Course Outline

Physics is largely driven by experimental discoveries and observations. As physics has evolved, these experiments have become increasingly sophisticated in terms of the concepts involved, equipment used, measurement techniques and data analysis. Phys 252 aims to provide a first stepping stone between introductory level physics experiments and professional experimental physics. The course offers a variety of experiments from classical and modern physics. It also provides training in error analysis and presentation of experimental results via formal reports and presentations.

Course Structure

Phys 252 meets twice per week. The class will be divided into small groups with each working on one experiment. Groups will cycle through the available experiments; there will be seven or eight of these during the semester. The instructor will assign individual students to groups and these will change regularly.

Literature Sources

You need to find one journal article related to your experiment before each class meeting. Sources of such articles are:

  1. Journals and Preprints
    1. CMU Tomlinson Library The "journals" tab in the main search box accesses most journal databases.
    2. American Journal of Physics Journal with articles oriented to undergraduates and pedagogy (American Association of Physics Teachers).
    3. European Journal of Physics Journal with articles oriented to undergraduates and pedagogy (Institute of Physics).
    4. arXiv Preprint Archive Provides preprints of of articles that appear in most physics journals. Preprints are produced prior to peer review and publication but are usually very similar to final published articles.

Homework Assignments

Due: 26 January 2024 Homework 1
Due: 1 February 2024 Homework 2
Due: 5 February 2024 Homework 3
Due: 16 February 2024 Homework 4
Due: 7 March 2024 Homework 5
Due: 14 March 2024 Homework 6
Due: 28 March 2024 Homework 7

Homework Solutions

Homework solutions will be posted in the course Desire 2 Learn (D2L) shell.


Links and Animations

  1. Reference Sources
    1. Physlink. Reference information and data, including decimal system notation, physical constants, math constants, astro-physical constants, etc,....
    2. Eric Weinstein's World of Physics. Encyclopedia of Physics maintained by Wolfram Research. Entries at a variety of technical levels.
    3. Periodic Table of Elements. WebElements site.
    4. NIST Standard Reference Databases. Administered by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. The final word in physical data. Intended for professionals.
  2. Literature

      There are many undergraduate texts that describe data analysis, statistics and scientific communication. You are encouraged to consult these.

    1. I. Valiela, Doing Science: Design, Analysis, and Communication of Scientific Research, Oxford (2001). Data analysis, research design, scientific writing, and data presentation.
    2. S. Vaughn, Scientific Inference, Cambridge (2013).
    3. A. Bevan, Statistical Data Analysis for the Physical Sciences, Cambridge (2013).
    4. I. Hughes, Measurements and Their Uncertainties : a Practical Guide to Modern Error Analysis, Oxford (2010).
  3. Sample Journal Articles

      In this course, formal lab reports will be written in the style of journal articles. While the formatting details of these vary from one journal to another the general structures are quite similar. A good source of journal articles, whose content is frequently accessible to undergraduate audiences, is the American Journal of Physics. A few examples of articles that you may could consult to get an idea of a journal article structure are listed below.

    1. The wave-particle duality of light: A demonstration experiment, T. L. Dimitrova and A. Weis, Am. J. Phys. 76, 133-136, (2008). This is a "demonstration" type of experiment in that it illustrates a phenomenon qualitatively. Thus some of the typical data analysis is absent.
    2. Measurements of the speed of light in water using Foucault's technique, J. Brody, L. Griffin, and P.Segre, Am. J. Phys. 78, 650, (2010). This is a variant on an experiment that we perform in this course.
    3. Bessel's improved Kater pendulum in the teaching lab, D. Candela, K. M. Martini, R. V. Krotkov, and K. H. Langley , Am. J. Phys. 69, 714, (2001). Another variant on an experiment that is performed in this course. This contains a significant and involved theory section.
    4. An accurate formula for the period of a simple pendulum oscillating beyond the small angle regime, F. M. S. Lima and P. Arun, Am. J. Phys. 74, 892, (2006). A more accurate version of a simple pendulum period experiment. This contains a significant theory section.
    5. Determination of the half-life of 212Po, K. Ruddick , Am. J. Phys. 74, 658, (1995). Mostly experimental article.