N115 Lab Syllabus

NSCI 115-L Survey of Science: History and Experiments LAB

Jan-Mar. 2001 Evening Term

Br. Kevin Ryan and Dr. Johnny B. Holmes

CATALOG DESCRIPTION: NSCI 115-L Survey of Science: History and Experiments Lab

Laboratory to accompany NSCI 115. Corequisite: enrollment in NSCI 115.

TEXT: Manual of lab experiments available from instructor at first lab; price: $2.00

INSTRUCTORS:
Br. Kevin Ryan, Visiting Assistant Professor (section L1)
Dr. Johnny B. Holmes, Professor of Physics (section L2)

Br. Kevin: Office: S104, Phone: 321-3444; Home: 321-3444; e-mail: kryan@cbu.edu
Dr. Holmes: Office S202; Phone: 321-3448; Home: 795-8135; e-mail: jholmes@cbu.edu

PREREQUISITES BY TOPIC: Basic algebra.

GOALS:

1. To provide a hands-on experience with some of the properties of motion, matter, electricity, light and radioactivity.

2. To acquaint the student with lab techniques.

3. To show the limitations of experimental verification of scientific theories.

EXPERIMENTS:

1. Density and Archimedes' Principle (two lab meetings)

2. Decomposition of Water by Electrolysis

3. Acceleration Due to Gravity

4. Waves and the Vibrating String

5. Electricity: Voltage, Current and Ohm's Law (two lab meetings)

6. Magnetism: Magnetic Forces and Magnetic Fields (two lab meetings)

7. Properties of Light (three lab meetings)

8. The Spectrograph

9. Investigating Radioactivity

GRADING:

There will be 14 lab sessions. [There will be no lab on major test days: Thursday, Jan. 25 and Thursday, Feb. 15. Lecture will be held during lab time on those days.] There will be 7 written reports: one report for the labs done the previous week. [There will be no lab report for the labs done during the last week of the term - just an oral report at the end of these labs.]

Br. Kevin's Grading: Refer to Br. Kevin's paper syllabus for details.

Dr. Holmes' Grading: Each of the 14 lab sessions will be worth up to 20 points based on your participation and an oral report at the end of the session (280 points). There will be a written report worth 100 points due on Thursday for the labs done the previous week, except there will be no written report for the labs done on the last week of classes. This makes for a total of 7 written reports worth 700 points. Maximum total points is 980.
A: Be present for all 14 lab sessions and accumulate at least 930 points.
B: Be present for at least 13 lab sessions and accumulate at least 875 points.
C: Be present for at least 12 lab sessions and accumulate at least 820 points.
D: Be present for at least 11 lab sessions and accumulate at least 765 points.
F: Anything less than the minimum requirements for a D.

ABSENCES:

If you know you will miss a lab, you may make arrangements with the instructor before the lab to make the lab up at a later time. If you miss a lab without notice and wish to make up the lab, you may do so by Thursday, March 1, but there will be a penalty.

SCHEDULE FOR BR. KEVIN'S LAB:

1	T	Jan. 9	Properties of Light #1
2	R	Jan. 11	Properties of Light #2
3	T	Jan. 16	Density and Archimedes' Principle #1
4	R	Jan. 18	Density and Archimedes' Principle #2
5	T	Jan. 23	Decomposition of Water by Electrolysis
	R	Jan. 25	Lecture Test #1 - no lab
6	T	Jan. 30	Acceleration Due to Gravity
7	R	Feb. 1	Electricity: Voltage, Current and Ohm's Law #1
8	T	Feb. 6	The Spectrograph
9	R	Feb. 8	Waves and the Vibrating String
10	T	Feb. 13	Electricity: Voltage, Current and Ohm's Law #2
	R	Feb. 15	Lecture Test #2 - no lab
11	T	Feb. 20	Properties of Light #3
12	R	Feb. 22	Investigating Radioactivity
13	T	Feb. 27	Magnetism #1
14	R	March 1	Magnetism #2

SCHEDULE FOR DR. HOLMES' LAB:

1	T	Jan. 9	Density and Archimedes' Principle #1
2	R	Jan. 11	Density and Archimedes' Principle #2
3	T	Jan. 16	Properties of Light #1
4	R	Jan. 18	Properties of Light #2
5	T	Jan. 23	Acceleration Due to Gravity
	R	Jan. 25	Lecture Test #1 - no lab
6	T	Jan. 30	Decomposition of Water by Electrolysis
7	R	Feb. 1	The Spectrograph
8	T	Feb. 6	Electricity: Voltage, Current and Ohm's Law #1
9	R	Feb. 8	Electricity: Voltage, Current and Ohm's Law #2
10	T	Feb. 13	Waves and the Vibrating String
	R	Feb. 15	Lecture Test #2 - no lab
11	T	Feb. 20	Magnetism #1
12	R	Feb. 22	Magnetism #2
13	T	Feb. 27	Properties of Light #3
14	R	March 1	Investigating Radioactivity

WRITTEN LAB REPORT GUIDE:

Each lab report should be typed (dot matrix or other computer assisted print is fine), or at least be clearly legible. Points will be subtracted for neatness if the report is hard to read or hard to follow.
Each written lab report should have the following:

Title of experiment, student name, date of experiment
Object of the experiment (one or two sentences)
A short description of what you did in the experiment.
Data (what you actually measure before calculations are performed- and with units)
Graphs where appropriate (with labels and slope calculations if appropriate)
Calculations (including a statement of the equation and a sample calculation with units)
Statement of results with appropriate comparisons (be sure to clearly mark this; include a discussion of the meaning of each graph)
Discussion of errors and accuracy of results

Use correct English grammar and spelling.

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