Physics Laboratory (PLAB | SPA5201)

Please consult QMPlus for the authoritative information on this module.

Year: 2 | Semester: B | Level: 5 | Credits: 15

Prerequisites: PHY-103
Lectures: none | Lab: 114 115 116 214 215 216 414 415 416 514 515 516 (notation)
Exam: no written paper assessment entirely by coursework (laboratory notebook 60%, two reports 40%)
Practical work: 16 x 3 hours | Ancillary teaching: none

Course organiser: Dr Alan Drew | Course deputy:

Synopsis:

This course aims to illustrate some important aspects of physics through experimental measurements. The course will be marked by continuous assessment of student laboratory notebooks, which will not be allowed to be removed from the laboratory. Students will perform a number of experiments over the term and will then have to write a scientific paper on one of the experiments that they have performed.

Aims:

This course aims to: demonstrate the importance of experimental physics to understanding the principles of the subject taught in other courses; teach students how to keep rigorous laboratory notebooks; teach students how to write up experiments as a research paper from their lab books.

Outcomes:

An understanding of the applications of the principles of physics explained in other courses The ability to keep laboratory notebooks from which research papers can be written.

Recommended books:

There are no required books. A number of books are recommended 
and are available to borrow from the Teaching Laboratories and 
the Main Library Short Loan Collection, the most useful being:

Squires, G.L.
Practical Physics
CUP, (2001)
ISBN 0-521-77940-5

Silyn-Roberts, H.
Writing for Science
Longman (1996)
ISBN 0-582-87816-0

Barlow, R.J.
Statistics
Wiley (1989)
ISBN 0-471-92295-1

Taylor, J.R.
An Introduction to Error Analysis
University Science Books (1997)
ISBN 0-935702-75-X