PREPARATION FOR THE LAB SESSIONS
You will find it very helpful to prepare well, i.e. read and
study the materials for the laboratories before you come to class.
Being prepared before you come to your lab session will enable you to finish
on time, enjoy the lab more and help you get a higher grade. During the
first 10 minutes of every lab period (except for the first lab of the semester)
a closed book quiz may be given aimed at testing your readiness to perform
that day's experiment and your understanding of the previous experiment.
There will be more information about quizzes from your lab instructor during
the first lab. Please arrive on time or you will miss the quiz
and
the credit for it. All the materials to be graded (your lab report
including data sheets, graphs, answers to questions, etc.) must be completed
during your lab period and handed in to the instructor before you
leave the lab.
The lab report consists of a cover sheet with your name, your student number and section number. This cover sheet should also contain a short description of the purpose of this experiment and a conclusion based upon your observations and measurements. Both of these parts should be in your own words, do not just copy the manual.
GRADES
Laboratory reports will be graded by your instructor on a 10 point
scale and will be handed back at the beginning of the next lab. The points
will be distributed roughly as follows: purpose (1 pt), data (including
accuracy), graphs and calculations (4 - 5 pts), answers to questions
(2 - 3 pts), and conclusion (1 - 2 pts). Explain how you identified
and tried to solve problems in the experiments, if there were any. If you
see that your data was incorrect or your predictions of results were incorrect,
explain as well as you can, what is wrong. Please write clearly and
neatly in full sentances. Avoid wordiness and excessive detail.
Quizzes will in generally have 4 questions and will be graded on a 4 point scale.
Your grade will be based on the total number of points for the labs and quizzes. since the instructors for the various sections do not necessarily grade identically, the scores for a given instructor's sections will be considered as a group for grading purposes. Each of the groups will receive approximately the same average grade in the course, so that there is no advantage to having one instructor rather than another. Within the group, the grades will be assigned strictly in order of points achieved. the grade will be assigned by a curve, not a "straight scale" (for which there is no uniform defination in any case). In the past the average for the course was about 2.6.
MISSING LABS/MAKE-UP LABS
In determinng your score at the end of the semester your lowest quiz
score will be dropped. The purpose of this is to allow for missing
one class for religious observances, family matters, illness, etc.
But you should make every attempt to make up labs missed for these reasons,
by making arrangements with your instructor. In that case please
write an explanatory note with suitable documentation. No make-ups
are allowed with an explanatory note. If you miss a lab without reason,
it will be counted as zero. Arrangements for a possible make-up should
be initiated before the missed lab if possible, but in any case no later
than 24 hours after the missed lab. Please make the arrangements
for alternate attendance during the preceding week if the reason for absence
is a pre-scheduled event, such as field trips or religious holidays.
Make-ups will involve approved special attendance in a lab earlier or later
in the week, if an open space is available. However, experience
has shown that grades of students who miss
EVEN ONE LAB are lower
than those who attend and complete all labs. You can reach your instructor
by phone at her/his office or by sending an e-mail message.
Your instructor is in charge of all aspects of laboratory procedures. Please confer with your instructor first if you have a problem, since they can ordinarily solve most problems.
The laboratory coordinator for this course is Prof. G. L. Pollack. His office hours are Friday, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm in rooms 102 or 104. If you cannot make these office hours and would like to make an appointment send an e-mail to pollack@pa.msu.edu. Please include a phone number and a copy of your academic schedule so he can get back to you and set up a mutually convenient time.
1) We want to remove lengthy and repetitive calculations from the labs, so that you can concentrate on the interpretation and analyses of the physics experiments performed.
2) We want to acquaint you with computers because they are modern tools used in nearly all fields of education and business.
3) We do NOT want to use the computer as a black box which does the experiment for you. It is a tool just like a voltmeter or an oscilloscope, except that it is more versatile.
There are five software tools you will use in the physics labs:
I. Microsoft Excel
This is a spreadsheet program which you use to record/store your data.
An empty spreadsheet is available at the start of each lab. The program
allows you to do ALL calculations on your data. This tool removes all repetitive
calculations from the lab, so you can concentrate on graphing and interpreting
your data. However, the spreadsheet does not do ALL the calculations for
you. In order to start the calculations you must perform at least one of
them by hand. After you enter the correct formula into the spreadsheet
for that particular quantity, the program will do all the other calculations
for you.
II. Kaleidagraph
This tool is a general plotting program. It takes its input from columns
of data and allows you to either plot a histogram of the contents of one
column and/or graph any column versus any other column. Although some of
these things are possible in Excel, Kaleidagraph has a very user friendly
interface for adjusting axes/labels/text/bins etc. in any of the graphs.
The input for the graphs is copied/pasted from the Excel spreadsheet. Once
you are satisfied with your graph (binning is correct, labels are clear,
axes are labeled and have units !!), you should save the graph on disk.
It can then either be printed separately or copied/pasted into your final
lab report.
III. Microsoft Word
Word is used as the standard wordprocessor for the lab. In the beginning,
it should be used for writing your introduction and conclusion. Toward
the end of the semester it is expected that you submit your completed report
in Word. This will allow you to include the relevant parts of your spreadsheets,
graphs, introduction, and conclusion.
IV. Video Point
This software allows you to collect coordinate data by clicking on
locations of interest on video images with a mouse. You are able to study
two dimensional motions by locating, displaying, and analyzing coordinate
data obtained from sequences of digitized video frames.
V. Graphing Calculator
This is a tool very similar to a graphics calculator, but much more
flexible. It allows you to graph functions in a very convenient way and
even print them out.
Back to the PHY251
Homepage.
Last updated on Sept. 1, 1999 by Darlene Salman