Physics 130-Labs
West Chester University - Spring 2006

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Syllabus || Schedule || Problems|| Labs 

Philosophy of Laboratory

The laboratories you experience in this class are designed to do several things:

• Allow you to get hands on experience with concepts studied in class to as to help you to better understand them.
• Collaborate with partners (during lab class only) so that you get practice working as a team and explaining concepts.
• Understand how to present and analyse data in a clear and concise manner.  As such there will be writing involved.
• Understand how to estimate and propagate uncertainty (aka: error).
• Understand how to validate the theories studied in class.

It is important to understand that collaboration with lab partners in laboratories is to end the moment you leave lab so as to present no question of academic dishonesty.  Past students have often had difficulty understanding the difference between copying the data collected (which is okay) and copying analysis (which is not).  As much of your analysis will be done using computers, it is important to demonstrate that you personally are doing the work without outside
help.  Identical formatting of analyses (including any calculations) is extremely hard to do independently and will be cause for you to demonstrate your understanding of the analysis on the spot.  If you have questions about analyses, please see me in office hours and I will be pleased to help you.

Lab Grading

Labs will be graded either as indicated in lab or by a standard template.  As indicated in lab will usually specify what you are expected to turn in for credit and will be clearly marked below in the table.  

A sample standard grading template can be found here.  Read this document before you turn in your labs, and if you have any questions about it, ask! Note that labs that are illegible will not be accepted for grading.  If you have any question about your ability to write neatly and legibly, type it!  More information regarding the formal lab will be given out later.

Please come prepared to lab by

• printing up the lab (see below)
  
• reading the lab and any associated material thoroughly before arriving
• being prepared for a quick quiz on the topic of the lab.

Certain labs will require you to save data to take home. As such, always come prepared with thumbdrive or floppy disk.  Most labs will be due the following week at the start of lab, but there will be some exceptions. When this is the case, it will be announced in the schedule notes and in class.

Attendance Policy

You are expected to attend every lab. Absences for reasons outlined in the University's excused absence policy are, of course, permitted. However, written notification is needed so that I can give you proper credit (see below). Also, if you need to miss a class or exam for a religious reason, I expect written notification at least a week in advance: if your religion is important enough to you to miss class for a holiday you should know about it before hand. Students who miss a lab without a valid excuse (see above) will not be permitted to make it up.

Click on the links below to download a lab.  

Lab #	Title & Link	Grading	Week
1	Using Spreadsheets in Physics     in XLS format     in OpenOffice format	indicated in lab	2
2	Falling Motion (pdf)	standard grading	4
3	Projectile Motion (pdf)	standard grading	5
4	Angular Kinematics	standard grading OpenOffice Solutions Excel Solutions Data for part 2	6
5	Newton's Laws (pdf)	standard grading	7
6	Conservation of Energy (pdf)	standard grading	8
7	Collisions (pdf)	standard grading	10
8	Impulse (pdf)	standard grading	11
9	Torque Written by Dr. Matt Waite	standard grading Worksheet Calculation of Uncertainty	12
10	Hooke's Law	standard grading	13
11	Waves	standard grading	14
12	Hydrostatics	indicated in lab	15