Physics 1311

General Physics Lab I

Fall 2016
Instructor: Michael Savoy
E-mail: [email protected]
Office hours: by appointment
Location: Nielsen Hall, Room 365
Teaching Assistants: Collin Brown, Nielsen Hall
E-mail: [email protected]
Timmothy Burt, Nielsen Hall
E-mail: [email protected]
Nickalas Reynolds, Nielsen Hall
E-mail: [email protected]
Lab Sections: All labs are in Chemistry Building Annex Rm. B15 (except week 2,
Aug. 29 Sept. 2, which is in Nielsen Hall Rm. 150)
Section
Time
11:30-13:50
002
M 14:00-16:20
003
T 9:00-11:20
004
T 11:30-13:50
005
T 14:00-16:20
006
W 9:00-11:20
007
W 11:30-13:50
900
M 16:30-18:50
901
M 19:00-21:20
902
T 16:30-18:50
903
T 19:00-21:20

Teacher
001
Collin Brown
Timothy Burt
Nickalas Roynolds
Collin Brown
Nickalas Roynolds
Collin Brown
Michael Savoy
Timothy Burt
Nickalas Roynolds
Timothy Burt
Michael Savoy

Textbook: Physics 1311 Lab Manual

(available ONLY at the Union Copy Center )
Other required materials: Lab notebook, ruler and calculator.
The lab notebook must have a stitched binding
with pages of graph paper.
The example shown to the right is sold in
the OU bookstore for $2.99.
Class Website: http://learn.ou.edu/
Course Description: Physics 1311 is a series of laboratory experiments and exercises which
cover basic mechanics. The laboratories are organized to complement approximately the lectures
in Physics 2414 (Physics I for Life Science Majors) and Physics 2514 (Physics I for Engineers).
There are two course goals: to understand better, via experiment, the fundamentals of physics,
and to become familiar with graphical representation of data and their statistical analysis.
Co-requisites: Physics 2414 or Physics 2514.

COURSE COMPONENTS
There are seven major components of this course: lab notebook, group work, attendance, pre-lab
quizzes, individual lab reports, lab practical, and the final exam. Below the details of each are
discussed.
Lab notebook: Each individual student is responsible for keeping records of the various
experiments. This is best done in a notebook with a stitched binding and graph paper pages (i.e.
no spiral bound books or notepads; absolutely no loose leaf paper!) You will have one lab
practical and one final exam. You will perform both of these alone, without the aid of your lab
partners. Your notebook will be the only material you will be allowed to have at that time, hence
keeping a good record of what you did as part of your lab will be an enormous aid when you
perform your lab practical and your final exam!.
If your notebook does not conform to our specifications, you will NOT be allowed to use it
during the lab practical or final exam.
It is recommended that you start a new page for each lab exercise, and leave some blank pages
for later notes and calculations before each new lab exercise. You should start with a sketch of
the apparatus and a brief description of the procedure and the goals of the experiment. You
should enter all your data. Your notebooks will not be collected. They do not have to be
extremely neat; however, you should be able to find everything you need in your entries. The
most useful lab notebooks are those in which the students were diligent about recording as much
as possible about the experiment. This is true for scientific researchers as well. You can perform
your analysis in your lab notebook, then photocopy the relevant pages and attach them to your
worksheet. You do not have to repeat the calculations on the worksheet; however, your
photocopy should be legible for the grader!
NEVER TEAR PAGES FROM YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK. This is poor laboratory practice.
Groups: In the first few meeting of the course you will organize yourselves into groups of 3-4 to
work together. As a group you will set up the experiment, take the data, and restore the apparatus
to its condition at the beginning of the class. Each member of the group should take part in the
data collection. For example, one student may hold a pendulum bob for release, another would
control the stopwatch and the third would record the data as it happened. At the conclusion of the
experiment, you can then copy in the raw numbers as collected by the data recorder. At this
point, the copying ends! All of your subsequent work in your notebook must be your own.
Copying the work of your lab mates is considered cheating. You can collaborate and consult
with your lab mates on answers to various questions or to analyze data, but you must perform
your own analysis and generate your own answers.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory; your lab group relies on you to be there. You may miss
one lab without penalty. After that, you must provide written documentation of your reason (put
them in your TAs mailbox in NH100). Two unexcused absences in addition to your one freebie
will result in the automatic reduction of your grade by one letter. You may not hand in a lab
report for a lab for which you were absent! You may not attend a lab section in which you
are NOT enrolled without specific permission from both TAs involved.
Pre-Lab Quizzes (PL): All quizzes will be on Desire2Learn (D2L). They will cover the reading
material in the Lab Manual and will be designed to insure you are familiar with the material prior
to attending your lab section. They will be due Monday at 11:00 before your lab.

