PHYSICS 405 COURSE
DESCRIPTION
SPRING
2008
Lecture Room 3112 Physics, Lab 3210
COURSE
WEB SITE:
Go to http://elms.umd.edu
and
find the link for Phys 405.
INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Elizabeth Beise
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Office:
2220-C Physics |
Lab
Hours: Wed & Thurs 1-4 PM |
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Phone:
301-405-6109 |
(Additional
office hours by appointment – phone or email) |
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Email:
beise@umd.edu |
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TEACHING
ASSISTANTS:
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Eric
Voorhies |
Justin
Wilson |
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office |
Room
4223 |
Room
4223 |
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phone |
301-405-6192 |
301-405-6192 |
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email |
eric2505
at umd.edu |
jwilson
at umd.edu |
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office
hours |
TBA |
TBA |
SCHEDULE:
Instructor and TA lab hours will be announced in class and posted in
the lab
and on our web site.
The lab is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and on
Friday
from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. If you arrive before the door is open,
ask Tom
or Allen to open the lab for you. If you are the last person to
leave one
of the lab rooms, please close the door. If you are coming back,
have Tom
or Allen open the door again when you return. You must be done
for the
day at the time the lab closes. If you are not done taking data
at 5:00
PM and you are signed up for the following day, leave a note on your
experiment
so that a staff member does not disassemble your experiment.
LABORATORY
STAFF:
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Allen
Monroe |
Office:
3311 Physics |
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Phone:
x56002 |
Office
Hours: 8AM-3 PM M-F |
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Email:
amonroe@physics.umd.edu
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Tom
Baldwin |
Office:
3202 Physics |
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Phone:
x56004 |
Office
Hours: 9:00AM-5:30 PM M-F |
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Email:
tbald@physics.umd.edu |
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PREREQUISITE: Physics 375
LECTURES: Wednesday
12:00-1:00 PM, Lecture Room 3112 Physics
TEXT and MATERIALS:
Physics 405 Laboratory
Manual – Department
of Physics, Spring 2007 edition
THIS WILL BE
AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY THROUGH OUR WEB SITE -- THIS VERSION IS NOT
AVAILABLE IN PRINT
AND one of the following:
Data Reduction and Error
Analysis
for the Physical Sciences -
Phillip R. Bevington and D. Keith Robinson (McGraw Hill, Inc., 2003,
ISBN
0-07-247227-8);
An Introduction to Error
Analysis:
The Study of Uncertainties in Physical Measurement – John R. Taylor (University Science
Books,
1997, ISBN 0-935702-75-X).
You will need TWO (2) lab
notebooks. Two
are required so that you can work in one notebook while the other is
being
graded. Acceptable lab notebooks should be 8.5" x 11" or
larger, should be bound (with spiral or book binding), and have
numbered, quad-ruled
pages. Pages should be permanent, not perforated for tear-out.
LECTURES:
For approximately the first half to the semester there will be a 1-hour
lecture
from 12:00 – 1:00 PM in Rm. 3112 on Wednesdays. We will cover error
analysis,
laboratory measurement techniques and any other material germane to the
course.
You will be responsible for understanding the material presented in
lecture
and, when appropriate, expected to include some of this material in
your
notebook reports and in your final formal report. If you miss a lecture
you are
responsible for finding out from a classmate what was covered.
During the
second half of the course, the lecture slot will be used for 12-minute
presentations by students. Attendance at talks is
mandatory!
Without a valid excuse approved by your instructure, you will not pass
the
course if you do not attend all presentations. You are responsible for
knowing
the dates of the presentations, which are subject to change!
