This webpage has a list of all equipment in the Physics Introductory Labs at Stony Brook that has a specialized purpose and is only used for one experiment.

Anything that is more of a generally useful tool (whether or not we actually use it for more than one experiment) can be found on this webpage instead.

Each section has a short description of the instrument, a picture of the instrument, and (generally) a link to a longer document with more details about the instrument.

This apparatus has two components: a fixed ramp, and a movable photogate stand.

The ramp is designed to launch a ball rolling down it at a directly horizontal angle, assuming the base is clamped to a horizontal surface.

The photogate stand (the long pole at the side) can be shifted with the handle at the back of the base. Each turn of the handle moves the stand (and hence the photogate) by a fixed amount, written on the base (either 1mm or 1/28").

This apparatus has three parts: a stationary base, a spinning platform, and a large massive disk.

The base and disk are exactly what they appear to be, with no more complexities.

The spinning platform (of unknown moment of inertia) has three features worth noting:

• Connection with the base: this has some degree of friction. The impact of this friction is measured in our experiment.
• Photogate blocker: this platform has a plastic portion with alternating black and clear segments, each a quarter of the circle. This is designed to block the photogate ad known angular positions.
• String hook: the bottom portion of the platform has a small place to attach a piece of string. Winding this string around that bottom portion of the platform allows us to have this string exert a torque on our platform.

This apparatus consists of a long string of wire between contacts at the top and bottom, with a magnet halfway down its length.

At the top, the wire is tied to the contact. At the bottom, the wire hangs free, but is intended to thread between a pair of contacts (remaining in contact with both), pulled down by a weight at the base.

The top and bottom contacts are wired to ports on the side of the apparatus that can be connected via banana cables to a known current source.

The magnetic field of the magnet is directed along the line of sight. The wire (when a current runs through it) will deflect to the side, where its displacement can be measured by a ruler on the back of the machine.

This experiment consists of three major components: a pair of Helmholtz coils, an electron gun, and a vacuum tube.

The Helmholtz coils are designed to make an approximately-constant magnetic field near the center. They consist of 130 turns of wire approximately 30cm in diameter, with a known (variable) current, displayed on the front of the machine.

The electron beam is emitted by a small device on the right-hand side of the machine (when the digital display is facing you), with the electrons going down. The electrons are accelerated through a known voltage (displayed on the front of the machine).

These electrons then flow around inside the vacuum tube. Interactions between the electrons and low-density He gas present creates a green light beam.

For more information, see this document.

The main apparatus for this experiment is a tube of hydrogen gas in a machine.

Running the machine (by pressing the button on the hand-controller) puts this gas into an atomic state, and excites the electrons in the now-atomic hydrogen to higher energy levels.

For more information, see this document.