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Laboratory for Classical Physics (I)
PHY 133 Fall 2024 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Stony Brook Van de Graaff
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About    (How will it work inFall 2024 ?)
Overview
Manuals and Course Schedule
Reference Documents and Tools
Lab Sections
Due Dates, Late Work and Absences
Contact Us
About

This is the organizational page for the Physics Introductory Labs PHY 133 for Fall 2024.

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 TBA
To Be Announced    E-mail of TBA
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Overview

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:

  1. Pre-Lab Quiz (15 pts): Posted to Brightspace. To be submitted before the beginning of the relevant lab.
  2. 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
  3. Data table (10 pts): A reasonably-formatted copy of the data you took in lab (along with calculated quantities, as relevant).
  4. 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.

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Manuals and Course Schedule

Here is the (tentative until August 2024) --> schedule of labs for the semester.

The first lab sessions will take place in the second week of the semester, starting from Tuesday September 3.

August 26 - August 29: No lab classes.
September 02: Labor Day. No classes.

September 23 - September 27: Make-up Lab Week for Labs 1 - 2. No lab classes. October 14- 15: Fall Break. No classes.
October 16 -17: Make-up Lab Days for Labs 3-4. No lab classes. November 25 - November 26: Make-up Lab Days for Labs 5 - 9. No lab classes.

November 27 - November 29: Thanksgiving Break. No classes.

December 09: Make-up Day for Labs 8-10. No lab classes.

Link to All Data Sheets

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Reference Documents and Tools

Here are some documents you may find helpful (You can find more information via links on the Reference Documents Page:

Guide to Lab Reports

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:

PHY133/134 Plotting Tool

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Lab Sections

These room assignments are tentative as of March 2024. See official rooms and times in Solar .

Assignments to be announced [soon after] August 26 2024

Section Assignments for Teaching Assistants (left click to see list)

Section When Where Teaching Assistant
PHY133 L01 Mo 9:30am - 11:20am A-117
PHY133 L02 Mo 9:30am - 11:20am A-126
PHY133 L03 Mo 9:30am - 11:20am A-119
PHY133 L04 Mo 2:00pm- 3:50pm A-117
PHY133 L05 Mo 2:00pm- 3:50pm A-126
PHY133 L06 Mo 2:00pm- 3:50pm A-119
PHY133 L07 Mo 4:00pm- 5:50pm A-117
PHY133 L08 Mo 4:00pm- 5:50pm A-126
PHY133 L09 Mo 4:00pm- 5:50pm A-119
PHY133 L10 Tu 9:30am - 11:20am A-117
PHY133 L11 Tu 9:30am - 11:20am A-126
PHY133 L12 Tu 9:30am - 11:20am A-119
PHY133 L13 Tu 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-117
PHY133 L14 Tu 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-126
PHY133 L15 Tu 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-119
PHY133 L16 We 9:30am-11:20am A-119
PHY133 L17 We 9:30am-11:20am A-117
PHY133 L18 We 9:30am-11:20am A-126
PHY133 L19 We 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-117
PHY133 L20 We 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-119
PHY133 L21 We 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-126
PHY133 L22 We 4:00pm-5:50pm A-117
PHY133 L23 We 4:00pm-5:50pm A-119
PHY133 L24 We 4:00pm-5:50pm A-126
Due Dates, Late Work and Absence Policies

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

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Contact Us

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.
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