Current Course Catalog Description

A laboratory course to be taken concurrently with Physics 21. One three-hour laboratory period per week.

Textbook

Lab Manual for Physics 22; Fall 2003.  Prepared by Dieter Folk and Robert Folk

References  

Course Goals

Perform electrical, optical, and atomic experiments that help the students understand the principles and applications taught in Physics 21.

1. By doing the experiments in the same way as in a research laboratory, the students learn how research is done. We require the students to record what they do, not just the data, in a laboratory notebook in enough detail so that they can redo the experiments later in a lab exam, as described below.

2. Some the experiments are designed to familiarize the students with various techniques and equipment by making measurements in alternate ways. For example, they measure a time-dependent voltage with an oscilloscope and with an analog-to-digital converted fed into a computer in Experiment 2, as described below.

3. With the help of outside resources, many of the experiments are done with research-level equipment. With funds provided by the Hughes Foundation and with the help of those faculty who do research in optics, we obtained the same optical tracks, lens holders, etc. that are used in research labs. We want our teaching labs to be as good as any lab.

Prerequisites by Topic, Physics 12, Physics 21, preferably concurrently.

Major Topics Covered in the Course

See laboratory projects.

Laboratory projects (one week on each)

Exp. 1: Measure and draw the equipotential and electric field lines between two conductors that are at different potentials.

Exp. 2: Determine capacitance by measuring the time-dependent voltage in a series RC circuit by two methods described in item 3 above.

Exp. 3: Measure an inductance in an RCL circuit when the applied voltage is DC and when it is AC.

Exp. 4: Build an operational amplifier and measure its properties.

Exp. 5: First; measure the speed of a wave pulse on a guitar string using Faraday's law to create electrical pulses that are fed through an A/D converter to a computer. Next; Check v = f  for standing waves. Exp. 6: Measure the charge-to-mass ratio of electrons by accelerating them with a potential measured with a voltmeter and then bending the beam into a specified circle with a magnetic field measured by the induced Faraday voltage that is fed into a computer.

Exp. 7: Measure the frequency-dependent index of refraction of a glass prism using a spectrometer and a mercury-discharge light source.

Exp. 8: Use a spectrometer and a diffraction grating to measure the wavelengths of the visible-part of the hydrogen spectrum and compare the results with the Balmer series formula.

Exp. 9, 10, & 11: Geometric optics experiments on spherical mirrors, converging and diverging lenses. Also use systems of lenses, such as in the construction of a telescope.

Exp. 12: The photoelectric effect; measure Planck's constant. Using filters shine one spectral line (single wavelength) at a time on the plate of a photo tube, and then measure the maximum energy of the released electrons. Plank's constant is obtained by plotting this energy as a function of frequency.

Exp. 13: Interference and diffration of coherent light. Using a laser light source shown on a double slit and measuring the spacing of the interference pattern on a screen that is two meters away, the wavelength of the light can be determined. The measurement is repeated using a diffraction grating.

Week 14:  Special Project: By random selection, each student is assigned to do one of the thirteen experiments (modified slightly) again without the use of the lab manual. Instead, they must rely on their own lab notebook. They will do well if they have properly recorded their previous attempt during the semester. In this way, they learn how to record an experiment.

Estimate CSAB Category Content

CORE     ADVANCED

Data Structures
Computer Organization and Architecture
Algorithms Software Design
Concepts of Programming Languages
 
 
Oral and Written Communications

Every student is required to submit at least thirteen written reports of typically  four pages.  These are graded and returned.

Social and Ethical Issues

Not applicable.

Theoretical Content

This is a laboratory course. They are to compare their experimental results with a proposed theory.

Problem Analysis

The results of each experiment are compared to a proposed theory.

Solution Design

The students build various equipment, including a telescope, an operational amplifier, and several types of electrical circuits.