Physics 331A Lab Practices & Notebooks

Lab Practices, Precautions, Notebooks and Reports

Precautions
• No food or drink are permitted in the lab.
• DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY INTO ANY LASER BEAM OR ANY SPECULAR RE-
FLECTION OF A LASER BEAM. The lasers in the lab put out 2 mW, more than needed for
permanent eye damage.
• DO NOT touch mirror surfaces, or any optical surface. If a component is dirty, please consult
the Lab Manager.
• In the diffraction experiment (Exp. 5) do not focus the unattenuated (i.e., not dimmed with a polarizer)
laser light to a point on the linear array. Focus the beam on an index card in place of the array, then
remove the card after dimming the beam.
• Use special care with the spatial filter pinholes (1-d diffraction experiments use these).
• The curtains around each lab station can easily be pulled out of their tracks. To avoid this, gather the
curtain in small bunches and pull a small portion of the curtain at any one time
• Avoid leaning on optical tables.
• Mirrors, lenses should be covered when experiments are finished. When in doubt, ASK FOR IN-
STRUCTIONS.

Laboratory Work
Sign in and out on sheets provided with each experiment. Indicate any problems with the equipment
so that it can be repaired promptly for use by the next group.
Suggestion: While in lab, visit the set-up for your choice of next week’s experiment. That will help you
understand the experiment instructions and get started quickly.

Notebooks

There are no formal reports in the usual sense. Experiment write-ups will be in the form of lab notebooks.
There is a strict format for notebooks. You should obtain the following materials:

• Two cardboard “expansion report” covers. These are cardboard covers that allow hole-punched papers
to be assembled into a bound notebook. An example purchased at the University Bookstore is the
Oxford Esselte model 12905 ($1.95). You will need two of these covers because you will need to be
able to use one of the notebooks while the other is being graded.
• One (or more) pad(s) of green or tan “engineering” paper. This is the paper that has graph ruling on
the back side of each sheet. The same type of paper is used in the electronics labs (physics 334).
• A package of “insertable notebook dividers”. These are the notebook dividers that have the clear
plastic tabs you can slip a label into.

Your reports will consist of the notes and drawings you make in lab (on the engineering paper), computer,
plotter, or oscilloscope printouts (depending on the lab), and typed written material (to be described below)
assembled into the report covers. Each lab report should be separated by one of the notebook dividers.

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Each report should contain the following sections in this order:

1. In-class notes and data

The notes taken in class should conform to proper scientific record-keeping practices. This means that

• Each page should be numbered and dated with the day on which the work was done.
• Notes should be recorded in pen. Errors should be crossed out with a line or two. Do not use white-out,
and do not recopy your original notes.
• Notes should be kept neatly. Give yourself space on the page. Lay out tables with columns so that
they are easy to fill in and to read.
• Data should be recorded with proper, stated units. Failure to follow consistent unit usage is one
of the main causes of incorrect work.
• Relevant conditions pertaining to various parts of the experiment are clearly stated, for example, light
source, apertures, distances, and so forth (depending on the experiment).
• Specific operations or procedures that would be different from time to time are described in a few
sentences.

The above list is neither complete nor minimal: what you record and how will depend on your experiment.
The important point is to record the information one would need to reproduce your results.
The first page of the report should have (1) the name of the experiment, (2) the names of all of the
partners, and (3) the dates beginning and ending the experiment. Do not make a cover sheet.
Your in-class notes should also contain annotated diagrams of the apparatus. These diagrams (there
may be one or more, depending on your experiment) should be original: drawn by you (not drawn by
your partner and not copied directly from the instructions); they should clearly show all of the light paths
among the various components; they should clearly indicate any physical characteristics important to the
experiment. Complex sub-components of the apparatus should have their own diagrams and annotations.
Annotations are important! The annotations should be copious and indicate the use and function of the
various components of the apparatus. The annotations may be written directly on the diagrams or on a
separate page.
The annotated diagram serves the purpose of a description of the “procedure” used in the experiment. Do
not write a step-by-step procedure that mimics the steps given in the instructions. However, it is OK to write
a few sentences on the overall operation of the experimental apparatus.
All records of data collection should contain an estimate of the uncertainty of the raw data if
appropriate. In general, a few readings of a particular type of measurement should be used to estimate
the reproducibility of that measurement. The usual rules apply: calculate a mean and a standard deviation.
If the readings do not vary at all, the minimum uncertainty is taken to be equal to the least digit of the
measuring device.
Every report must include a copy of the raw data. It is your responsibility to make copies of X-Y
graphs, computer printouts or other data collected by the group as a whole. At least one person in the group
should include the original data in his or her notebook.

