and data acquisition via LabVIEW.

  • Experimental familiarity with nonlinear mechanical and/or electrical oscillations, statistical and thermal phenomena, physical optics, and quantum mechanical systems.

  • Practice with literature searches and finding appropriate theoretical resources.

  • The skills necessary to keep and maintain a detailed laboratory notebook.

  • The ability to perform advanced data analysis and mathematical modeling of experimental results.

  • Proficiency in writing formal and web-based laboratory reports.

  • Practice in oral communication and presentation of research results.

The primary intent of this course is to experiment with a wide variety of physical phenomena and to give you confidence in the laboratory. You will set up and carry out several complex, open-ended experiments. The experiments change each year and are designed to encourage independent exploratory work in the lab. Persistent, creative problem-solving is expected.  After each experiment, you will be asked to present your results in a variety of ways, which will include oral, written, and web-based formats.

Structure of the Class: Class meetings on Tuesday and Thursday will primarily be open laboratory and students are expected to work in the lab on one additional afternoon or evening each week. You will be assigned various experiments together with a target due date. On the due date, students will give short oral presentations describing their work. Friday class meetings are reserved for this purpose.

 

Written Work: You are required to keep a laboratory notebook in which you will record your day-to-day work. Always begin your entry with the date, time, and name of any lab partners. You are encouraged to work together when taking data and analyzing your results but you may not copy work from one another.  If you are not in the laboratory when the data is being taken, you should not include it in your notebook.

The main goal of keeping a lab book is to save time by keeping a careful record of what you have already accomplished.  Your notebook should always include:

  • A diagram of your experimental setup (label equipment with model numbers)

  • Instrument settings

  • Sketches of scope traces and other important visual results

  • Data and analysis file documentation

  • Sample calculations

  • Reference citations

A scientist must be able to communicate his or her work to others.  You will primarily communicate your work to others by preparing oral presentations and web-based lab reports. In addition, you will be asked to prepare two formal written reports (midterm and final) and one poster presentation (final).

 

Computer Control, Analysis, and Modeling: In this course we will use industry-standard software packages like LabVIEW, Origin, and Mathematica for the acquisition, analysis, and presentation of data. You will be expected to develop a working knowledge of how LabVIEW is used to control laboratory instruments and acquire data.  Data analysis in Origin and theoretical simulations using a high-level modeling package (such as Mathematica) will also be a required part of this course.

 

Library Work: You will be expected to find and read appropriate books and papers in order to understand the physics underlying your experiments.  The American Journal of Physics abstract database is a useful resource that should be consulted for every experiment: http://ojps.aip.org/ajp/.  Frank Molinek (the Davidson College Science Librarian) can provide research consultation and assist with literature searches.  He will keep the following office hours in Watson 358: 2:30 – 3:45 on Tuesdays and 3:30 – 4:45 on Thursdays.

 

Seminars: Seminars broaden your scientific perspective and show you how physics is being practiced in the real world.  Attendance at all physics seminars is required.  Ask questions!

 

Grading:

 

 Lab-work and notebook 30%
 Lab Reports (papers, talks, and web publications) 40%
 Final Project (paper and poster) 30%