Course Content and
Goals
The purpose of this
course is to provide students with a working knowledge of
simple electronic circuitry. Topics to be covered include
passive components, filters, transistors, FET's, operational
amplifiers and an elementary treatment of signal processing
and data acquisition techniques. The course will not
emphasize abstract circuit theory or the physical basis of
device function but rather will aim to provide students with
the know-how required to use modern electronic
instrumentation and to design, build and repair circuits.
Lectures (one each week) and text readings will provide
background for the practical laboratory assignments.
Additions to the syllabus for the AM section may be found here.
Assignments and
Expectations
Ten labs
from the student manual, 11 quizzes and a skunk work
project
are assigned. Each lab will require an individual laboratory
write-up (report). Late lab reports* will
incur a
severe penalty of 15% off per day late.
After 4 days late the maximum grade for the assignment
(assuming perfect work) will be 40%. No late quizzes will
be accepted.
Lab Reports should include
(see the sample
report, circuit diagrams and plots omitted):
• Circuit description
•
Drawings of circuits you
used, including values and part names (either hand-drawn
or use Pspice)
• Data (raw) and
Analysis (Oscilloscope images)
• Answers to the
question posed in the manual
A hardcopy of the lab reports is due by 5
pm on Thursdays shown on the Class Schedule.
While you will work in teams of 2 for building the
circuits and recording data, the lab reports and
homework are to be individual efforts. Discussion
with and help from your peers are encouraged, but
copying of work is not. Both of the members
in a group should participate in taking data and
analyses. Exclusively sharing the duty
of lab work is not allowed. Lab partners will be
reshuffled throughout the semester.
Please see your instructor for more details.
Recommended Materials
In addition to the two required text books, students
are highly encouraged to bring to lab a memory stick
(for saving lab results saved on the computer) and
a quad-ruled
note pad/log book.
Quiz
There will be 11 quizzes given throughout the course. The
best 10 quizzes will be reflected in your grade. On Thursdays,
the quiz will
be delivered through e-mail. Students should answer
questions on the quizzes on their own. No collaboration
or discussion with others is allowed. Students should
submit a hardcopy of the
quiz
in person
on Tuesday at the beginning of lecture session. No late
quizzes will be accepted. No make-up quizzes will be
offered.
Skunk
Work (sample
1 | sample
2 | sample
3)
The skunk work project will consist of a circuit devised,
or selected from the literature, by each team of
two students, that will be built and demonstrated
for the class (including a description of its operation).
It will be judged on a combination of complexity,
execution, and comprehension. Students are responsible
for ordering and purchasing any parts needed for
their Skunk project that is not already in the lab.
Students wishing to keep their skunk work are required
to purchase their own breadboard.
Grading
Reports (45%), Quizzes
(40%), and Skunk work (15%). The letter grade will be based
on the curve (not absolute score).
* Assignment due will be forced strictly.
However, each student will be allowed 1 one-week extension
without penalty for lab reports.
Advice from the
Professor
Since students have varied backgrounds, the course will
start with the basics and appear at first to be rather
easy.
Do not be lulled by this into, falling behind, thinking
you
will be able to cram later, to catch up. The material builds
rapidly and requires mastery of the basics. The student
manual elaborates on the text, but is not a substitute for
it. You are strongly encouraged to do the assigned readings.
You will in fact be expected to learn more material than
there is time to go over in the lectures (where only major
points can be covered.) it will help your progress
tremendously to read through and attempt to understand the
lab to be performed before attempting
to do it. Lecture attendance is strongly encouraged and
will aid
in doing the labs and homework assignments.
The text usually defines terminology and then uses it
extensively. Disconcertingly, sometimes this order is
reversed, with the terminology appearing first. Similarly, a
text problem sometimes appears before the section giving the
material appropriate for its solution. A good strategy for
getting the most out of the text is to read through several
sections once quickly and then go back and re-read them to
improve comprehension, doing the problems on the second
sweep.
Participate with enthusiasm and have fun - learning will
automatically follow.
Advice from Students who took
this course
- This course is an excellent alternative to the
“theory” usually found in other physics courses. It offers
practical experience in working with circuits. However,
be prepared to spend a lot of time on the lab.
- Keep up with the course material.
- What I would do differently is to start lab write-up's
sooner, much sooner!
- Start doing homeworks and quizzes early in advance!
- Future students would take quizzes more seriously. Put
more effort into the quizzes.
- Start your skunk work early ... it would be a huge
help if you order parts online.
- If you have doubts as to whether or not to take
oscilloscope images, take it! .. don't be discouraged if
you burn many diodes on multiple occasions..
- This is an awesome course, unlike any other physics
course you can take.
- Do not leave things for the last minute. Read the
book.
- ... if you are too sleepy to understand what's going
on, you get behind. Take it in the afternoon if you can.
- I like this course a lot!
If you wish to put in more time, the laboratory (Room
1249) is accessible during off-hours. A combination locked
box on the door contains the key to the room. You will be
given the combination in class. Be sure that the box with
the key and the room are locked when you leave. For
safety reasons, more than two students should be working in
the laboratory at any time. This access is intended
for make-up and for when simply more time is needed.
updated August
20, 2007
