PC132 Thermodynamics and Waves Lab

Introduction

• About these labs ... [ October 18, 2019 ]
  
• Faculty of Science general regulations
• This year's lab manual [ December 15, 2014 ]
• Plagiarism alert [ December 20, 2017 ]
• Instructional Assistants' (ie. lab demonstrators') contact information [ May 12, 2017 ]
• Results from 2014 lab evaluations [ May 28, 2014 ]
• Results from last fall's PC131 lab evaluations

Evaluation Methods

Course Material

Week of ...	Lab/Exercise	Resource Material [ this background indicates required resource this background indicates optional resource this background indicates important items this background indicates weekly topics this foreground indicates updated items this foreground indicates unrevised items ]
	Introduction Standing Waves on a String
Jan. 5	Safety - Emergency Numbers   [ April 29, 2015 ] Laboratory Safety Lab Introduction: What is the purpose of the PC132 labs? Experiment Background: Standing Waves on a String Lab: Standing Waves on a String
		Spreadsheet for Standing Waves on a String lab [ January 8, 2014 ] Spreadsheet with generic template tables [OPTIONAL] [ September 26, 2013 ] Standing Waves on a String Demonstration
	Off week
Jan. 12	You can't do the post-lab questions and tasks from last week yet Read theory for Linearizing Equations or read presentation on linearizing equations [ December 12, 2014 ] or watch screencast at right Do online quiz on MyLearningSpace between 7 p.m. Monday and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Pre-lab questions and tasks (if any) for next week
		Screencast of Linearizing Equations presentation
	Exercise: Linearizing Equations
Jan. 19	Lab Exercise: Linearizing Equations Can be done independently.
		Standing waves on a string on Hyperphysics
	Off week
Jan. 26	Post-lab questions and tasks (if any) from last week Read theory for Graphing and Least Squares Fitting using a Spreadsheet or read presentation on graphing [ December 12, 2014 ] or watch screencast at right and read presentation on least squares fitting [ December 12, 2014 ] or watch screencast at right and read presentation on how to determine uncertainties in graphical quantities [ December 12, 2014 ] or watch screencast at right Do online quiz on MyLearningSpace between 7 p.m. Monday and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Pre-lab questions and tasks (if any) for next week
		Screencast of Graphing presentation Screencast of Least Squares Fitting presentation Screencast of Graphical Uncertainties presentation
	Exercise: Graphing and Least Squares Fitting
Feb. 2	Lab Exercise: Graphing and Least Squares Fitting using a Spreadsheet Can be done independently. Make an appointment with the Writing Centre
		Spreadsheet for Graphing and Least Squares Fitting using a Spreadsheet lab exercise [ March 16, 2016 ] Here's a tutorial using Excel for graphing on a Mac XY graph with X error bars and Y error bars in LibreOffice XY graph with error bars in Mac Numbers Here's a neat Java applet where you can try fitting by eye and compare it to a least squares fit. Cool demonstration of least squares fitting (Click on "watch web preview".) Presentation on maximum and minimum slopes [ December 12, 2014 ] Screencast of Maximum and Minimum Slopes presentation Example of maximum and minimum slopes [ December 12, 2014 ] Screencast of Maximum and Minimum Slopes Example presentation Clemson University Graphing tutorial in Excel (You may find this useful.)
	Off week
Feb. 9	Post-lab questions and tasks (if any) from last week Post-lab questions and tasks (if any) from first week Prepare lab report for "Standing Waves on a String" Incorporate answers to in-lab questions from all of the exercises to date Incorporate the post-lab question answers from the lab itself into your discussion and conclusions Be sure to attach a checklist Remember that this lab report accounts for at least half of your total lab mark for the term! Lab checklist To prepare for the library quiz and exercise, go to the subject librarian page for the WLU library and find out who the subject librarian is for physics what other subject areas are covered by the physics librarian Also, find out where in the library the Instruction Room is located, since that's where the library exercise will be. (It's on this page, but you may also look at this library map.) Do online quiz on MyLearningSpace between 7 p.m. Monday and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Pre-lab questions and tasks (if any) for next week
		Sample lab report [ January 28, 2011 ]
	READING WEEK
Feb. 16	READING WEEK - No labs
	Exercise: Library Research
Feb. 23	Lab Exercise: Library Research in room L314 Hand in lab report for "Standing Waves on a String" Be sure to attach a checklist! Submit electronic copy on MyLearningSpace as well. For the electronic submission, the following formats are acceptable: MS Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, Acrobat PDF, HTML, RTF, Plain Text
		Library presentation from 2008 Alternatives to Wikipedia from the library presentation 2008
	Off week
March 2	Post-lab questions and tasks (if any) from last week Read theory for Plotting Curves Using a Spreadsheet or read presentation on curve plotting using a spreadsheet [ January 30, 2014 ] or watch screencast at right Do online quiz on MyLearningSpace between 7 p.m. Monday and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Pre-lab questions and tasks (if any) for next week
		Screencast of Curve Plotting presentation
	Exercise: Plotting Curves Using a Spreadsheet Can be done independently.
March 9	Lab Exercise: Plotting Curves Using a Spreadsheet Get back marked report for "Standing Waves on a String"
		Spreadsheet for Plotting Curves Using a Spreadsheet lab exercise [ March 16, 2016 ]
	Off week
March 16	Do online quiz on MyLearningSpace between 7 p.m. Monday and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Revise lab report for "Standing Waves on a String" Help sessions by IA in N2090 - Monday March 16 at about 5:00 p.m. Tuesday March 17 at about 4:00 p.m. Wednesday March 18 at about 5:00 p.m. Prepare for lab test Look at the "Recap" section from each lab to see what you should be able to do.
	Lab Test and Lab Evaluation
March 23	Hand in revised lab report for "Standing Waves on a String" Be sure to attach the original! Lab test and evaluation Test writing instructions [ March 20, 2012 ]
		Summary of questions from previous PC131 lab tests which were answered incorrectly by more than half of the class. [ March 17, 2011 ]
	Off week
March 30