PHYSICS 405 COURSE DESCRIPTION
Spring 2013
Lecture Room 1402 (First class in the New Toll Room 1305F)
Physics Building
Laboratory 3210 Physics Building
Physics 405 is an advanced
undergraduate laboratory course with experiments from many fields of modern
physics for physics majors. Students have full access to the experimental
equipment and establish their own work schedules and procedures with the
guidance of faculty and staff. Emphasis is on independent experiment
organization, data acquisition, data analysis, and scientific report preparation.
PREREQUISITE: Physics 375
LECTURES: Wednesday 12:00-1:00 PM,
Lecture Room 1402 Physics Building
COURSE WEB SITE:
http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/Phys405/
INSTRUCTORS:
|
Professor Hassan Jawahery |
|
Phone: 301-405-6062 Office: 4310 Physics Building Email: jawahery@umd.edu |
|
|
|
Professor Luis Orozco |
|
Phone: 301-405-9740 Office: 2201 Computer and Space Science Building Email:
lorozco@umd.edu |
TEACHING ASSISTANTS
LABORATORY STAFF
|
Mr.
Allen Monroe |
|
Phone:
301-405-6002 |
|
Office: 3311 Physics Building |
|
Office Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. M-F |
|
Email: amonroe@physics.umd.edu |
|
|
|
Mr.
Thomas Baldwin |
|
Phone: 301-405-6004 |
|
Office: 3202 Physics Building |
|
Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. M-F |
|
Email: tbald@physics.umd.edu |
SCHEDULE:
Instructor and Teaching Assistant laboratory
hours will be announced in class and posted in the laboratory and on the course
web site.
The laboratories are open Monday through
Thursday from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. The last person to leave a laboratory must close the door.
When returning to a laboratory, Mr. Monroe or Mr. Baldwin will open the door
again. Work is to be finished at the end of the laboratory period.
If data acquisition is not complete at 5:00 p.m. and the experiment is reserved
for the following day, a note should be left on the experiment to avoid its
being disassembled.
TEXT and REFERENCES:
Physics 405 Laboratory Manual
– Department of Physics, Fall 2008 edition.
This will be available electronically on the
Physics 405 web site. This version
is not available in print.
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).
Building
Scientific Apparatus – J. H. Moore, C. C. Davis, and M. A. Coplan (Cambridge University Press, Fourth Edition, 2009,
ISBN 978-0-521-87858-6).
Two (2)
laboratory notebooks are required so that one is available for laboratory work
while the other is being graded. Notebooks are to be 8.5" x 11"
or larger, with bound, numbered, quad-ruled pages that are permanent and unperforated.
LECTURES:
There will be a
one-hour lecture from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. in room, 1219 Physics Building
every Wednesday during the course of the semester. The lectures will cover
error analysis, laboratory measurement techniques, vacuum technology,
detectors, basic electronics, signal analysis and other topics germane to
experimental physics. Students are responsible for understanding the material
presented in lecture and, when appropriate, including this material in notebook
reports and in the final formal report. Students missing a lecture are
responsible for obtaining the lecture material from classmates. During the
latter part of the course, the lecture period will be used for 12-minute
student presentations. Attendance at the
Wednesday lectures and presentations is mandatory. The lecture and presentation
schedule will be posted on the course website.
EXPERIMENTS:
To pass the
course, you must complete four experiments, with at least two from group B
experiments. Completion
is defined as performing the laboratory work, data analysis, and submitting a
laboratory notebook for grading. Failure
to complete four experiments will result in failing the class. Each
student is required to work on the experiments independently. At the completion
of each experiment the laboratory notebook must be submitted to the instructors
for grading. It is necessary to have at least two
laboratory notebooks so that one is available for laboratory work while the
other is being graded. The notebooks will be graded promptly so that
improvements can be made in subsequent experiments and reports. The notebook
reports are meant to be the notes and documentation of the work in the
laboratory, and are not the Formal Report.
(Please refer to the laboratory manual for more information on the notebooks.)
SCHEDULING EXPERIMENTS:
There is 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. Prior to carrying out an experiment,
the preparatory questions at the start of the experiment must be
answered. The answers are to be written in the laboratory notebook.
You must have the preparatory questions examined and initialed
by either the instructor or the TA before beginning the experiment. Work on the experiments must be formally scheduled. Time slots are
available in half-day periods. In order to save an experimental setup,
two consecutive periods must be reserved. When an experiment has been
completed and data acquisition finished the experiment must be dismantled.
DUE DATES FOR THE NOTEBOOK
REPORTS:
Notebook reports are due according to the
schedule shown in the syllabus. There is a 2-point penalty,
out of a total of 20 points, per day for late reports.
FORMAL REPORT:
A formal report on the
second experiment is required and is to be submitted according to the schedule
below. The format of the formal report is given in the laboratory manual and on
the Blackboard website.
ORAL PRESENTATION:
Each student is required to give a 12-minute
presentation on an experiment. The talks will be followed by questions
from students, the instructors, and TA
HOMEWORK:
During the semester homework problems will be
assigned. The purpose of these problems is to review and strengthen
understanding of error analysis that will be used in the interpretation of
data, as well as provide experience with experimental topics.
