COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

Physics C1493x:

Introduction to Experimental Physics

BULLETIN ENTRY:

Physics C1493x Introduction to Experimental Physics 3 pts. Jess H. Brewer Lect: Tu 3:10-4. Lab: 3 consecutive hours to be chosen from MWThF 1:10-4 or MTuWTh 4:10-7. Prerequisite: PHYS C1402 and C1402. Laboratory work associated with the two prerequisite lecture courses. Experiments in mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics and wave motion. (Students cannot receive credit for both PHYS C1493 and C1494.)

TIME AND PLACE:

Lectures: Pupin 428, Tuesdays 3:10 - 4:00 PM

Labs: (location announced weekly) sections

A: Wed 4:10-7:00 PM B: Thu 4:10-7:00 PM C: Fri 1:10-4:00 PM

INSTRUCTOR: `Jess H. Brewer`

Office: Pupin 1305 Phone: 854-9358 E-mail: jess@phys.columbia.edu (I am easiest to find in cyberspace.) Office Hour: to be arranged

`T.A.(s)` (by sections)

A: Tanya Ochs B: Yuri Kovchegov C: Chulwoo Jung

MARKING: Each of (approximately) ten lab reports counts equally.

TEXTBOOK: HR&W: D. Halliday, R. Resnick & J. Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, 4th Edition (Wiley, 1993). A text is not explicitly required, but this is the book from which you learned (last year) the material covered in these labs, so it will make a handy reference.

COMMENTS: There is a $25 lab fee.

LAB DESCRIPTIONS will be handed out on paper at the Tuesday lecture each week, which covers the lab starting on the following Wednesday. This gives you a chance to read over them and come to the following Tuesday lecture (the day before the lab starts) with comments and/or questions about the lab writeup. Electronic versions will usually be posted on the C1453 Web site at approximately the same time (Tuesdays) where they can be downloaded and perused or printed out remotely.
THE LABS THEMSELVES will be run by the TA's with the help of Jerry Packer, Chad Finley and Bob O'Hagen. You (and your TA) have been assigned a specific lab section consistent with your schedules. The labs will be held in different rooms each week, depending upon the required equipment; most will be on the 5th floor, some on the 2nd floor of Pupin. The location of the current week's lab will be posted on the bulletin board on the 5th floor of Pupin.
LAB REPORTS are to be handed in no later than one week following your lab period. Boxes will be provided at locations to be announced. The reports will be marked and returned roughly one week later.

Tentative Schedule for Physics C1493x, Fall 1997:

Week	Date	Reading¹	TOPIC(s)²
1.	2 Sept.	-	Introduction to C1493 (no lab this week)
2.	9 Sept.	Ch. 1	1. Measurement - the statistics of uncertainty
3.	16 Sept.	Ch. 2-4	2. Kinematics - using the Sonic Ranger
4.	23 Sept.	Ch. 5-8	3. Dynamics - with computer simulations
5.	30 Sept.	Ch. 23,30	4. The Electron - measuring e/m
6.	7 Oct.	Ch. 24-27	5. Electric Fields - equipotentials & Laplace's equation
7.	14 Oct.	Ch. 39	6. Geometrical Optics - reflection, refraction, mirrors & lenses
8.	21 Oct.	Ch. 40,41	7. Interference & Diffraction
9.	28 Oct.	Ch. 40,42	8. Interferometry - Michelson-Morley, Fabrey-Perot
10.	4 Nov.	-	Surprise! (lab under construction; possibly none...)
11.	11 Nov.	Ch. 29,32,36	9. AC Circuits - using an oscilloscope
12.	18 Nov.	Ch. 46	10. Semiconductor devices - diodes/rectifiers, transistors/amplifiers
13.	25 Nov.	-	Catch-up and Review (if needed)
14.	2 Dec.	-	Spare week to expand into (classes end Monday 8 Dec.)

¹(Suggested review from HR&W. May be supplemented by handouts and/or Web pages.)

²The Tuesday lecture reviews topics covered in the lab starting the next day.

Click here for a Postscript version.

Jess H. Brewer
Fri Sep 12 12:01:30 PDT 1997