PHYS 342L Procedures and Practices Spring Semester 2001-2002 Purdue University2 PHYS 342L Course Syllabus; Spring Semester, 2002 Week Dates Activity Due dates 1 Jan. 7 - 11 Course Introduction 2 Jan. 14 - 18 Data and error analysis discussion 3 Jan. 21 - 25 Start e/m 4 Jan. 28 – Feb. 1 Finish e/m 5 Feb. 4-8 Stefan-Boltzmann e/m report due 6 Feb. 11-15 Stefan-Boltzmann 7 Feb. 18-22 Photoelectric Effect 8 Feb. 25-Mar. 1 Photoelectric Effect 9 Mar.4 – Mar.8 Frank-Hertz Photoelectric Report due Notebooks due 10 Mar. 11-15 Spring break 11 Mar.18 - 22 Frank-Hertz 12 Mar. 25-29 Compton Scattering 13 April 1-5 Compton Scattering Pick experiment of your choice for the next week 14 April 8-12 Your choice: 1. e-diffraction 2.light diffraction 3. electronic conduction in solids Notebooks due 15 April 15-19 Your choice: continue 16 April 22-26 Lab Record Check - NO LABS Compton report due3 1. Grading PHYS 342L is a writing intensive course in which a variety of modern physics experiments are performed, analyzed and written. All lab data and lab notes will be recorded in a computation notebook Avery Dennison No. 43-648 or equivalent, available at the University Bookstore. Scraps of paper with data scribbled in a hurried way will NOT be tolerated. Your lab notebook will be collected periodically during the semester and graded for content. In addition, you will be required to write three formal lab reports discussing three experiments you have performed. During the semester, the maintenance and production of a high-quality written notebook will be emphasized. In addition, it is expected that the three formal lab reports will be clearly written in a concise and thoughtful manner. See the section below on a ‘writing emphasis course’. In addition to the notebook, the text book PRACTICAL PHYSICS by G.L. Squires will also be required. Copies of this book are available at the University Bookstore. You will also be required to have one floppy disk (PC formatted) clearly labeled PHYS 342L and listing your name. This will facilitate transfer of data from the lab computers. A final grade will be determined using the following scheme: 15 pts e/m Lab Report due February 5 before 5 PM 15 pts First Notebook reading due March 5 before 12 noon 20 pts Photoelectric Lab Report due March 5 before 5 PM 20 pts Second Notebook reading due April 9 before 12 noon 30 pts Compton Scattering Report due April 23 before 5 PM 100 pts TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE A copy of the checksheet that will be used while reading your written reports and notebooks is provided in the Appendices. In a University setting, late assignments are always a problem. One fact that seems irrefutable is that conscientious students always seem to get their assignments in on time. The following paragraph is not intended for them. It is a good idea to have a published procedure on how the PHYS 342L staff will handle late reports. The due dates and times for all assignments are listed above. Any changes in these times will be clearly announced in class. Late assignments will be penalized as follows: 2 points off final score for every calendar day late. A score of zero will be recorded for any assignment that is submitted more than one week after it was due. For your own benefit, be sure that your report is stamped by one of the designated receivers with a time and date of receipt. 2. Notebook Keeping The details of laboratory notebook-keeping are patterned after standard notebook-keeping practices in professional physics research organizations. If these practices seem excessively legalistic, it is because they are, in part, to insure that notebook records of research and development will be legally binding to protect the inventor’s claim to an original discovery. Countless legal contests have been decided by a properly kept, properly witnessed research notebook. Learn to do it correctly now and it will be a life-long value to you. Type of Notebook — A Bound, “quadrille-lined” (coarsely gridded graph paper) computation notebook Avery Dennison No. 43-648 or equivalent is required for this course. The two4 important aspects are its bound nature, which makes it more lasting and prevents pages from being removed, and the quadrille ruling, which facilitates quick plotting of graphs and sketching of apparatus. General Rules — Every page of your notebook should be numbered. All entries must be dated on each page, written in ink and in serial order, i.e., no blanks are to be left for filling in later. Any additional loose information sheets, such as ideas jotted down on separate paper at odd time, computer graphs or graphs on millimeter paper, occasional photocopies of pertinent tables or figures, etc., must be permanently affixed, preferably with glue or transparent tape. No erasures, white-outs or scribble-outs are allowed. Corrections are done by putting a line through the erroneous entry and writing the correct entry above or to the side. Large mistakes, i.e., many lines or an incorrect drawing, can be marked by an “X” across the whole thing, with a dated comment on why it is X’d out. Table of Contents — The first few pages of the notebook should be reserved for a table of contents. At the very least it should contain the starting page number of each experiment. Greater detail would be useful in looking up material about which you or the instructor have questions. Dates — Every page should be dated. This assures that the diary aspect of the notebook is maintained. It is also essential from the priority aspect. Do not write on a page with an earlier date. Exceptions: i) If there is an interruption of thought or experiments, you can insert on the old page directions to the continuation. ii) If you discover some material on an old page is wrong, you can line it out and give directions to a current page explaining why it is wrong. If you wish to add columns to an earlier table, you can photocopy the table (reduced in size if you wish), glue it to the current page (state the page from which it was copied), and write in your new