This is our advanced physics laboratory that offers state-of-the-art experimental training in specialist experiments to our advanced undergrads and graduate students. There is more project work, troubleshooting, experimental design and lots of open-ended inquiries. The course also comprises components of scientific writing, presentation, computation, workshop practice and innovation.
Logistics for the Spring 2022 session
- Outline for the spring 2022 session
- Lab schedule: Tentative schedule for Spring 2022
- Division into groups for Sessions 1 to 6A
- Experimental assignments Spring 2022
- Grading mental picture
- Teaching instruments
Software Skills for the Lab with an emphasis on Python (by Dr. Rafiullah)
Graphical programming and data acquisition using Labview 
- Quick start guide to Labview by National Instruments
- Exercise for Fall 2016 session: for supplementary material, visit this page.
- Obtaining a temperature measurement using a thermocouple
- Information about thermocouples from omega.com
- Guide to thermocouples from National Instruments
- Sample homework on Labview
- Also, see our workshop on graphical programming 2016 and notes uploaded there
Uncertainties and measurement
- Read Ch 1-9, T.P.A. Hase “Measurements and their Uncertainties” before 28 September 2019.
- Homework will be uploaded soon.
- A basic introduction to uncertainties and measurements written by Amrozia Shaheen and Sabieh Anwar
- This is a link to a highly useful textbook written by Dr. Louis Bouchard of the University of California, Los Angeles, on “Data, Uncertainty and Error Analysis“. Slightly mathematical but it presents comprehensive coverage of data analysis one may encounter in the experimental physics lab.
- Homework 1 (Solution): the homework deals with probability distributions, uncertainties, and the central limit theorem
- Homework 2 (Solution): the homework deals with data minimization techniques
- Homework 3 (Solution)
Workshop practice 
- See the webpage for the mechanical workshop
- Details of the CNC machining centre
- Presentation on the mechanical workshop by Muhammad Rizwan (2016) | Presentation 2018
- Exercise for workshop practice (2016), prepared by Muhammad Rizwan | Exercise on milling, drilling and turning (2018)
- Circuit building exercise: herein students are asked to build a circuit that generates a sawtooth and square wave using a Schmitt trigger. They also learn how to solder.
How to write your lab report
Students are required to type their lab reports in LaTeX. To be able to use LaTeX on your computers, follow the following guidelines, furthermore, read this article on the importance of laboratory notebook by Jacob T. Stanley and H. J. Lewandowski of the University of Colorado,
Please also thoroughly read our Complete Guide to Writing a Report for a Scientific Experiment (PDF). It describes how to prepare a well-articulated lab report that exquisitely narrates the story of an experimenter’s journey throughout the experiment.
(1) Install MiKTeX from the website. MikTeX is a really nice implementation of LaTeX. (2) Install an editor. A free editor is Texniccenter. Another editor that requires a password is Winedt. (3) Try compiling the following sample files. If it works, and a pdf or dvi or ps output is produced, well and good. Use the template for typesetting beautiful documents rich with mathematics, equations and graphics.
All images must be in eps format. For example, figures made in Matlab in .fig format must be saved as *.eps and imported into the LaTeX source code. We normally use Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator for the formatting of bitmapped and vector graphics respectively. However, it is also possible to employ a python script to generate your science-savvy plots. Another really useful technique is to employ the Physlab-developed application PhysPlot for creating graphical plots from data.
Also, here is a zipped file which provides you with a nice ready-made template to get started in LaTeX. Finally, here is what I am looking for and not looking for in a lab report. You may also have a look at this sample lab report.