General Information for Fall 2009

Catalog Description
Credits: 2
Corequisites: PHY 2048 or PHY 2060
(The online UF Catalog incorrectly lists PHY2048/PHY2060 as prerequisites)

This is a cross-disciplinary, inquiry-based curriculum that focuses on major themes and concepts in physics, with emphasis on their application in modern quantitative life sciences research.

Students taking this lab are expected to be concurrently taking PHY2048 (or PHY2060). Calculus is used throughout the semester.

Registration

Registration is controlled by the Physics Department. Contact the Physics Undergraduate Coordinator, Prof. Lee (yoonslee@phys.ufl.edu), if you wish to enroll. There is a lab fee.

Staff

• Physics Coordinator:
  Prof. Steve Hagen
  2362 New Physics Building
  (352) 392-4716
  
• Lab coordinator:
  Dr. Gabriela Waschewsky
  Shands room DG-22 A
  1600 SW Archer Rd. 32610
  (325) 273-8282
  Email: waschewsky@ufl.edu
  
• Teaching Assistant:
  Ms. Lan Hoang Minh
  Email: hoang@ufl.edu
• Teaching Assistant:
  Mr. Gabriel Dilanji
  Email: gdilanji@ufl.edu

Description
This is a one-semester, accelerated laboratory for introductory, calculus-based physics. The goal of the course is to introduce the student to the quantitative and analytical approach of the physics research laboratory. Experiments will explore many aspects of first-year physics - including

• Error analysis & uncertainty
• Heat, work, & power
• Impulse & momentum
• Using the scientific literature
• Centripetal force and acceleration
• Dissipation in electrical systems (Ohm's Law and non-Ohmic conduction)
• Dissipation in hydrodynamic systems
• Lenses and optics
• Brownian motion
• Atomic spectra and absorbance

In addition to the basic physics concepts, this lab heavily emphasizes quantitative and analytical methods in laboratory science: quantitative analysis, the development of mathematical models, and error analysis. Calculus will be used throughout.

This laboratory is part of the HHMI Core Lab series, and meets in the new HHMI Core Laboratory facility (room DG-22) in the Health Science Center. The experiments in this physics lab are intended to complement and enhance the content of the other HHMI Core Lab courses: Accelerated General Chemistry and Accelerated Integrated Biology. (Enrollment in those labs is not however a prerequisite or corequisite for PHY2064L.)

Students interested in PHY2064L may also be interested in the HHMI Mathematical Methods course MAT4930.

This is an accelerated lab: Through this (2-credit / 1-semester) course, the student can complete in just one semester the equivalent of the usual two-semester physics laboratory sequence. This course is suitable for the introductory physics student who is enrolled in the first semester of calculus-based physics (PHY2048 or PHY2060), has a good high school physics and calculus background, and is ready for a challenging and rewarding introduction to laboratory science.

Website & Calendar
The calendar (and all current information) will be posted on the website, which is maintained on the UF E-Learning Services (WebCT/Vista) server. Enrolled students may access the site by visiting the UF E-learning Services site (http://lss.at.ufl.edu) and then using your Gatorlink ID to log in to the "E-Learning System". There you will find the course calendar along with the syllabus, prelab information, and various other timely information.

Click here to enter the WebCT/Vista site. You will need to log in with your GatorLink username and password.

Assignments (prelabs, lab notes, etc.) must be submitted through the WebCT site. Please do not email them to the instructors.

The instructors will assume that all students visit the website regularly and are familiar with the information and announcements that are posted there.

First Lab
Labs will begin on Tuesday September 1, 2009. Visit the WebCT/Vista site, read the first lab writeup (experiment ME - measurement errors & uncertainty), print out a hard copy, and bring this to the first meeting. (Class will not meet on Tuesday August 25.)

What to bring
Bring the following items to each lab meeting:

• A notebook. Nothing fancy. A simple spiral notebook or 3-ring is fine.
• Handheld calculator. Nothing fancy. Any calculator with basic math functions (roots, trig functions, & logarithms) is fine. No physicist spends more than $5-10 on a handheld calculator.
• Hardcopy print-out of the lab writeup. The file is posted on Vista/WebCT.
• USB memory stick. Not required, but very useful and highly recommended.
• USB mouse. Not required. But you will probably find it very helpful.

