Physics 3719 Undergraduate Laboratory
Fall 2002

Lectures

• Tue Thr, 5:15-6:15pm, B1 JFB
  

Laboratory

Sec. 1	Wed	2-6	306/307 SP
Sec. 2	Thu	9-1	306/307 SP

(see rolls of the sections here).

Instructors

• Vladimir Kozhevnikov
  318 JFB, 581-3537, vkozhev@physics.utah.edu
  Office Hours: after each lecture or by appointment.
• John Viner
  307C SP, 581-5232, jmv@physics.utah.edu
  Office Hours: Mon 10:00 - 11:30 am, Wed 1:30 - 3:00 pm, 306 SP.

Grader

• Alex Blinov
  

Text

• Required: Taylor, John R., An Introduction to Error Analysis, 2nd ed. (University Science Books, 1997).
  
• Optional:
  Melissinos, Adrian C., Experiments in Modern Physics, (Academic Press, 1966).
  

Important Dates

• Wed, Aug 21 : Classes begin.
• Fri, Aug 30 : Last day to drop (delete) class, with no tuition penalties.
• Fri, Oct 18 : Last day to withdraw from classes, but you will be held responsible for tuition. A "W" will appear on your transcript for this class.
• Thu, Dec 5 : Classes end.
• Dec 9-13 : Exam period.

References

On reserve at Marriott Library for a 24-hour loan period. (* = most useful)

1.	*	Baird, Experimentation: A Introduction to Measurement Theory and Experiment Design
2.		Bevington, Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences
3.		Beyer, AIP Style Manual
4.		Chambers, et al., Basic Vacuum Technology
5.		Chen and Cook, Gravitational Experiments in the Laboratory
6.		Coplan, et al., Building Scientific Apparatus
7.		Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper
8.		Day, Scientific English
9.		Dunlop, Experimental Physics
10.	*	Harnwell and Livingood, Experimental Atomic Physics
11.		Hoag and Korff, Electron and Nuclear Physics
12.	*	Jenkins and White, Fundamentals of Optics
13.	*	Lyons, A Practical Guide to Data Analysis for Physical Science Students
14.		Mark and Olson, Experiments in Modern Physics
15.	*	Melissinos, Experiments in Modern Physics
16.	*	Preston and Dietz, The Art of Experimental Physics
17.		Richtmeyer, et al., Introduction to Modern Physics
18.		Strong, Procedures in Experimental Physics
19.	*	Taylor, An Introduction to Error Analysis

Organization

• Lecture
  1. Lectures will ordinarily include theory, experimental technique, data analysis, error analysis.
  2. Discussions of particular experiments, problems.
  3. Scheduling of experiments.
  4. Collection of completed experiments and homework assignments.
  5. Student presentations (optional, but earns extra credit). You should schedule your presentation at least one week in advance.
  6. Homework assignments. These include a proposal for Exp. # 6.
  7. Two one-hour in-class tests.


• Homework assignments

  See homework assignments here.

  
  
• Laboratory
  1. Experiments
     The completion of six (6) experiments and a laboratory practical examination (LPE).
     

     Experiment   Group    Length of Time   
         1          1           2 weeks       
         2          1           2             
         3          2           2             
         4          2           2             
         5          2           2              
         6	       2 or 3	   3		  
         LPE                    8 hours        
     
     Experiment 1 and LPE are performed by each student individually.
     The other experiments are carried out in teams of two students. 
     

  2. Laboratory work
     All work is to be kept in notebooks.
  3. Reports
     Reports have to be accurately written or typed and consist of two parts (see Report contents below): pre- and postreports. The total length of each report must not exceed 10 handwritten pages (graphs and sheets with original data must be attached and are not included in this length). The pre- and postreports for Experiments 1 and 2 are to be turned in separately. Click here to see a grading scheme of the lab reports.

     NO LATE REPORTS AND HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ALLOWED (see the due dates here).

  4. Grading
     

     1.  Laboratory experiments (written work) 66%
     2.  In-class tests                        11%
     3.  Homework assignments                  11%
     4.  Laboratory practical examination      12%
     5.  Student presentations         extra   5%
             

EXPERIMENTS

Group 1

1. Thermal Radiation
2. The Geiger-Muller Detector and Counting Statistics from Nuclear Radiation

Group 2

1. Gravitational Constant G (gravitational torsion balance, B19 JFB)
2. Speed of Light c (rotating mirror, Foucault)
3. Electron Charge-to-Mass Ratio e/m (orbital motion of electrons in a magnetic field)
4. Millikan Oil Drop Experiment (charge of an electron)
5. Planck's Constant h (photoelectric effect)
6. Franck-Hertz (inelastic scattering of electrons from mercury atoms)
7. Balmer Spectrum (visible emission spectra from excited hydrogen atoms)
8. Thermionic Emission of Electrons (escape of electrons from a metal due to thermal excitation)
9. Gamma Ray Spectroscopy (gamma ray energies in nuclear decay processes)

Group 3

1. Muon Lifetime
2. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (continuous wave)
3. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (pulsed)
4. Compton Scattering (photon scattering from a free electron)
5. Low Temperature Specific Heats and Calorimetry (specific heat of copper from liquid nitrogen to room temperature)
6. Thermoelectric Effects (Seebeck and Peltier)
7. Electrical Conductivity and the Hall Effect (charge transport in metals, semimetals and semiconductors)
8. Avogadro's Number From Brownian Motion
9. Optical Transmission and Absorption in Thin Films (bandgap energy of hydrogenated amorphous silicon)
10. High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy (sodium D lines, hydrogen-deuterium splitting)
11. Zeeman Effect (hyperfine structure of mercury)
12. Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (Michelson interferometer and sodium D lines)
13. Alpha Particle Spectroscopy (alpha-particle energies in nuclear decay processes)
14. High Temperature Superconductivity (temperature dependence of electrical resistance, Meissner effect)
15. Noise (thermal noise, shot noise)
16. Transmission Lines (velocity of propagation, reflection and absorption coefficients)
17. Fiber Optics
18. Vacuum Techniques (gages, pumps and pumping speed)

Report Contents

• Prereport
  1. Title
  2. Purpose
  3. Introduction (history, background, qualitative description)
  4. Theory (model, assumptions)
  5. Numerical Estimates (check experiment feasibility, apparatus required)
  6. Plan of Analysis (how to accomplish the Purpose from the given Theory)
  7. References
  
  
• Postreport
  1. Experimental method

     (1) Diagram (define and label variables)
     (2) Method (procedure for taking data, experimental conditions,
         special techniques and precautions)
     

     
     
  2. Data (date, time, signature)
     Tables (variable symbol, units, significant figures, uncertainties, equation at top of column for calculated values)
     Data is to be written directly into your notebook while performing the experiment. Your data must be initialed by the instructor or teaching assistant before leaving the laboratory.

  3. Results
     

     (1) Graphs (title, variables, units, label scales, data point
         symbols, error bars, equation of best fit)
     (2) Tables
     (3) Calculations (equations, numbers with units, answers to
         correct number of significant figures)
     (4) Error analysis (propagation of errors)
     

  4. Discussion
     

     (1) Comparison with theory (model, accepted value)
     (2) Errors (random and systematic error sources, 		
         major source of error)
     (3) Improvements (model, experimental method, analysis of data)
     (4) Extensions (additional experiments)
     (5) Discussion questions
     

  5. Conclusion
     Provides an answer to the Purpose.