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Stony Brook Van de Graaff
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About

This is the organizational page for the Physics Introductory Labs PHY 134 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 lectures in PHY 127,132 or 142.

Instructors                                   Director of UG Laboratory           Teaching Assistants
R. Lefferts B. Nielsen
Jonathan Han jiangqi.han@stonybrook.edu
Jiaxi Cao jiaxi.cao@stonybrook.edu
Saba Shalamberidze    saba.shalamberidze@stonybrook.edu
Overview

Over the semester you will perform ten (10) experiments, one per week, as indicated in the Manuals and Course Schedule section. The lab session lasts 2 hr 20 minutes. Each experiment will come with a manual that you can access from this webpage.

You will perform each lab experiment by yourself, usually with the help of a lab partner.

Your perfomance in the lab session will be evaluated by your teaching assistant. The evaluation is based on a pre-lab quiz and a written lab report that you submit in the week following the lab experiment. Please refer also to Lab Report Guide.

Each lab score will be made up of 15% for the pre-lab quiz and 85% for the written report.

Your final score will be an average from your single lab grades scaled by a factor (to account for TA variation) that will be determined at the end of the semester. Your final grade will be a letter grade ranging from A to F.

Your lab report will be graded as follows:

Grading for each experiment (left click to expand)

  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.

Manuals and Course Schedule

Here is the 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 11: Make-up Lab Day for Labs 9 - 10. No lab classes.

Folder of 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)

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

Lab Sections
Section When Where Teaching Assistant
PHY134 L01 Mo 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-130 Saba Shalamberidze
PHY134 L02 Mo 4:00pm - 5:50pm A-130 Jiaxi Cao
PHY134 L03 Tu 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-130 Saba Shalamberidze
PHY134 L04 We 2:00pm - 3:50pm A-130 Jonathan Han
PHY134 L05 We 4:00pm - 5:50pm A-130 Jiaxi Cao
PHY134 L06 Th 9:30am - 11:20am A-130 Jonathan Han
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Due Dates, Late Work and Absence Policies
Due Dates

You are responsible for keeping track of deadlines for your lab reports. The list of Due Dates (and return dates for work) is for reference only. Be alert to announcements on Brightspace and from your TA; these are official and supersede this list.

Late Work

New for Fall 2024: Late lab report penalty is 10% off for one day late, 20% for two days late, etcetera, up to 5 days. Then it will not be considered and will receive zero points.

Exceptions for partial credit may be granted by a TA or the course instructor, with suitably documented reasons.

Absence and Make-Ups

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 PHY134 Make-Up Request Form

Bucking the Trend

For the past few years (shall we blame a virus?) more and more students have chosen to submit work in a great rush at the end of the semester. You have the choice to "buck this trend" and keep up with your work: it is in your best interest for learning and for success in the course. We will be enforcing our own late work policy, so good choices will be rewarded.

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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 PHY134_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, contact the course instructor, Richard Lefferts, at phy_introlabs@stonybrook.edu or in Office Hours, 2-4pm Wednesday in the Help Room .
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