CONTENTS Description/Text Book Instructor Goals Topic Prerequisites Outline Grading Papers

Instructor: Dr. John Varriano
Office: 108 Science Bldg.
Phone: 3439 (office)     452-5940 (home)

Office Hours:
Check my posted schedule for official office hours. Feel free to come by at other times to see if I am in.

Goals:
This laboratory course supplements the introductory and advanced courses that you have taken, so it is designed to assist you in reaching and reinforcing the goals of those courses. The additional goals of this course are:
1. To investigate in more detail topics discussed in previous physics courses by direct, hands-on observation.
2. To test the models developed to describe different physical phenomena in the real-world environment of the laboratory. To see how well the models work and to find their limitations.
3. To increase the qualitative understanding of physical phenomena by directly seeing how physical quantities affect each other.
4. To see how the process of measurement affects experimental results through measurement uncertainty.
5. To gain independence in setting up and performing advanced experiments. To gain familiarity with experimental equipment.
6. To deepen your appreciation of Nature.

Topic Prerequisites:
- vector algebra, differential equations, calculus (including vector calculus)
- classical mechanics, relativistic mechanics, waves, electromagnetism, quantum physics

Outline:
You will work in a research group and the group will submit one paper for each experiment. Each member of the group must take a turn being the lead author. Each member of the group will receive the same letter grade. To earn an A or a B, the group must perform at least 3 experiments over the semester and submit papers for each experiment as described below. There are four experiments from different areas of physics from which to choose. However, the quantum experiment must be one of the choices.

The list of possible experiments follows:

Grading:
Your final grade is determined by the number of experiments that your group performs and by the average of the paper grades. The table below outlines the grading scale.

Papers:
The papers should be turned in within approximately two weeks after performing the experiment to ensure timely progress in the course. However, I will accept any paper up until the last day of classes.

The format of the paper should follow the example handed out in class. Include the same sections and use the same headings as the example paper. The papers must be done using a word processor and plotting software. You will be penalized for incorrect spelling and grammar. The group can turn in a rough draft of a paper that we can discuss. This will not adversely affect your grade. In fact, it can only help your grade and is strongly encouraged.