Waves and Optics Laboratory
This is a general information page for PHY 300.
The instructors and teaching assistants for PHY 300 Lab can vary every semester. The Department course list has links to PHY 300 syllabi from past semesters. Please see SBU Solar or Brightspace for more information.
Since 2021 the course has been run in the studio format, with labs and collaborative work incorporated with each class. Here is a rough plan for the semester.
| Week # | Topic | Lab | Homework and Reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Simple Harmonic Oscillator | SHO | - |
| Week 2 | Damping, Driving, Energy | SHO Driven and Damped | - |
| Week 3 | Coupled Oscillators | SHO Coupled, Driven | - |
| Week 4 | Normal Modes | Transmission line | - |
| Week 5 | Strings, Travelling Waves | Midterm #1, Driven rod lab | Report #1 on Coupled Oscillators |
| Week 6 | Fourier Series | Normal modes in a driven rod | - |
| Week 7 | Pulses | Speed of sound | - |
| Break | |
||
| Week 8 | Plane Waves | Start polarization lab | - |
| Week 9 | Polarization | Polarization | - |
| Week 10 | Reflection and Refraction | Start Michelson lab | - |
| Week 11 | Interferometers | Midterm #2, Michelson lab | Report #2 on Polarization |
| Week 12 | Diffraction | Diffraction | - |
| Week 13 | Ray Optics I | Bird's eye view | - |
| Week 14 | Ray Optics II, Review | Optical Instruments | - |
These manuals are used by some instructors for the laboratory portion of PHY 300, Waves and Optics.
- Lab 1: Resonance
- Lab 2: Coupled Oscillators
- Lab 3: Speed of Sound
- Lab 4: Transmission Lines
- Lab 5: Polarization
- Lab 6: Michelson Interferometer
- Lab 7: Fabry-Perot Interferometer
- Lab 8: Diffraction
- Lab 9: Optical Instruments
Here are some links you may find helpful:
Course websites from recent semesters can be found at Undergrad Courses
MatLab at SBU can be downloaded or used at a SINC Site
Wolfram Mathematica at SBU can be downloaded or used at a SINC Site