EXPERIMENTS:
In order to pass the course, 6 units of work must be completed, which
will
typically consist of four to six experiments. Failure to complete
all 6
units will result in failing
the
class; completion is defined as performing the lab and turning a lab
notebook
to be graded. Each student is required to
work on the
experiments entirely by her/himself. At the completion of each
experiment, you
will need to hand in the laboratory notebook for grading. This means
that it
will be necessary to have at least 2
laboratory notebooks in order to have one available while the other is
being
graded. Every attempt will be made to grade your experiments promptly
so that
you will be able to improve your next report before handing it in. The
notebook
reports are meant to be your notes and documentation of your work in
the lab,
and are not meant to be a formal write-up. (Please refer to the
laboratory manual for more information on the notebooks.)
Your first experiment must be a one-unit experiment. (in order to total six units, you must therefore complete at least one other one-unit experiment). You may do either zero, one, or two two-unit experiments.
SCHEDULING
EXPERIMENTS:
There will be an online sign-up sheet that can be accessed from any
computer
with an internet connection or from the computer in Rm. 3210. The url
is http://www.physics.umd.edu/cgi-script/courses/p405.pl
You must request time each week to perform your experiments. Time slots are available in ½-day
periods. In order to save your
experimental setup, you must sign up for two consecutive periods. Also, please dismantle your setup when you
have completed your data taking.
Prior to carrying out an experiment, you are required to complete the preparatory questions at the start of the experiment. There is a spot on the course website for you to electronically submit the prep questions, or you can hand them in on a piece of paper at the beginning of the class period in which they are due. You must have the prep questions examined and initialed by either the instructor or the TA before you begin the experiment.
DUE
DATES FOR THE NOTEBOOK
REPORTS:
Notebook reports are due according to the schedule shown in the syllabus. There is a 5-point penalty per week for late reports!
FORMAL
REPORT:
One of the 4 to 6 experiments is to be rewritten as a formal report and
is to
be turned in by Friday, May 9, 2008. Please refer to the laboratory
manual and
the information here
for
the format of the formal report.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS:
Each student will be expected to give one 12-minute talk on an
experiment of
his or her choice. The talks will be followed by questions from
the
instructor, the TA, and the other students.
HOMEWORK:
Several times during the semester a short set of homework
problems will
be assigned. The purpose of these assignments is to review and
strengthen your
understanding of the type of error analysis you will be performing in
your
laboratories, as well as get some experience with common experimental
issues.
GRADING:
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Notebooks
(20 per unit) |
60% |
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Homework
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10% |
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Formal
report |
15% |
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12-minute
talk |
15% |
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TOTAL |
100% |
VALID EXCUSES:
If you have a valid excuse for missing a due date for a notebook report
or a 12
minute talk (e.g., you will be having an operation) see me to make
alternate
arrangements, beforehand if at all possible. Ex post facto (after the
fact)
excuses will require validation and may not be acceptable. You must
speak to me. Your TA does not have the authority to excuse you from any
required class activity.
ACADEMIC
DISHONESTY
(CHEATING):
Academic dishonesty is a serious
offense
that may result in suspension or expulsion from the university. In
addition to
any other action taken, the normal sanction is a grade of "XF",
denoting "failure due to academic dishonesty," and will normally be
recorded on the transcript of the offending student. Remember, you are
required
to perform all experiments, analysis, and write-up by yourself. It is
OK to
discuss the experiments with other students but you must
do the
work.
TIPS
FOR DOING WELL:
Don't fall behind! Don't wait until the last day to do an
experiment!
Read the lab manual carefully
before
attempting an experiment.
Answer the preparatory questions in your notebook and have them checked
by the
professor or TA before you begin the experiment.
Keep a complete log for the experiment including experimental diagrams
of
measurement configurations actually used to obtain data, results,
estimates of
various errors and limitations to the measurements, analysis used to
obtain
final results and a proper estimate of all errors including systematic
errors
as well as statistical errors.
Show clearly the reasoning that you used to arrive at various
conclusions. If
your experimental result does not agree with the known or accepted
values, your
reasoning may be the only clue that the TA or the instructor has as to
where
you, or the experimental apparatus, went wrong.
