Lab Guidelines

Grading

• Your grade in this lab constitutes 25% of your grade in the Physics 105/106 course. A combination of group lab reports, lab tests, and lab participation will determine this grade.
• There will be approx. 10 labs with corresponding lab reports. Your scores here constitute 75% of your final lab grade. (Each lab is worth the same amount of points. The lowest lab grade will be dropped.)
• There will be two (2) lab tests, each worth 7.5% of the final lab grade
• Participation will make up the remaining 10% of your lab grade. Participation grade is based on:
  • Being present, and on-time for each lab
  • Being prepared for the labs, including having a print-out of that day's lab
  • Maintaining cleanliness of your lab area
  • Posting on-line abstracts on time, if requested

Note that you must pass the lab and lecture parts of the course separately in order to pass PHY 105, i.e. you must score a 60% on your overall lab grade before it can be combined with your lecture grade.

Notes

• 2 students/lab group. Lab report grades are given to the group as a whole, and should represent a group effort.
• Reports should be written in Word with Excel plots pasted in them. (Paste as a picture for smaller Word files!)
• Unless otherwise noted, lab reports are due one week from the lab date, at the beginning of the next lab. They must be printed out before arriving at the lab! There will be a 50-point reduction for each day, or part of a day late
• Occasional printing of graphs/data generated during a lab is permitted
• If you miss a lab it will count as the dropped lab.  More than one missed lab will count as a zero for that lab. (Remember that you are responsible for the material from all of the labs for the lab tests.)
• You are permitted to use copies of the lab handouts and labs for the tests. (You must have your own copies of the lab for the test; partners cannot share labs during the test.)
• Do not save files on the local harddrive. Instead, use WebCT, a network folder, or removable media.

Lab Report Contents

• Abstract: State the goal(s) of the experiment, describe the experiment, and list your results succinctly.

  Typical errors (points off) in this section include: the paragraph is not an abstract but an introduction, poor/incomplete phrasing, and grammar.

• Data: Include data tables with brief descriptions.

  Typical errors in this section include lack of units in column headings and inappropriate precision in numerical quantities.

• Analysis: Include any graphs required with appropriate labels/description and trend lines. Also include any formulas used/derived in the process of your analysis, or as requested in the lab description. Note that some analysis may be required before completeing data tables, i.e. Data and Analysis may be one joined section.

  Typical errors in this section include incorrect labeling of axes, trend-line formulas that do not match axes labels; unreadable graphs; missing/incorrect formulas of units in column headings; inappropriate precision

• Conclusion:An elaboration of your abstract, the conclusion ties together everything that you have done and observed, including a comparison with theory when applicable. You must address accuracy and precision in your discussion when comparing to theory.

  Typical errors in this section are just reporting what was done with no conclusion, e.g. not comparing your results with theory; scientifically inappropriate statements (e.g. "This lab proved... " or "human error")