Measurement & Design Laboratory – Fall 2023

In a world that’s rapidly changing, the art of design thinking and precise measurements is becoming more and more crucial. We’re talking about measurements from the tiniest quantum levels to the vastness of galaxies, adapting to ever-evolving business strategies, and crafting innovative products for the future. It’s a challenge that demands unique, up-to-date skills, and that’s exactly why this course was created, just for you. This course is a reincarnation of the course Experimental Physics 1 that we have been teaching for many years. Read here, our story of what our students achieved from the Fall 2023 offering.

Pre-laboratory lectures

Here is a series of six lectures presented under the banner of the introductory physics laboratory course offered to science and engineering students. The presentations and associated videos encompass some exciting features of lab work, bring home the idea of standardized uncertainty measurements and present examples of how accurate graphical presentation of data can illuminate new experiences in the physics. The lectures encompass ideas such as,

“The culture of experimental physics, the science of measurement and uncertainties, an introduction to the Physics Lab developed at LUMS and techniques for accurate and meaningful plotting of experimental data. Of course, we also cover the idea of mathematical models to represent data.“

Details can be viewed in the video links presented below.

Preparatory documents prepared by the Physlab

Culture, overview and skills

Presentation: Overview of the physics lab
Presentation: Graphing and presentation of scientific data
Monograph on how to work in the lab and read the lab manuals?
Introduction to measuring devices in an experimental physics laboratory
How to use a Vernier caliper and a Screw gauge
How to write the laboratory notebook by H.M. Kanare. Students are required to read Chapters 5 and 6.
Guidelines for safety in the physics laboratory

Uncertainties

Presentation: Measurement and uncertainties
Monograph on uncertainties in the physics laboratory
Formula sheet on uncertainties and some sample questions
Sample problems on uncertainties with solutions

Softwares

Software code (in Matlab) for plotting uncertainty bars on graphs
Software code (in Matlab) for weighted curve fitting
Presentation: Introduction to MATLAB (PHY-100)
Monograph on data processing with Matlab

Lab Schedule (Spring 2024)

Monday (L3) | Schedule | Attendance
Tuesday (L4) | Schedule | Attendance

Experiments	Code
Vibrations on a String and Resonance	1.9	waves and oscillations
Flux and rate of change of flux with a Hall sensor and solenoids This experiment is an upgrade to 1.8	1.8B	electricity, electromagnetism, magnetism
Electromagnetic Induction and Working of Read-Write Operations in Magnetic Media	1.8	electromagnetism, magnetism
Latent Heat of Vaporization of Liquid Nitrogen with a Load Sensor This experiment is an upgrade to 1.7	1.7C	thermal
Latent Heat of Vaporization of Liquid Nitrogen using Physload This experiment is an upgrade to 1.7 using Physlogger and Physload developed by Qosain Scientific	1.7B	cryogenics, physload, physlogger, qosain scientific
Latent Heat of Vaporization of Liquid Nitrogen and Specific Heats of Metals	1.7	thermal
Data analysis with capacitor	1.6A	electronics
Data Acquisition and Filter Design	1.6	electronics
Optical Activity of the Chiral Solutions This experiment is replaced by 1.22	1.5	optics
Magnetic Phase Transitions of a Ferromagnetic Alloy	1.4	magnetism
How do objects heat and cool? Comparing natural and forced convection This experiment is an upgrade to 1.3	1.3B	heat, thermal physics
Spinner with a smartphone	1.35 and 5.7	mechanics, rotational mechanics, smart physics, smartphone
Electricity from the Heart	1.33	biophysics, physiology
Arterial oscillations in blood pressure measurement	1.32	biophysics, fluid mechanics, physiology
The Physics of Stacking	1.31	mathematics, mechanics
Analyzing reciprocating motion: The geometry of physics	1.30	mechanics
Heat Transfer and Newton’s Law of Cooling	1.3	thermal
Craters in Sand (with a Magnetic Catcher)	1.2D	mechanics, uncertainty analysis
Craters in Sand	1.2B	uncertainty analysis
Moment of Inertia of a Tennis Ball	1.2A	mechanics
Quantitative verification of Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction with PhysLogger This experiment is an upgrade to 1.28	1.28B
Quantitative verification of Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction	1.28	electricity, electricity and magnetism, magnetism
Conical Swing of a Pendulum and Centripetal Forces	1.27	mechanics
Experiments with a linear air track	1.26	mechanics
Rotational mechanics with a photogate	1.25	mechanics
Measuring earth’s magnetic field from deflection of a compass needle (without hall probe) This experiment is a modified version of 1.23.	1.23 A	compass, deflection, earth magnetic field, magnetism
Measuring earth’s magnetic field from the detection of a compass needle	1.23	electricity and magnetism, electromagnetism, magnetism
Light is a transverse wave	1.22	optics
When are two measurements “same” or “different”? Example of conical shaped pendulums	1.21	measurements, mechanics
Measuring the Surface Tension of Water using the Pendant Drop Method	1.20	fluids
Rotational Dynamics, Moment of Inertia, Torque and Rotational Friction	1.2	mechanics
A Doubly Suspended Pendulum	1.19	mechanics
Dynamics of water discharge using Physlogger This experiment is similar to 1.18, though it uses Physload and Physlogger made by Qosain Scientific.	1.18B	fluid mechanics, mechanics
Dynamics of Water Discharge from a Cylinder	1.18	fluids
Verifying Gas laws and thermodynamics of a heat engine with PhysLogger This experiment is an upgrade of 1.17	1.17B
Verification of Gas Laws	1.17	thermal
Energy Conservation in Two Dimensions	1.16	energy, mechanics
Imaging Electron Trajectories: e/m Measurement with a Magic Eye and ImageJ	1.15	atomic
Verification of de Broglie’s hypothesis by Electron Diffraction from Graphite	1.14	atomic, modern
Electron Energy Loss Investigation through the Nobel Prize Winning Franck-Hertz Experiment	1.13	atomic, modern, quantum
Observing Hall Effect in Semiconductors	1.12	magnetism, semiconductor physics
Measurement of Planck’s constant using a light bulb	1.11	modern physics, optics, thermal
Natural Radioactivity and Statistics	1.10	radioactivity, statistics
Simple Harmonic Motion is Observed through Webcam	1.1	waves and oscillations

Think-aloud activities

Properties of rubber balloons	1.34	mechanics
Simple observations of Archimedes’s principle	1.29B	fluid, fluid mechanics
Investigating properties of a light bulb	1.24	electricity and magnetism, optics
Optical Activity of Sucrose Solution	1.22A	optics
The swinging rod	1.19A	mechanics & wave motion
Radioactivity: Effect of Absorbers	1.10A	nuclear
Measuring the Speed of Sound	1.9A	sound
Finding the Earth’s Magnetic Field by Twisting Magnets	1.8A	magnetism
Using a Force Sensor to Measure Vaporization of Liquid Nitrogen	1.7A	thermal
Using Phase Relationships to Find an Unknown Capacitance in an RC Circuit	1.6C	electronics
Finding an Unknown Resistance in Series with a Capacitor	1.6B	electronics
Reproducing Measurements of a Time Period with Different Instruments	1.2C	waves and oscillations
Modeling the Response of a Thermistor	1.3A	thermal
Moment of Inertia of a Table Tennis Ball	1.2AB	mechanics

Lab-I (ENGG-100/PHY-100/200)

Measurement & Design Laboratory – Fall 2023

Preparatory documents prepared by the Physlab

Lab Schedule (Spring 2024)

Experiments

Code

PhysLab

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