Announcements

03/28/05 - Don't forget labs this week - Lab 5 can be found here.

03/28/05 - New Grading Scheme: Every problem on PS 7 will be graded on a 0-3pt scale. Homeworks will be weighted to count the same amount as the first 6 homeworks. Future homeworks will be graded on a scale yet to be determined.

01/26/05 - Labs will begin next week on February 2nd. Don't forget to bring your introduction, a printout of the lab, and your lab notebook!

Lab Section Website

http://grad.physics.sunysb.edu/~snichols/labs300.html

Laboratory Hours

Physics 300 L01 - Wednesday, 12:50-2:50 PM, A-124
Physics 300 overflow - Wednesday, 2:50-4:50 PM, A-124

Office Hours

Monday 2:30-4:00 PM in S-level pit or S-138
Thursday 10:00-11:00 AM in S-level pit or S-138
Other Times: By appointment (email me, call me, or ask me during lab)

Weekly Deadlines

Physics 300, all sections - Friday at 2:00 PM in A-131 box

Required Materials

• Physics 300 Lab Manual (Print out weekly from the course webpage - click on "Courses" and scroll down)
• Lab notebook with college ruled and graph paper sheets (Recommended: Roaring Springs 77610, available at the university bookstore)

Lab Policies

• Always practice safety in the lab.
• Read about the lab in the manual BEFORE coming to lab - you will not be permitted to start the lab without a clear introduction in your lab notebook, initialed by me. I STRONGLY recommend working out the answers to the math-based questions before you come to lab.
• Students will work in groups of 2. A single remaining student may join two others to form a group of 3.
• Each student will write a lab report in black or blue ink (graphs and illustrations may be multi-color for clarity) in his/her own lab notebook. Printed lab reports MUST be pasted in the lab notebook.
• No lab reports written on loose-leaf paper will be accepted. Any computer-based work must be printed out and neatly taped or stapled into the lab notebook.
• Attendance will be taken at the beginning of the lab period. No lab reports will be accepted from absent students.
• Lab notebooks must be initialed by me before leaving for the day.
• Lab notebooks should be turned in to Professor Weinacht at the beginning of class on the Friday immediately following the lab to avoid late penalties. Please do not leave lab notebooks in my office as they may be lost.
• Write your full name, my name, and course number on the front cover of your lab notebooks. This is to protect YOU: if the lab notebooks are lost, they can be returned to me.
  Example:
  John Doe
  PHY 300
  TA: Sarah Nichols

Grading

• All laboratories are required for passing the course.
• Absent students with excuse forms should be sure to come to me to arrange a make-up lab. No make-ups will be arranged without approval from Professor Weinacht.
• Each lab will be worth 10 points divided as follows:
• Introduction/Lab Quiz: 1 pt
• Experimental Method: 1 pt
• Data Record: 2 pts
• Analysis: 3 pts
• Conclusion: 3 pts
• Late lab reports will have a 1.0 point penalty for each day after the deadline with a cutoff at two days. No reports will be accepted after the cutoff. Exceptions to this policy can only be made if ADVANCE arrangements have been made with Professor Weinacht. Late lab reports completed over the weekend should be dropped in the box outside S-138.
• Lab reports can be picked up Monday outside S-138.
• The lowest lab report score will be dropped.
• Lab reports which do not have my signature on the data tables will receive no data record points.
• At minimum, lab reports containing fabricated data will receive no analysis or conclusion points.
• You should take data with your lab partner and you are encouraged to discuss the lab, but the writeup of analysis and conclusions must be done independently. Copying of data, calculations, and/or text is forbidden, and any instance of plagiarism will invalidate the whole report for all parties involved, and may possibly have further academic consequences.

Lab Reports

• I expect to see at least these 5 sections in a lab report when submitted for grading:


1. Introduction
• a description of the goals of the lab
• a brief description of the general method used in the lab (computer simulation? mass on a spring? laser and slits?)
• NOTE: This section MUST be completed before lab, and initialed by me when you enter the lab room
2. Experimental Method
• a diagram or sketch of the equipment
• a list (or notes) of the steps taken during lab (this should be complete enough that I could do the lab based only on your notes)
3. Data Record*
• tables of measurements taken during lab
4. Analysis
• graphs of the data
• calculations
• error estimations
• table of final results
• answers to ALL lab questions, based on YOUR data - show me the work!
5. Conclusion
• discussion of results and comparisons to theory
• discussion on sources of error (both statistical and systematic) and their effects on the result

* - must be completed and initialed before leaving lab

• Numbers (with only a few exceptions, such as pi) should ALWAYS be recorded with units.
• Graphs should fill the page (no more than 2 graphs per page), have complete labels, descriptive titles, and uniformly scaled axes, and should have errors bars shown when applicable.
• Error analysis should follow the guidelines in the lab manual.
• Errors may be crossed through with a single line or whole pages can be crossed off with a large "X". Under no circumstances are pages to be removed from the lab manual. You will NOT be penalized for errors that are crossed out.
• A reasonable length for conclusions would be half a page or more.

A Final Note

The quality of your analysis counts much more than the "correctness" of your data. If you have perfect data but incomplete or missing analysis, you will not do well on the lab. Conversely, faulty data can still result in a high grade, if a thorough analysis of the reasons the data are flawed is performed.

Anonymous Feedback

If you have comments about the course and would like to remain anonymous, please take a moment to submit them. Comments can be written or typed and submitted in my mailbox in the department mailroom (my box is below the label "Nichols/Ostrovsky"). Feedback from students is an important source of information in identifying areas in need of improvement.

Sarah R. Nichols
Department of Physics and Astronomy
SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794

Last Update - 01/26/05