Additional information, a list
of experiments
and more detailed help can be found at the course website.
IMPORTANT DATES:
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First
Class Lecture |
Wednesday,
Jan 30 |
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Last
Day for Schedule Adjustment |
Friday,
February 8 |
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Last
Day to Drop with a "W" |
Friday,
April 11 |
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Spring
Break |
March
17-21 |
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Last
Notebook Due |
Wednesday,
April 23 |
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All
Notebooks Due |
Wednesday,
April 30 by 6:00 PM |
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Final Report Due |
Friday,
May 9 by 6:00 PM |
TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE
(subject to change as needed)
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Dates |
Lecture |
relevant reading |
Due Dates* |
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1/30 |
Introduction, Experiments |
Skim the lab manual |
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2/6 |
Lecture #1 |
Bevington Chpts 1-2 |
Unit
#1 Prelab Questions |
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2/13 |
Lecture #2 |
Bevington 6-8 |
Homework
#2 due |
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2/20 |
Lecture #3 |
Building Scientific Apparatus, |
Unit #1 Lab Notebooks Unit
#2 Prelab Questions |
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2/27 |
Lecture #4 |
Building Scientific Apparatus, |
Homework #3 due |
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3/5 |
Lecture #5 |
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Unit
#2 Lab Notebooks |
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3/12 |
Tour of campus reactor |
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Homework #5 due |
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3/19 |
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NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK |
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3/26 |
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Unit #3 Lab Notebooks |
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4/2 |
12 Min. Talks |
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4/9 |
12 Min. Talks |
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Unit #4 Lab Notebooks |
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4/16 |
12 Min. Talks |
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4/23 |
12 Min. Talks |
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Unit #5 Lab Notebooks |
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4/30 |
12 min Talks |
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5/7 |
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Unit
#6 Lab Notebooks |
*All subsequent prelab
questions must be
completed and checked (initialed) by the TA or the instructor before
you start
your lab. The lab notebook due dates correspond to 1-unit labs. You
will have
twice as long to complete 2-unit labs. The due dates correspond to
12:00 noon
unless otherwise specified.
GRADING OF NOTEBOOKS:
Your lab notebook should give a complete description of how you did
your
experiment and how you analyzed your data. Another person should
be able
to take your notebook and duplicate your experiment.
For the notebook reports you
must do the
following:
1. Write in a real lab notebook: notebook
should be
quad ruled, with numbered pages.
2. Write in ink. If you make a mistake, draw
one line
through it - don't erase it, scratch over it, or use white-out.
3. Staple/past/tape all graphs and analysis in notebook. Label axes. Include any formulas,
derivations,
etc. needed to understand your graph.
4. Give a brief description of theory behind experiment.
5. Provide the actual circuit diagram you used to do the experiment.
6. Provide a clear description of the procedure used to take data.
7. Provide the units of all numbers.
8. Provide and explain your estimate of the random and systematic
errors in all
important quantities effecting your final result. Must use proper error
analysis techniques.
9. Pay attention to significant figures.
10. Analyze your data. Write down the methods you used. If you
use Mathematica,
do not simply paste your Mathematica
notebook into your lab notebook
- write down in your lab notebook your analysis steps. Compare
statistical error with random error (reduced χ2).
Discuss.
11. Quote your results with final total error (including systematic
errors).
12. When appropriate, compare your answer to the expected value and
discuss
discrepancies.
13. Be sure you have answered all the questions asked for in the lab
manual,
including discussion questions at end
of unit.
14. Be sure you have done all the parts of the experiments that you
were asked to do.
General Grading Scheme for lab reports per unit:
Description of procedure (including prep questions) 3 pts
Raw data (including tables, plots, etc.) 5
pts
Analysis (including errors and final results) 8 pts
Everything else on above list 4 pts
Late reports
-5 pts /week
No notebook for one lab,
F for the
course!
Last
modified
Jan 19, 2008