GRADES:
|
Notebooks
|
60% |
|
Homework |
10% |
|
Formal
Report |
15% |
|
12-Minute
Presentation |
15% |
|
|
|
|
Total |
100% |
VALID EXCUSES:
If you have a
valid excuse for missing a due date for a notebook report or a 12-minute
presentation (e.g. a medical emergency) see one of the Professors to make
alternate arrangements, beforehand. Ex
post facto (after the fact) excuses will require validation and may not be
acceptable. You must speak to one of the Professors. The TA does not
have the authority to make alternate arrangements.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
(CHEATING):
Academic dishonesty is a serious offense that can
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. Students are required to perform
all experiments, analysis, and write-ups independently. The experiments may be
discussed with other students, but each student must work independently..
TIPS FOR DOING WELL:
Read the laboratory manual carefully before
beginning an experiment. Answer the pre-laboratory questions in your notebook
and have them checked by the Professor or TA before beginning the
experiment.
Keep a
complete log for the experiment including equipment diagrams, measurement
configurations, results, estimates of errors and limitations to the
measurements, analysis used to obtain final results and a proper estimate of
all errors including systematic as well as statistical errors.
Record clearly the
reasoning used to arrive at conclusions. If the experimental result does not
agree with the known or accepted value, documented reasoning may be the only
means for determining what went wrong.
Additional information, a list of experiments, and more detailed help
can be found at the course website.
Good time management is
essential for success in this class. Don't fall behind! Don't wait until
the last day to do an experiment!
IMPORTANT DATES:
|
First meeting: Wednesday, January 23; Introduction to the Laboratory |
|
First Class Lecture: Wednesday, January 30 |
|
|
|
|
Last Day for Schedule Adjustment: February 5 |
|
|
Last Day to Drop with a "W": April 5 |
|
|
Spring Break: March 17 – March 24 |
|
|
Last day of Classes: Thursday, May 9 |
|
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
(subject to revision)
|
Dates |
Lecture
Period Topic |
Reading |
Due
Dates |
|
1/23 |
Introduction
to Experiments |
Laboratory
Manual |
|
|
1/30 |
Lecture 1,
Radiation
Safety |
|
Unit #1 Prelab* |
|
2/6 |
Lecture32,
Statistics Random/Systematic Errors |
Bevington Ch. 1-2
, Taylor Ch. 3,4,5,10,11 |
Homework #1 |
|
2/13 |
Lecture 2, Electronics, Vacuum
Technology, Detectors |
Building
Scientific Apparatus,
Ch. 6 |
Expt #1 Notebook Homework #2 |
|
2/20 |
Tour
of campus reactor |
|
Homework #3 |
|
2/27 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
|
3/06 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Expt #2 Notebook |
|
3/13 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Experiment 1 or 2 Formal Report |
|
3/27 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
|
4/03 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
|
4/10 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Expt #3 Notebook |
|
4/17 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
|
4/24 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
|
5/01 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Expt #4 Notebook |
|
5/08 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
*All pre-laboratory questions
must be completed and checked (initialed) by the TA or an instructor before
laboratory work can start. Reports
are due at 12:00 noon on Wednesdays.
NOTEBOOKS:
Laboratory notebooks must
include a complete description of how the experiment was performed and the way
the data were analyzed. Other scientists should be able to take the notebook
and duplicate the experimental results. Below is a list of the essential
elements of the notebook report:
á Notebook
reports written in ink in a laboratory notebook with quad-ruled, numbered
pages. Mistakes are not to be
erased, scratched over or covered with White-Out. A
single line is to be drawn through mistakes.
á All
graphs stapled, pasted or taped in the notebook. Graph axes labeled with units.
Formulas, derivations, and discussions necessary to understand the graphs
included.
á A
brief description of theory of the experiment followed by a clear description
of the procedure used to take data. Schematic diagrams of the
experimental arrangement along with circuit diagrams of electronics. Raw data in tabular
form with units and proper significant figures.
á Units for all numbers with appropriate significant figures.
á Estimates of random and systematic errors and the justification for
the estimates.
á Analysis of the data using proper error analysis and a description
of the analysis methods. If Mathematica is used, include the analysis steps in
addition to the Mathematica notebook included
in the laboratory notebook.
á Comparison
of statistical error with random error (reduced
c2).
á Final results with total error (including systematic errors),
comparison of the final results with expected values and a discussion of
discrepancies.
á Answers to all questions in the Laboratory Manual including
discussion questions.
á All parts of the
experiments completed.
NOTEBOOK REPORT FORMAT AND GRADING:
Procedure (including
preparatory questions) 3 points
Raw data (including tables,
plots) 5 points
Analysis (including errors
and final results) 8 points
Remaining topics listed above
4 points
Two points will be
subtracted from any report grade for each day late. Failure to submit all
reports will result in an F for the course.
CourseEvalUM Fall 2013
Participation in the evaluation of courses through CourseEvalUM is a student responsibility held as a member of our academic community. Feedback is confidential and important to the improvement of teaching and learning at the University as well as to the tenure and promotion process. CourseEvalUM will be open for students to complete evaluations for fall semester courses between xx and yy. Go directly to the website (www.courseevalum.umd.edu) to complete the evaluations starting xx. Completing all evaluations each semester gives online access at Testudo to the reports of the thousands of courses for which 70% or more students submitted their evaluations.
Last updated January 28, 2013