Fall 2007
Northeastern
University
Introductory Physics Laboratory
(IPL), 323 Churchill Hall 617-373-2965
Tom Hamrick
Lab Supervisor
Office: 323 CH Office
Phone #: 617-373-2965
Index
General Information
Grading Rules
Grading Definitions
Workshop
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Information
Concerning the IPL
Welcome to the IPL. We trust that you will find this course a worthwhile
and educational experience. As a laboratory course, it is quite different from
the usual lecture courses. The experiments you will perform here should give
you hands-on experience with the physical laws and phenomena that you study in
the physics lecture courses. You will work together with a partner, who should
rotate each week. You will be in a group no larger than ten students,
instructed by a Teaching Assistant (TA), who is also a graduate student in our
physics department. "Doing a lab" means that -- with your partner --
you will take data (make measurements) on some piece of apparatus, record these
data in a note book, analyze them, and draw conclusions. This will lead you to
a deeper understanding of the underlying physical principles. Aside from
helping you comprehend the material in the physics lectures, it introduces you
to the experimental method in science and affords you some experience with
scientific apparatus.
The IPL office is in room 323CH (Churchill). The laboratories are on the
third floor of Churchill. The phone number is 617-373-2965. Feel free to contact
one of the laboratory directors if your TA cannot help you with a problem. If
you call, and there is no answer, wait for the answering machine to turn on,
and leave a message on how to reach you, or just come by the directors' office.
The laboratory has an informal atmosphere and you should try to enjoy the
things we ask you to do. Please adhere to the following rules:
The lab is scheduled for 170 minutes. Plan to spend the whole 170 minutes
in the lab. We expect you to be on time. You have one week to complete your lab
report and return it to your TA’s mail box located in 323 CH.
Do not eat drink or smoke in the labs.
You should bring a sharp pencil, calculator, lab manual, and a composition
book (notebook which contains graph paper as its pages) to each lab. All these
items are available in the NU Bookstore. Your TA will tell you which lab manual
to use.
Do not move equipment from table to table or from room to room unless
authorized by your TA.
Do not turn on equipment unless authorized by your TA. Note that some
equipment could be hazardous unless used properly. Take proper precautions. If
in doubt, ask your TA.
Come to the lab prepared. This means you should read the manual, compose
the Introduction for the experiment of the day, and review the relevant
physics topic in your physics lecture text. Aside from this, all work:
recording data, analyzing them, making graphs, calculations, drawing
conclusions, answering questions, etc. has to be done by you in its entirety
during the lab period.
At the beginning of the lab, your TA will return your composition book with
the previous week's report graded, make some comments on last week's reports,
and give a brief introduction to the day's lab.
Next, you should enter in your notebook the day's date, your partner's
name, and your initial impression of the purpose of the experiment and the
method to accomplish this purpose.
Then you begin to make measurements, take data, etc. according to the
experiment outline. Record all data and analysis work directly in your
computation book, not on loose paper, even at first! If you make a mistake,
cross it out (everybody makes mistakes!). Your computation book should be a
complete record of your work, errors and all. It should be well organized, data
put into clearly arranged and labeled tables and with comments and explanations
throughout, so that the flow of your work becomes apparent Always record data
as indicated by the apparatus and not as you thought it ought to be, if
different.
Plot (plots should always use a full page!) and analyze data as soon as you
obtain them, for each intermediate stage, and state clearly what you find.
Discuss possible errors in your measurements.
After you have followed all steps in the experiment outline, complete the
day's work by another brief statement of the purpose of the experiment (often
this will be different from your initial statement) and the conclusions you
draw from your data and analyses. Sometimes you will find a discrepancy between
your results and theoretical values. That's OK, but say so. Discuss possible
errors, and try to explain the reasons for any discrepancy.
When you are through, and have answered all questions, run off your
equipment and leave your table neat for the next person to use.
Your TA is your most important resource. Don't hesitate to ask him/her
questions. He/she is there to help you, to explain things to you, to show you
the proper use of the equipment, etc.
You will receive a schedule of the experiments you will perform during the
quarter. It is your obligation to read the write-up for each experiment prior
to coming to the lab, and to be able to answer simple questions concerning the
Physics of the experiment. Don't be surprised if there is a short quiz at the
beginning of a lab session to test your preparation.
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Grading Rules for the IPL
Every experiment consists of three
phases, as already discussed. To summarize once again these phases are:
- (a) Preparing to do the experiment
Students are expected to read the manual and review the topic of the
experiment in their physics lecture text in advance. Prepare for the quiz
at the beginning of the lab. Students are also expected to bring the
proper supplies (Sharp pencil, calculator, lab manual, ruler, computation
book) to the lab.
- (b) Doing the experiment. The
entire experiment has to be done during the lab period. This includes
becoming familiar with the apparatus, taking data and logging them
properly in the computation books, and checking that everything is done
right, is reproducible and makes sense. It may involve making tables,
drawing graphs, finding slopes of curves, etc. Analysis of the data should
be done as they are being taken.
- (c) A complete final analysis
of the data, the proper drawing of conclusions, and answering of
questions. This part too, has to be finished during the lab session.
A lab session lasts 170 minutes. Once again, you have one week to complete
your lab report and return it to your TA’s mail box located in 323 CH. Your TA
will return the graded lab book at the beginning of the next lab.
Six experiments have to be done and all six will be used in computing the
final course grade. The student will receive a numerical grade (0 - 10) for
each lab. The grade is based on preparation and Introduction (10%),
experimental work, data tables, calculations, graphs, analysis, (70%),
conclusions and answers to questions (20%), as outlined already. At the end of
the quarter, the average of the numerical grades is sent to your lecture
professor. The lab counts as 20% of
your overall course grade.
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The
University definitions are:
A = outstanding; B = good; C = satisfactory. There will be
no D's, i.e. a score less than C- results in an F. One missed lab will reduce
the final grade by one full letter grade (for example from B+ to C+, or from C+
to F). Two or more missed labs will result in an F.
Make ups are difficult or impossible to schedule. The TA will not authorize
a makeup unless it is fully justified in advance. In rare situations, a makeup
will be arranged by your TA who will be completely responsible for seeing it
done and credited properly. Bemuse of the heavy lab schedule of the IPL, as
well as the fact that your TA has his/her own schedule of classes to attend a
makeup may have to take place at a time inconvenient for the student. In no
case are you allowed more than one makeup. Neither the technicians nor the IPL
directors will arrange a makeup. If you have special Problems that your TA may
not be able to handle, contact one of the IPL directors.
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Physics (Tutoring) Workshop
The Workshop is a free tutorial service that is conducted
by physics graduate students Mondays through Fridays, according to a posted
schedule. Its purpose is to help you with any physics problems you may have,
for instance your homework, the lectures, a lab you are preparing for, etc. The
workshop will be located on the third floor of Churchill in one of the
designated lab rooms.
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