1-0 General Instructions for Laboratory Course
1. LABORATORY ATTENDANCE POLICY
1) Attendance at Lab is required ( lab is not something you can make up at home ).
2) If you miss more than three labs during one semester – whether excused or unexcused – you
will receive a course grade “F”.
3) Students are allowed to work in the lab during an unoccupied hour until they get permission
from the instructor or TA to do so.
2. PURPOSE OF LABORATORY WORK
Three principal general goals of this Physics Laboratory are :
1) to give you direct experience of the physical facts of nature,
2) to familiarize you with techniques of measurement and analysis that are valuable in any
laboratory situations, and
3) to give you greater insight into the interplay between theory and experiment which is the
essence of the activity called “physics”.
3. GENERAL LABORATORY POLICIES
1) For each experiment, laboratory manuals will be provided. Also, it is expected that student
will consult other reference materials, e.g., textbooks, handbooks, etc.
2) Students are expected to become familiar with the operation of all experimental equipment.
Be sure you understand the operation of all equipment before beginning an experiment. If you
have any question or confusion, please ask the instructor or TA.
3) No alterations of equipment will be made without the consent of the instructor or TA.
Suggestions for improving the operation of equipment are always welcome.
4) Any necessary equipment (glassware, thermometers, optical elements etc.) and tools, if not
already available, must be obtained from an instructor, or TA and must be returned to them
after completing the experiment.
5) At the end of each laboratory period, groups are responsible for ascertaining that water
sources, electrical sources and equipment, etc., dedicated to the concerned experiment are
turned off before leaving lab for the day.
4. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR LABORATORY REPORTS & VIVA-VOCE
Some guidelines for the contents and organization of a good lab report are presented below.
1) A technical lab report will be submitted for each experiment by each student.
2) All laboratory reports must be submitted to the laboratory instructor/TA/ Laboratory Assistant
after each experiment. The instructor would take the viva-voce for an experiment while it is
being performed and grade the student’s performance for the experiment.
3) A significant weightage would be given to the performance of students in each experiment
while deciding on the final grade for the laboratory course.
4) Each student/group is responsible for the originality of his/her technical report and the data
utilized. Copying from unidentified sources such as prior reports is unfair, and it is highly
discouraged. A significant emphasis is laid on the originality of the report.
5. Format & Organization
1) Organize the laboratory report into logical sections with titles for each section. For example,
Experimentally Measured Values, Calculations, Results & Discussion which also contains
Error Analysis and Conclusion.
2) If a graph is to be plotted, then decide an appropriate scale so as to utilize most of the graph
paper. X-axis should usually be the independent variable and Y-axis the dependent variable.
Label each axis with the name or symbol of the quantity being plotted along with its unit.
Calculate slope or any polynomial fit (if required) using as much length of the data as
possible to reduce error. Also, wherever it is important, put appropriate error bars in the
graphs.
3) Each figure must be numbered sequentially and have a caption. Each figure must be
mentioned or discussed in the text. Similarly, ALL tables must be numbered sequentially and
must be mentioned or discussed in the text.
4) Set out the calculations clearly indicating the formulae used. Substitute the values of all the
parameters used in the calculation with proper units, rather than giving only the final result.
5) Estimate the error in measurements, as suggested for each experiment and always write the
final result as: (RESULT ± UNCERTAINTY) UNITS. Proper termination of decimal places
should be made.
Experimental Results Report
2-1 Measurements of length, thickness and radius of curvature
Department : ID No : Name :
Co-workers : Date :
1. Measurements and calculations
1) Vernier caliper
Inner and outer diameters and depth of the cylinder
Inner diameter (mm) Outer diameter (mm) Depth (mm)
1
2
3
4
5
Average
2. Results and discussion
3. Questions
6. Safety in the Lab
The followings are important safety issues and warnings:
1) Whenever dealing with electronics or electricity, make sure there is no power going to the
circuit when modifying it. Confirm always the main power switch is OFF.
2) To prevent shock (especially on high voltage devices) use only one hand to touch the circuit
whenever possible.
3) Using two hands could allow electricity to pass through the body and heart. In our labs, the
voltages and currents used are not large enough for this to be a real risk, but still it is
important to remember this for preventing any kind of shocks.
4) If any circuit you are working with begins generating an excessive amount of heat, it could be
due to a short circuit in the wiring. Immediately remove the power and search for leads that
are unintentionally touching.
5) Capacitors, even when disconnected from a circuit, may retain charge for a long period of
time. They may deliver a painful shock even without power. If you are unsure of whether a
capacitor is still charged, hold a resistor against the two contacts to discharge it.
Hazard Labels
Danger Labels
Warning Labels
Caution Labels
