The
laboratory course is designed to acquaint you with the
experimental basis of the laws of electricity and magnetism and
to introduce you to the techniques of electrical measurement,
which are universal in experimental physics.
To avoid lengthy and time-consuming
laboratory reports, most experiments will be completed and the
report turned in
at the end of the laboratory session. This is possible only
if you arrive prepared to do the experiment. Preparation
includes
careful reading of the experiment and related material and
completion of the Pre-lab, found at the end of each experiment
in the
Laboratory Manual. The Pre-labs must be turned in at the
beginning of each session, and you may not be admitted to the
laboratory
without having turned in your Pre-lab.
Spring 2020
Using the computers in the laboratory, RLM7.322:
Login using your UT EID and password
If you want to preserve
a file, you must transfer it to your personal USB drive before
leaving the lab.
The computers run Macintosh OSX. It is an easy
operating system to use, but if you need practice, computers running
the same
operating system are available in the computer lab down the hall
from the laboratory.
Note the laboratory start week shown below. You should
obtain the Laboratory Manual at the
University Coop,
read the Introduction and Experiment 0, complete both Pre-Labs, and
arrive ready to perform the experiment at the first meeting.
You must do each of the experiments at your scheduled time.
Since sections are full, you may not attend a different
section for any reason.
If you miss one experiment for good cause, you may make it
up no later than the last day of classes, but note that there is no
time scheduled for
makeups. The lab will be open at times scheduled for this
course, Thanksgiving week, and the last class day. No work
will be accepted
after the last class day.
You should bring the Manual and a USB flash drive to each laboratory
session.
The Experiments are generally intended to follow the presentation of
the topic in lectures, but you cannot even begin laboratory work
without knowing
the basic concepts of charge, current, potential, conductors,
insulators, and capacitance, which you should have learned in the
high school physics
course that is a prerequisite for all university physics. For
some purposes, you may also have to read the textbook before the
material is covered in lecture.