This is the organizational page for the Physics Introductory Labs PHY 133 for Fall 2025.

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.

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.

Here is the (tentative until August 2025) --> schedule of labs for the semester.

The first lab sessions will take place in the second week of the semester, starting from Tuesday September 2.

August 25 - August 28: No lab classes.
September 01: Labor Day. No classes.

• Lab 0 (September 2 - September 4): Introduction to Labs, Expectations and Error Analysis
• Lab 1 (September 8 - September 11): Pendulum (Data Sheet)
  Monday, September 8 sections (L01-L09) do Lab 0 and Lab 1

• Lab 2 (September 22 - September 25): Acceleration (Data Sheet)
• Lab 3 (September 29 - October 2): Projectile Motion (Data Sheet)
• Lab 4 (October 6 - October 9): Atwood Machine(Data Sheet)

• Lab 5 (October 20 - October 23): Conservation of Energy (Data Sheet)
• Lab 6 (October 27 - October 30): Conservation of Momentum (Data Sheet)
• Lab 7 (November 03 - November 06): Angular Momentum (Data Sheet)   Univ Evening Midterm Week
• Lab 8 (November 10 - November 13): Simple Harmonic Motion (Data Sheet)
• Lab 9 (November 17 - November 20): Standing Waves (Data Sheet)

November 26 - November 28: Thanksgiving Break. No classes.

• Lab 10 (December 01 - December 04):Ideal Gas Law (Data Sheet)

December 08: Make-up Day for Labs 8-10. No lab classes.

Link to All Data Sheets

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

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

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 2025: 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 PHY133 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.

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 issues contact the course instructor, Richard Lefferts, at phy_introlabs@stonybrook.edu or in Office Hours, 1-3pm Thursdays in A-129 of Grad Physics.