PHYSICS 405 COURSE DESCRIPTION
Fall, 2011
Lecture Room 1219
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 1219 Physics Building
COURSE WEB SITE:
http://elms.umd.edu then
select link for Physics 405.
INSTRUCTORS:
Professor Hassan Jawahery |
Phone: 301-405-6062 Office: 4310 Physics Building Email: jawahery@umd.edu |
|
Professor Michael Coplan |
Phone: 301-405-4858 Office:
4201 CSS Building Email:
coplan@umd.edu |
TEACHING ASSISTANT
Solomon Granor |
Phone: 301-405-6073 |
Office: 4208 Physics Building |
Email: sgranor@umd.edu |
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 Rreport. (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, August 31; Introduction to the Laboratory |
|
|
Labor Day: Monday, September 5 |
First Class Lecture: Wednesday, September 7 |
|
Last Day for Schedule Adjustment: Monday, September 14 |
|
Last Day to Drop with a "W": Monday, November 9 |
|
Thanksgiving Recess: Thursday, November 24 and Friday,
November 25 |
|
Last day of Classes: Tuesday, December 13 |
|
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
(subject to revision)
Dates |
Lecture Period Topic |
Reading |
Due Dates |
8/31 |
Introduction
to Experiments |
Laboratory
Manual |
|
9/7 |
Lecture 1,
Radiation Safety |
|
Unit #1 Prelab* |
9/14 |
Lecture
2, Electronics |
Building
Scientific Apparatus,
Ch. 6 |
Homework #1 |
9/21 |
Lecture 2, Statistics: Random/Systematic
Errors |
Bevington
Ch. 1-2
, Taylor Ch. 3,4,5,10,11 |
Homework #2 |
9/28 |
Lecture
4, Vacuum Technology |
Building
Scientific Apparatus,
Ch. 3 |
Expt #1 Notebook Homework #3 |
10/5 |
Lecture
5, Detectors |
Building
Scientific Apparatus,
Ch. 7 |
Homework #4 |
10/12 |
Tour
of campus reactor |
|
Homework #5 |
10/19 |
|
|
Expt #2 Notebook |
10/26 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Experiment 1 or 2 Formal Report |
11/2 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
11/09 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Expt #3 Notebook |
11/16 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
11/23 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
|
11/30 |
12
Min. Presentations |
|
Expt #4 Notebook |
12/07 |
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.
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Fall 2011
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