Physics 263a Laboratory

University of Maryland 

Faculty

• Philip Roos

Phone: 405-6103
Room: Z-2220
E-mail: roos@physics.umd.edu

Teaching Assistants

Sogee Spinner
Phone: 5-6189
Room: 3103B
E-mail: sspinner@glue.umd.edu
Sections: 0102,0103,0119
Hui Wang
Phone: 5-6189
Room: 3103B
E-mail: wanghui@glue.umd.edu
Sections: 0105,0117,0118
Wayne Witzel
Phone: 5-6189
Room: 3103B
E-mail: wmwitzel@glue.umd.edu
Sections: 0106,0107,0116
 
 

Schedule of Labs for Fall 2002
 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:00
9:00
10:00		Sect 0105 Wang
11:00		Sect 0105		Sect 0117 Wang
12:00		Sect 0105		Sect 0117
13:00		Sect 0106 Witzel	Sect 0116 Witzel	Sect 0117
14:00		Sect 0106	Sect 0116	Sect 0118 Wang	TA meeting
15:00	Sect 0102 Spinner	Sect 0106	Sect 0116	Sect 0118
16:00	Sect 0102	Sect 0107 Witzel		Sect 0118
17:00	Sect 0102	Sect 0107		Sect 0119 Spinner
18:00	Sect 0103 Spinner	Sect 0107		Sect 0119
19:00	Sect 0103			Sect 0119
20:00	Sect 0103

Latest Information

Pictures of Experiment 2 Equipment

Pictures of Experiment 3 Equipment

Pictures of Experiment 5 Equipment

Pictures of Experiment 6 Equipment

Pictures of Experiment 7 Equipment
 

Labs meet in room 3220 of the physics building

Fall 2002 Handout

Physics 263A is the laboratory part of Physics 263, and meets in room Z-3220. This course carries one credit and the grade is folded in with the Physics 263 course grade. You must pass Physics 263A in order to pass the entire course. If you do not pass this part of the course you will be required to repeat the entire course. The labs meet for three hours a week. You must complete all of the labs, including the culminating labs in order to pass the course. You are expected to attend each class and will be allowed to make up labs only under exceptional circumstances.

The Physics 263A laboratory uses the Excel spreadsheet to analyze data while in the lab. If you have taken Physics 262A within the last few semesters and have learned to use the spreadsheet you will be fine. If you have not had spreadsheet experience or would like an opportunity to review the spreadsheet the first week of lab will be an optional tutorial. You might find it useful to stop by and meet your TA this first week even if you don't need the tutorial.

During the three hour laboratory period, you will have a brief introduction about the lab, perform the experiment, do your analysis and write-up and turn in your report. The experiment should take less than two hours to perform (including the introduction), but in order for you to complete your work in the allotted time you must read the lab write-up before coming to class and answer the prelab questions.

Our aim in this lab is to enhance the understanding of the laboratory experiments you perform while at the same time minimizing the amount of time spent on analysis and write-ups. In order for this to work we have placed more emphasis on preparation for actual laboratory work and prelab assignments. This means it is not necessary to do extensive write-ups. Overly long or padded lab reports will be penalized. Each week's lab includes a prelab assignment. The culminating labs are special labs where you will be given questions about a number of the experiments you performed during the semester. The list of possible questions is included in the manual and you should review the ones for each lab after you have completed that experiment. This will make the culminating lab much easier! More questions may be handed out during the semester.

The course grade for Physics 263A will be determined as follows:

70% for the eight regular labs

30% for theculminating laboratories.

The scoring on the regular labs will be based approximately as follows:

Prelab 20% ( 0, 10%, 20%)

Data 40%

Analysis 25%

Questions 15%

The prelab will be graded in units of 10%. In order to get 20% on the prelab you must make a sincere attempt to do the prelab completely. Incomplete or poorly done prelabs will be graded at either 0 or 10%.. You will work with lab partners and will share data with them. However, you will be responsible for doing your own analysis. It is therefore essential that you make a copy of the data for each lab for your own use. Each person in the group will also be required to demonstrate proficiency with the spreadsheet, oscilloscope and multimeter. You will be tested on these basic skills during the lab sessions. You must buy the current lab manual available at the bookstore.

The first labs will be held the week of Sept. 9-13

Fall 2002 Schedule of Labs

Sept. 3-6                 No Lab.

Sept. 9-13               Experiment 0 --- Optional Review of Excel

Sept. 16-20             Experiment 1 --- The Oscilloscope and Multimeter

Sept. 23-27             Experiment 2 --- The Resistors and Capacitors

Sept. 30-Oct. 4        Experiment 3 --- Faraday's Law of Induction

Oct. 7-11                Experiment 4 --- LR and LRC Circuits

Oct. 14-18              Discussion and Make-up Week

Oct. 21-25              First Culminating Lab. (Experiments 1-4)

Oct. 28-Nov.1         Experiment 5 --- Diffraction

Nov. 4-8                 Experiment 6 --- Polarized Light

Nov. 11-15             Experiment 7 --- The Hydrogen Spectrum

Nov. 18-22             Experiment 8 --- The Radioactive Half-Life of Indium

Nov. 25-29              No Labs. Thanksgiving Week

Dec. 2-6                 Make-up and Discussion Week

Dec. 9-13               Second Culminating Lab. (Experiments 5-8)
 
 
 

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