WINTHROP UNIVERSITY
 Department of Chemistry, Physics, & Geology
 
Semester: Spring 2011    Course: PHYS 212L - Physics with Calculus II Laboratory.

The laboratory will be held in Sims 205. Students need to register for one of the lab sections, PHYS 212L.

Lab Score: The lab score (25%) will come from lab reports (90%) and pre-lab quiz (10%). Pre-lab quiz will be available on this website and due at the beginning of the lab. 

LAB SCHEDULE

Lab # Week  Experiment Pre-Lab Quiz
1 Jan. 18-24 Heat Prob. 40, Chap.18, p502
(Help: see Sample Problem on page 487)
2 Jan. 25-31 Gas Laws Pre-Lab on Gas Laws
3 Feb. 1-7 Joule's Law and Heat Transfer Prob. 23, Chap.18, p501
4 Feb. 8-14 Charge and Field Pre-lab  
5 Feb. 15-21 Ohm's Law and Resistance Prob. 18, Chap.26, p701
6 Feb. 22-28 Circuits Probs.10 & 11, Ch.25,p677
7 Mar. 1-7 Battery and Capacitor Pre-Lab on RC circuits
8 Mar. 8-21 Meters Pre-Lab on Meters
9 Mar. 22-28 Electromagnetic Induction and R-C circuit Pre-lab on Induction
10 Mar. 29-Apr.4 Oscilloscope Pre-Lab on Scope
11 Apr. 5-11 Spherical Mirrors and Lenses Pre-Lab on lenses
12 Apr. 12-18 Interference and Diffraction TBA
13 Apr. 19-25 Spectra No Pre-Lab

Textbook: Fundamentals of Physics; Halliday, Resnick, & Walker, HU9th EditionH, John Wiley Publishing.

Course Objectives: 

Rules for the laboratory

  1. You must read the web-link  and the relevant materials from the textbook before the lab period and be prepared for the laboratory.
  2. Bring the textbook to the lab.
  3. You will work in a group of two. Both partners should actively take part in collecting the data and in the experimental process.
  4. At the end of your lab work you need to return all the laboratory equipment to the appropriate places where you took them.
  5. You need to handle the equipment carefully, giving special attention when warranted.
  6. When you leave the laboratory, you need to make sure the laboratory table is clean and free of any materials.
  7. Do not miss any laboratory. You will receive "0" for all missed laboratories.
  8. Lab reports are due at the end of the lab period.

For some labs you will write a formal lab report. Include the following in the same order for formal lab report:

1) Cover sheet with the following: Title of experiment, your name, partner's name, and an appropriate figure.  
2) Starting on the second page include the following in this given order:
    Purpose
    Apparatus
    Theory
    Procedure
    Data Table including analysis
    Graphs and calculations
    Conclusion
    References

3) Staple the report at the top left corner making sure nothing is hidden under the pin.
   

How to write a conclusion?
* Conclusion is the most important part of your report. It is a brief summary-paragraph, about half a page. You must write your own conclusion, after completing the data collection and analysis. It must be written as the last piece and attached after data tables and graphs.
* Conclusion should state things that are unique for your investigation which can be accomplished by including values of the experimentally determined physical quantities.  Just remember that you cannot write your conclusion without completing your experiments or investigations. General statements like "I have determined the densities of given solids" is not acceptable.
* You may start your conclusion by re-stating the purpose with appropriate changes. Then you need to briefly state (don’t repeat procedure) how you conducted the experiment and collected the data. Continue this with summarizing your results, referring to the data tables and graphs when appropriate, and answer the purpose. Then you may discuss about some of the difficulties you had, errors and their possible causes, and suggestions for improvement. Describe your reasoning using physics terminology and principles. You should explain as completely as possible what goes through your mind that leads you to your conclusion. While we encourage you to discuss the investigations with your partners, your conclusion must be your own thought.