General Physics Lab – PHY 201A

Course Prerequisite: Math 185 or Equivalent (Algebra/Pre-Calc)

Course Corequisite: Physics 201

Professor: Tom Rheinecker, SC 108D, Phone 244-4614, Email: Tom_Rheinecker@mail.msj.edu

Office hours: Tuesday 12-2 pm, and by appointment.

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

Phyics 202A is the companion laboratory section to Physics 202.  This course allows students to experience and to put into practice some of the concepts they are being introduced to in the lecture section.
Taken together, Physics 202 and Physics 202A are intended:

· To give students an overview of the discipline of physics, allowing them to recognize and explain many physical phenomena observed in their environment.

· To help students become comfortable with the basic laws of physics through the systematic analysis of model systems as presented in the textbook examples and problem sets.

· To nurture in students the scientific method, which is to conceptually model, analyze, and meaningfully interpret new physical scenarios that may be encountered, specifically in the laboratory section, but also in every activity of life.

· To encourage in students the ability to effectively communicate their physical understanding.

· To forge in students an appreciation of the myriad connections between physics and other fields of study (see Connections), an understanding of how physics fosters the specific learning outcomes of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum (see Learning Outcomes), and a realization that physics undergirds the very purposes of education in general (see Purpose Statement).

Ground Rules:

Lab Work: Lab experiments are designed to complement the lecture.  Each student must be prepared and have thoroughly read the experiment prior to entering the laboratory!
Occasionally, problems will be part of the experiment.
Each student shall write a lab report for each experiment.  Although data may be shared where experiments are performed with partners, reports are to be individual efforts!  Each lab report shall consist of:

· Title page

· Statement of purpose

· Background information

· Data with applicable calculations and graphs

· Discussion of the results.
The discussion section is where you demonstrate your understanding of the experiment itself, the data analysis, the conclusions drawn, and the underlying concepts.  The discussion section will, therefore, be critically graded!

Lab reports and answers to questions must be typed.
Completed lab reports are due the following lab period.
Late labs will be assessed a late fee of 1 point per week.
In general, there will be no make-up labs.

Each lab will be worth 10 points.

A PRE-LAB QUIZ may be given to encourage student pre-lab preparation. When given, the quiz will count 10% of that week’s lab grade.

Final Exam:  The course will include a written final exam, given during the last lab period of the semester. The exam will consist of approximately 12 problems which will test understanding of the concepts studied during the semester. It will NOT be a test about the procedural details of the lab activities. Rather it will consist of problems that can be solved using the ideas and concepts studied in the lab (and lecture, for that matter).

Grading (Approximate):

Grades will be weighted as follows:

Lab Reports ( 11 @≈7% each).......... 75%
Final Exam (Cumulative)................ 25%

Total......................................... 100%

The standard grading scale will be used to assign final grades:

A 90-100% “Excellent achievement of objectives.”
B 80-89% “High achievement…”
C 70-79% “Satisfactory achievement…”
D 60-69% “Minimal achievement…”
F Below 60%

Tentative Course Schedule for General Physics Lab – 201A:

Week of: Lab / Activity                                

25 August Lecture to prepare for first lab.
Read Experiment 1 in Lab Manual.
Read HandOut: Acceleration due to Gravity.

1 September HandOut: Acceleration due to Gravity. (Preparation from first week)

8 September Hand Out: Newton’s Second Law.

15 September Experiment 5: The Force Table.

22 September HandOut 10: Friction.

29 September Experiment 8 Parts B and C: Projectile Motion.

6 October Experiment 11: Work and Energy.

13 October Experiment 7: Momentum.

20 October Experiment 12: Torque, Equilibrium, and Center of Gravity.

27 October Hand Out: Equilibrium of a crane.

3 November Experiment 16: Hooke’s Law.

10 November Experiment 15: Young’s Modulus.

17 November Bridge Project

24 November Thanksgiving. NO LAB.

1 December Final Exam