PY354 Modern Physics
Fall 2003

Laboratory list

Labs will be taught by Martin Porter (mporter@bu.edu)

Office hours Wednesdays from 6-7pm in Room SCI B52

Labs will be due the following Tuesdays in class.

Date	Chapter & Section	Description	Reading, Due Date
Sept 15M, 18Th	Laboratory 1: Photoelectric Effect, BXX		Due Tue, Sept 23
Sept 23M, 26Th	Laboratory 2: Atomic Potentials, BXX		Due Tue, Sept 30
Sept 30M, Oct 3Th	Laboratory 3: Electron Diffraction, BXX		Due Tue, Oct 7
Oct 6M, 9Th	No laboratory
Oct 13M, 16Th	No laboratory
Oct 20M, 23Th	Laboratory 4: TBA (Photon Quantum Interference)		Due Tue, Oct 28
Oct 27M, 30Th	No laboratory week of midterm
Nov 3M, 6Th	Laboratory 5: Atomic Spectra, BXX		Due Tue, Nov 11
Nov 10M, 13Th	No laboratory
Nov 17M, 21Th	Laboratory 6: Spin Physics		Due Tue, Nov 25
Nov 24M, 27Th	No laboratory week of Thanksgiving
Dec 1M, 4Th	Laboratory 7: Semiconductor Diode Properties		Due Tue, Dec 9

GENERAL LABORATORY REPORT FORMAT AND GUIDELINES

The lab report should be viewed as the first draft of a scientific paper. The flow of the argument and evidence presented should be clear throughout. However, the laboratory report need not be unduly polished: erasures and awkward layout are only natural in recording experimental scientific work. Here are some specific guidelines:

1. Theory or purpose -- You should state clearly, in your own words, what the purpose of the experiment is. This should not simply be copied from the laboratory manual.
2. Technique and apparatus: A detailed explanation of the experimental setup and how you carry out the experiment is not required; a brief summary will suffice. However, it is important that you note the connection between the experimental technique and the basic theory.
3. Data analysis: It is important that results be neatly tabulated and calculations performed correctly. It is equally important that you explain the point of each measurement and the connection between the data obtained and the theoretical issue under examination. You should explain the limitations of the measurement and give a statement of their effect that is error, on the results.
4. Conclusions should follow from the data! We are less concerned with the results per se than the quality of the argument that is presented. For example, if the data indicates that momentum is not conserved in two-dimensional collisions, the conclusions should state this observation, independent of whether the result agrees with well-established theory. Whenever possible, a quantitative estimate of the uncertainty should be included.
5. You should use proper high-resolution graph paper, which is generally provided in the lab, for your graphs. Quadrille paper must not be used. If you forget for the first lab, that’s OK.
6. Use your time in lab wisely. If you have time towards the end, begin your write up and analysis. It is always easier when the material is fresh and with a TF standing there to help you.
7. Students may write up their laboratory reports in either a bound quadrille notebook or in neatly stapled loose-leaf sheets. If you choose to use the notebooks, you should alternate them at each session so that you have a notebook for preparation activities while I am grading the previous lab report.