Individual Lab Reports: There will be a worksheet for each of the course labs. It will guide you
in your collection and analysis of data. This worksheet and associated materials are due one
week and one day later before 4pm. That means that if you have lab on Mondays you must
hand it in the next week on Tuesday before 4pm. You are free to hand it in during your next
scheduled lab ahead of the due time. If you turn it in then, you will not have an easy opportunity
to ask last minute questions of your TA before you turn in your final report. Please, put your
completed report into your TAs mailbox in the first floor physics office. Finishing the lab in the
class period the day before it is due is not permitted. If you hand in your report late, the
following automatic deductions will apply: 1-2 days late results in a 20% deduction; 3-6
days late (upto one class period) results in a 50% deduction. If you attempt to hand it in after
that, it will not be accepted.
Lab Practical: 9-10 March have been set-aside as days for your lab practical. In the lab period
preceding, 2-3 March, your TA will allow you to sign up for a 30 minute time slot. This time slot
will be during your regularly scheduled lab period the week of 9 March. In the lab practical
you will work alone on a previously assigned lab. You may be asked to take and analyze some
data. You will be allowed to have your lab notebook (as long as it conforms to the published
specifications), calculator, and ruler. The lab manual will not be allowed. Based on your ability
to handle the data independently, you will be awarded a grade out of 100 points.
Final Exam: We will have a comprehensive, multiple-choice final exam on topics covered in
lab. The exams will be offered on two nights, you may sign up for either night. The exam will be
worth a total of 150 points. You may bring your lab notebook (see below). If you are also
enrolled in Phys1321 you may also take that final exam the same night or the other night.
Final exam schedule: 5 December (Monday) in NH270 18:30-22:30 and
December (Tuesday) in NH270 18:30-22:30.

For the Lab Practical and for the Final Exam. You will be allowed to use your own lab
notebook, provided it meets our specifications. Borrowing or sharing your lab notebook is
considered cheating. BOTH PARTIES will be penalized. If you want to use the notebook for the
lab practical and final exam, you must have your own notebook. Your notebook may not
include photocopies, printouts, or other reproduction of anything out of the lab manual, any
other textbook, another students notebook, etc. The only two exceptions are: you may copy any
material by hand into your notebook; and you may staple graphs from the labs into your
notebook--provided you made them yourself. If you keep a good notebook it will help you on the
exams.

Grading Policy: Your final grade will be a combination of individual lab reports, on-line pre-lab
quizzes, a lab practical, and a final exam.
component
Individual Lab Reports

percent of
course grade
70%

comment
total points
approximately 11
500
drop the lowest grade
50+ points each
Pre-Lab Quizzes
approximately 12
110
7.5%
drop the lowest grade
10 points each
Lab Practical
only one
100
7.5%
Final Exam
only one
150
15%
Note: The total number of Pre-Lab Quizzes and Individual Lab Reports are subject to
change, but the contribution to the course component will remain the same.
Grading will be on a standard scale (A >90%; B 80-90%; C 70-80%; D 60-70%.). Attendance
can impact your grade, please read the section Attendance for the specifics.
CHEATING
Cheating will be punished according to University guidelines. See the student handbook under
academic misconduct for a description of infractions and policies. While working together is
encouraged, simple rote copying of the lab reports of other students is cheating. The work of
both students will be handed over to Academic Misconduct Committee.
D2L HELP
Logon using your OU username (AKA your 4+4). If you have trouble logging in, follow the
LoginProblems? link for instructions. For support on Desire2Learn, call 325-HELP
(325-4636).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his or here abilities should contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation in this class.
This syllabus is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in lab. The most current
version will be available on D2L.