Each laboratory session is four hours long. Prepare yourself mentally and physically for a long afternoon in the lab. Wear proper laboratory clothing. Do the prelab assignment and eat your lunch before you come to class. You may take a short break in mid-afternoon if you need it, but you will need to pay attention to the clock. Do not bring food or drink to the lab.

General Guidelines & Procedures
Registered phy2064L students should visit the phy2064L WebCT/Vista site for detailed policies and procedures related to weekly preparation, prelab assignments, the lab format, lab notebooks, error analysis, and related policies.

Math and Computer skills
In this course we will make frequent use of Microsoft Office software - Word, Excel, and Powerpoint - and other data collection and analysis software associated with specific laboratory instrumentation. Students are expected to be computer-literate. Computer literacy does not mean expert in programming, or expert in a particular software package, etc. It means ready and willing to draw on existing computer skills, and to acquire new ones, whenever circumstances require it. Likewise students are expected to be comfortable using their existing mathematical skills (including trigonometry and calculus), and acquiring new ones, as needed in the laboratory.

Textbook
There is no textbook and there is nothing to buy. All required reading and other materials will be posted on the WebCT/Vista website.
You will however find it useful to refer to a calculus-based introductory physics textbook, such as

• Giancoli, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
• Halliday, Resnick, Walker, Fundamentals of Physics
• etc.

Grading
The final course grade will be based on

• 20% - Prelab quizzes, given at the beginning of most class meetings
• 40% - Written prelab assignments and the electronic lab notebook.
  • The prelab assignment is submitted on time prior to each lab.
  • An electronic lab notebook is maintained by each lab team and submitted electronically after class
• 15% Integration exercises (to be described later)
• 15% Final examination
• 10% Class participation, attendance, and related aspects of professionalism
• 100% - Total

Attendance, Lateness, & Makeup
Lab will meet around 11-12 times over the course of the semester. You are expected to attend every session and complete every experiment. Please arrive on time for class and stay until we are finished: chronic lateness and inconsistent participation are both unacceptable and will definitely lead to a reduced final grade.

Each class will begin with a quiz on the prelab assignment. This quiz is an importance assessment of your preparedness. Students who are late and miss the quiz cannot make it up later.

Missed labs cannot be repeated at a later time. The lab room is heavily used and fully booked during the week, and we simply do not have facilities and personnel to offer makeups. However, it is conceivable that a serious personal or family emergency may prevent you from attending or completing one of the labs. In this event you should contact the lab coordinator as soon as possible.

Disabilities (Accomodations)
Students who will require a classroom accommodation for a disability must contact the Dean of Students Office and request proper documentation. Upon bringing that documentation to the Instructor, the student will be given the appropriate accommodations. No accommodations are available to students who lack this documentation.

It is the policy of the University of Florida that the student, not the instructor, is responsible for arranging accommodations when needed. The instructor will not remind the student to schedule accommodations.

Academic Honesty
All students are required to abide by the principles of academic honesty expressed in the Student Honor Code . Consistent with university policy, any incident of academic dishonesty in this course will be reported to the Dean of Students Office. It is normal and reasonable for students in this physics course to work together on homework, but certain other activities are unacceptable: academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, fabricating or misrepresenting information or scientific data, giving or receiving any unauthorized assistance on academic work, and interfering with the academic work of other students. Submitting materials that are transcribed or copied from another person or source is unacceptable and will be interpreted as intentional dishonesty. If the incident is the student's first offense at UF, the student will receive a failing grade in PHY2064L. If not, the Dean of Students Office will decide the appropriate sanction.

Religious Holidays
Student religious observances will be accommodated. It is university policy, however, that the student must inform the instructor of religious observances that will conflict with class attendance or other activities, prior to the class or the occurrence of that activity. No exceptions will be made.