PHY 133 Fall 2023
This is the organizational page for the Physics Introductory Labs PHY 133 for Fall 2023.
The scope of the introductory labs is to give an understanding of basic experimental methods applied in physical sciences. The experiments performed during the lab sessions are closely related to the topics covered in the lecture courses PHY 131 or PHY 125/126.
| Instructors | Director of UG Laboratory | Teaching Assistants | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Lefferts | B. Nielsen |
|
Over the semester you will perform ten (10) experiments as indicated in the Manuals and Course Schedule section. You have 2 hr 20 min time to complete the measurements. Each experiment will come with a manual that you can access from this webpage.
You are required to perform each lab experiment by yourself, typically assisted by a lab partner. You may not "use my friend's data".
Your perfomance in the lab session will be evaluated by your teaching assistant. The evaluation is based on the score of your pre-lab quiz, taken before the beginning of lab session, your performance during the experiment and a written report that will be submitted in the week following the lab experiment. Please refer also to Lab Report Guide.
Your performance/report will count 100%, of which the pre-lab quiz is worth 15%.
Your final grade will be an average from your single lab grades (all 10! none are dropped) scaled by a factor that will be determined at the end of the semester. This final grade will be a letter grade ranging from A to F.
Your lab report will be graded as follows:
- Pre-Lab Quiz (15 pts): Posted to Brightspace. To be submitted before the beginning of the relevant lab.
- Structure (15 pts): Consists of the following sections of your report:
- Introduction: A short overview of the experiment
- Results: Outline what you get (plots, key calculated quantities, etc.).
- Conclusion: Key insights of the experiment and caveats thereof
- Data table (10 pts): A reasonably-formatted copy of the data you took in lab (along with calculated quantities, as relevant).
- Analysis (60 pts): Varies, consists of the following components:
- Graphs (see the PHY133/134 Plotting Tool)
- Calculations, including uncertainty propagation (relevant work shown)
- Discussion: Various other subsections of your report, which will vary from lab to lab
For more details, see the Guide to Lab Reports.
Here is the schedule of labs for the semester.
The first lab sessions will take place in the week starting from Tuesday September 5.
August 28 - August 31: No lab classes.
September 04: Labor Day. No classes.
- Lab 0 (September 5 - September 7): Introduction to Labs, Expectations and Error Analysis
- Lab 1 (September 11 - September 14): Pendulum (Data Sheet)
Monday, September 11 sections do Lab 0 and Lab 1 - Lab 2 (September 18 - September 21): Acceleration (Data Sheet)
- Lab 3 (October 2 - October 5): Projectile Motion (Data Sheet)
October 11 -13: Make-up Lab Days for Lab 3. No lab classes.
- Lab 4 (October 16 - October 19): Atwood Machine(Data Sheet)
- Lab 5 (October 23 - October 26): Conservation of Energy (Data Sheet)
- Lab 6 (October 30 - November 02): Conservation of Momentum (Data Sheet)
- Lab 7 (November 06 - November 09): Angular Momentum (Data Sheet) Univ Evening Midterm Week
- Lab 8 (November 13 - November 16): Simple Harmonic Motion (Data Sheet)
November 22 - November 24: Thanksgiving Break. No classes.
- Lab 9 (November 27 - November 30):
Standing Waves (Data table)
- Lab 10 (December 04 - December 07):Ideal Gas Law (Data Sheet)
December 11: Make-up Day for Labs 9-10. No lab classes.
Here are some documents you may find helpful (You can find more information via links on the Reference Documents Page:
Guide to Uncertainty and Error Analysis (Quick Reference)
Introduction to Google Sheets Google Sheets Tutorial
Guide to Making and Using Plots
Here is a link to the plotting tool we will use to make our graphs in this class:
Section Assignments for Teaching Assistants (left click to see list)
| Section | When | Where | Teaching Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHY133 L01 | Mo 11:00am - 1:20pm | A-117 | Tymothy Mangan |
| PHY133 L02 | Mo 11:00am - 1:20pm | A-126 | Nai-Yu Tsai |
| PHY133 L03 | Mo 11:00am - 1:20pm | A-119 | Xiaoxuan Bai |
| PHY133 L04 | Mo 2:30pm- 4:50pm | A-126 | Rado Fanantenan Razakamiandra |
| PHY133 L05 | Mo 2:30pm- 4:50pm | A-117 | Xuzixiang Lou |
| PHY133 L06 | Mo 2:30pm- 4:50pm | A-119 | Xiaoxuan Bai |
| PHY133 L07 | Tu 8:30am-10:50am | A-117 | Dilara Kosva |
| PHY133 L08 | Tu 8:30am-10:50am | A-126 | Nai-Yu Tsai |
| PHY133 L09 | Tu 8:30am-10:50am | A-119 | Gabriel Augustynowicz |
| PHY133 L10 | Tu 11:30am - 1:50pm | A-126 | Xinyue Wang |
| PHY133 L11 | Tu 11:30am - 1:50pm | A-117 | Zhongqi Liang |
| PHY133 L12 | Tu 11:30am - 1:50pm | A-119 | Alan Huang |
| PHY133 L13 | We 2:30pm - 4:50pm | A-117 | Xuzixiang Lou |
| PHY133 L14 | We 2:30pm - 4:50pm | A-126 | Xinyue Wang |
| PHY133 L15 | We 2:30pm - 4:50pm | A-119 | Rado Fanantenan Razakamiandra |
| PHY133 L16 | Th 8:30am-10:50am | A-119 | Gabriel Augustynowicz |
| PHY133 L17 | Th 8:30am-10:50am | A-117 | Dilara Kosva |
| PHY133 L18 | Th 8:30am-10:50am | A-126 | Nabil Lhachemi |
| PHY133 L19 | We 5:30pm - 7:50pm | A-117 | Tymothy Mangan |
| PHY133 L22 | Th 11:30am-1:50pm | A-117 | Zhongqi Liang |
| PHY133 L23 | Th 11:30am-1:50pm | A-126 | Nabil Lhachemi |
| PHY133 L24 | Th 11:30am-1:50pm | A-119 | Alan Huang |
You are responsible for keeping track of deadlines for your lab reports. A list of deadlines (and return dates for work) is available here: Due Dates
Be alert to announcements about changes to this schedule from your TA or via Brightspace.
Any lab report submitted after the deadline will not be considered and receive zero points for the lab experiment.
Exceptions for partial credit may be granted by a TA or the course instructor, with suitably documented reasons.
If you need to be absent for a lab experiment you will have to provide written documentation for a significant reason to be absent, e.g., a medical note from your doctor or a written document about jury duty.
With such documentation, you will have the opportunity to make up the lab experiment in the dedicated make-up week. Under such circumstances, please submit a make-up request via the PHY133 Make-Up Request Form
There are three ways to ask questions or report problems:
- To contact your TA, use the e-mail addresses provided at the top of this page. This is the best option for lab-specific questions, such as checking requirements.
- To contact all TAs, use PHY133_lab@stonybrook.edu. This is the best option for general physics questions. If you cannot get in touch with your own TA and have a question on how to do a calculation (or why numbers look weird), this is also a reasonable place to contact.
- For administrative concerns or TA issuescontact the course instructor, Richard Lefferts, at phy_introlabs@stonybrook.edu or in Office Hours, 1-3pm Thursdays in A-129 of Grad Physics.