PHYS 407 General Physics: Lab

Lab Instructors:

TA:

Office:

Phone:

E-Mail:

Vince Bonina

DeMerrit 3rd Fl

862-2067

vbonina@cisunix.unh.edu

L4-6 Grade Cubes Office Hours: W 9 - 10 am

Anthony Marcolongo

DeMerrit 3rd Fl

862-2067

am6@cisunix.unh.edu

L1-3: Grade Cubes Office Hours: W 3-5 pm

Aaron Torok

DeMerrit 3rd Fl

862-2067

atorok@cisunix.unh.edu

L10 Grade Cubes Office Hours: F 12:30 - 1:30 pm

Anupama Sankaran

DeMerrit 3rd Fl

862-2067

as@cisunix.unh.eduu

L7-9: Grade Cubes Office Hours: W 11:30 am-12:30 pm;
R 5 - 6pm

Make-Ups

All missed labs have to be made up. Do this as soon as possible, preferentially before the setups are changed for the next experiment. Ask your TA for advice. You may also make up for up to two labs during the last week of classes. However, you have to sign up in the Physics Office the week before.

It's Lab Time!

General Remarks:

Lab Reports:

You must hand in all lab reports (total of 10) and do the Concepts Post Test to pass this course. Lab reports are due 7 days after you did the lab (no later than 6 pm), or on the day of your next lab, whatever occurs first. Special arrangement for make up labs during the last week: reports are due Monday, 12/15.

Grading

Labs #1 – 10 will be graded with a maximum of 17 points each, #11 with 30 points. Points will be taken off for omission of data, graphs, sections, lack of clarity in data, graphs or prose, illegible handwriting, sloppy work, etc.. The main purpose of the grade is to provide you with feedback. Your instructor should explain to you, in his notes or in a direct discussion, how you can improve your reports. You will earn the remaining 17 points during the Concepts Post Test on the last Lab Day (12 points for taking with the remaining 5 points for performance).

Extra credit will only be given under rare circumstances. Revisions: If your report had serious flaws (missing graphs or sections), you may submit a revised report, no later than 7 days after the TA returned your original report. This will improve your grade, but don’t expect a perfect grade if your report is perfect only after revision. Please don’t submit revised reports unless the revision is substantial.

Structure of Your Lab Reports

Requirements will increase gradually throughout the semester. Your first reports will be short and may be handwritten; later ones (#7– 10) have to be typed (equations may still be handwritten, and a sketch of the apparatus may be drawn by hand).

Make sure that each report has a title page with the following information:
Course number, number and title of lab (e.g., PHYS 407, Lab #1, Graphing and Data Analysis), your name and name of lab partner, name of your TA, date of the lab, date when the report was submitted, and Abstract.

Here is a list of required sections (see below for more details about the sections, and in which order they should appear):

Anatomy of a Lab Report, Technical Report, or Research Paper

I. Quick Tour

  1. Title page with Abstract:
  2. Introduction
  3. Theory
  4. Experimental Setup (or: Procedure and Apparatus)
  5. Data
  6. Sample Calculations
  7. Results
  8. Discussion and Conclusion
  9. Appendix
  10. Data & graphs that you did not integrate into the main body of the report. Supplemental material.

Anatomy of a Lab Report, Technical Report, or Research Paper

II. Further Details, in Addition to those Given in the Quick Tour

  1. General Remarks
  2. Abstract:
  3. Introduction
  4. Theory
  5. Experimental Setup (or: Procedure and Apparatus)
  6. Data
  7. Sample Calculations
  8. Results
  9. Discussion and Conclusion
  10. Appendix