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2. Analysis of results

It is a good idea to run quick preliminary analysis of your data while you do the experiment. This helps
prevent major errors in data recording as well as making clear any calibrations that may need to be done.
Preliminary analysis should be noted as such. In general, however, most analysis will be done after data
collection is over.
The specifics of the analysis will vary according to the experiment, but the following general guidelines
pertain:
Graphs should take up at least a half-page, with a plot area filling most of that space. The axes should be
labeled with the specific quantity and its unit. If the quantity does not have a unit or is arbitrary, make
sure that is clear. The data set should fill most of the area of the graph, unless it is important to show its
relationship to some point on the coordinate axes, such as zero.
Data points should not be connected by line segments. Data points should have error bars indicating the
uncertainty of the data. Any lines drawn on the data sets should represent fits to the data or theoretical
predictions. If more than one thing is plotted on a graph, a legend should be provided.
Spreadsheets should contain clear column and row headings and a description of what is being calculated.
Any cells outside of the main tables should be annotated so that the meaning of their contents is obvious.
Do not assume the grader can decipher your spreadsheet by reading the numbers themselves.
Uncertainty calculations should be clearly laid out. Indicate how you feed in various uncertainties into
your calculations and whether you have chosen to ignore the uncertainty in some quantities. You will need
this information when you discuss the causes of uncertainty in your written portion.
Computer programs should be printed out and included in your report. Give comments within your
code or else written on the paper stating what each part of the program does. In a computer program the
variable names should be short but meaningful, for example: refractionIndAir, speedLight, focalLeng2,
or slitWidth3. The names should be identified with hardware components or measured or derived quantities.
Formulas that are used to calculate results with spreadsheets, programs or even by hand should be written
on or near the relevant parts of the report. Any formulas should be defined: state what they are for, and
define any variable that may be unclear.
Final results should be clearly placed and labeled and should be stated using correct significant digits with
uncertainty and with correct units. If a result does not have units, state that it is “unitless”. An effort
should be made to compare your results to other results, if they may be found. You may need to run a
literature search to determine whether your result agrees with a previously determined value. You are not
absolved of needing to compare your results to the literature just because such values may not be stated in
the experiment instructions. When you find a result to compare to, you must cite the source with enough
information so that anyone could locate it. Many measurements are of known quantities (such as the speed
of light), whereas other measurements may depend on apparatus specifics.
In either case, you must assess the quality of your results and determine whether you think they
are reasonable or not, based upon a coherent physical argument.
Systematic error should be addressed. There is no general method for determining systematic error.
Sometimes it may be evident because your result does not agree with a well-known result within the random
uncertainty. Sometimes there is a trend in the data that does not conform to expectations, for example, you
might expect different samples to give the same results but instead you see that the results differ significantly.
Sometimes there is no clear indication of systematic error at all—in this case the experiment really does
work well, or the random uncertainty is much larger than any disagreement with expectation.
Answers to specific exercises should be completed. A number of the experiment write-ups have explicitly
stated exercises in the form of questions or problems to solve. Some questions will cover background material,
and may be done independently of the experiment. Others will pertain to the experiment, and not be
answerable until after you have completed it.

