Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Physics 121 Lab > Syllabus
Dr. Jon Bell
Office: Richardson 103
E-mail: jbell at presby.edu
Period V (1:30 Monday) or X (1:30 Wednesday), Richardson 126
The goals of this laboratory are
You do not need to buy equipment specifically for this lab, but you should bring your textbook, calculator, pens/pencils and writing paper.
Handouts will be available on line at the following address sometime during the week before each lab. Please download them, print them out and read them before coming to lab.
http://web.presby.edu/physics/phys121-lab/
If a lab has advance questions, they count for 10% of the lab grade. You must write down answers to them before the lab period begins, and turn them in at the beginning of the lab period. After the lab period has started (1:30), you will not be allowed to continue working on them.
You will normally work in a group, sharing the same experimental setup. The members of the group will usually share the same data, but each person must prepare his/her own lab writeup. Writeups must normally be turned in at the end of the lab period.
Writeups must be separate from the lab handouts. Do not record data in the lab handouts, unless they explicitly provide data tables, in which case you should separate those pages from the handout and attach them to your own pages. Similarly, you may attach pages from the handout that contain questions to be answered.
Each lab will be graded on a scale of 0 to 100. Points will be allocated as follows:
The Presentation portion of the grade will be based on the organization and neatness of the report. Spelling and grammar mistakes will be penalized at the rate of two points each, up to a maximum of ten points.
Quality of Results will be based on my evaluation of your experimental technique, as reflected in the accuracy of the results you obtain. The standards for "good results" (in terms of percent error) will vary from one experiment to the next, depending on the particular apparatus being used.
The Analysis portion of the grade will be based on the completeness of your analysis and calculations (did you do everything the handout asked for?), whether you made any mistakes in them, on the accuracy and appropriateness of your statement of your final results (the "bottom line" for each lab), and on the answers to any questions posed in the lab handout.
The final lab grade will be based on the numerical average of the grades for the individual labs. No grades will be omitted from the final average. Letter grades will be allocated as follows:
No unexcused absences are permitted from lab. An unexcused absence will result in an F for the course. You must remain present in lab until you have handed in your lab writeup, unless I specifically allow you to turn in the writeup later.
Please refer to my daily schedule, which is also posted on my office door. You are also welcome to look for me outside of my "official" office hours, or to make an appointment. Please feel free to send me questions via e-mail.
Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Physics 121 Lab > Syllabus
These pages are maintained by Jon Bell (jbell at presby.edu), who is solely responsible for their content.