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3. Written portion

The final part of the report should be typed. The written material will include two parts:
Part 1: Summary abstract Please label each section
Typical length: 1 - 2 pages.
The first paragraph should state the purpose of the experiment in one or a few sentences. The purpose of
the experiment is distinct from the method or apparatus used, rather it is the overall goal(s) or motivation.
The second paragraph should describe the method(s) used to carry out the measurements in a general
way, with specific details included according to whether they are particularly important to interpreting the
final results. The description should not go into trivial details.
The third paragraph should state the main results of the experiment, including all important numerical
results. Numerical results should be presented with correct significant digits, uncertainty, and units.
The fourth paragraph should assess the success of the experiment itself. That means, results should be
compared to literature values (if available), and systematic error should be addressed: is there a systematic
error, and if so, how do you know? If systematic error is present, what do you believe it arises from, and
how might you check that hypothesis?
Part 2: Discussion of uncertainty (if appropriate)
Typical length: 1/2–1 page.
The discussion of uncertainty should be a critical assessment of the sources of uncertainty in your results.
you need to provide a sensible, logical, physical argument based upon your own experiment, not unsupported
speculation. In other words, do not cite a source of uncertainty that you cannot prove is evident in your
results.
Treat random uncertainty first. To start, make sure you have included all parameters in your uncertainty
analysis, at least insofar as you consider whether they contribute importantly to the final value of your
uncertainty, as presented in the summary abstract. Then, after you have propagated the uncertainty using
the usual techniques, check your percentage uncertainty against the percentage uncertainty of each of the
parts that went into this final value, and determine the most important contributors. Finally, discuss why
these factors are the most important. (It may be useful to make a table of the various contributors to your
uncertainty to help you sort them out, but this should not appear in your written discussion.)
After you have analyzed the random uncertainties, discuss possible systematic error. A systematic error
certainly exists if the expected value of what you measure lies outside the range of accepted values of well-
known quantities, although there may be other indicators of systematic errors. It should be clear whether
your result more than about 2 sigma away from what you wanted. If this is true, then you need to decide
what aspect of the apparatus or method could cause this effect. Be qualitative in your discussion first, for
example, could a change in the gain of some amp or a shift in a calibration factor account for the discrepancy?
Then be quantitative: how much of a change in that parameter is necessary to cause the change in the result
that you see? Is such a change a reasonable possibility? If it is, you have a good candidate for a “source of
systematic uncertainty”; if not, you should keep looking.

Academic Honesty
Students working together are encouraged to discuss their analysis and results with each other (and with
other students) but must independently generate their own written reports.
The way in which you estimate your uncertainties must ALWAYS be clearly shown. If you copy text from
the lab instructions, you are wasting space. You are asked to give a brief statement in the introduction; this
means in YOUR words.

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When you quote a result that is not in many optics or physics texts, you need to give a citation, whether
you obtain the results from the Internet, a book, or a friend. Best of all is to show how you got the result.
For example, the definition of reduced mass needed for experiment 2 is in many texts, but how you use the
wavelength splitting you measure to deduce the mass ratio of deuterium to hydrogen is something that needs
to be explained. If you copy something from the Internet, give the complete link for the source. If you copy
from a book, give the author(s), title, and year published.
Plagiarism is an offense punishable by expulsion from the university. If you don’t know the meaning of the
word plagiarism you might wish to look at

http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm

or

http://www.engr.washington.edu/org/processes/miscpolicy.htm

To quote from the second:

ALWAYS make very clear reference to the source of the material you use and put the material
taken in “quotation marks,” no matter where you find it. This is perfectly acceptable and
legitimate. DO NOT try to rewrite or change another person’s work and pass it off as your
own—this is very difficult to do and is easily detected. You can always use published writings as
long as you give a formal reference and acknowledgment of the source. If the information comes
from a conversation with a professor or another student, give their name and recognition that it
is their thought.

Revised September 14, 2010.