PHYS 119 A: General Physics Laboratory: Sound, Light, and Modern Physics

Overview

The slides from the introductory video can be found here. 

You will test models of the physical world and will also develop and test models for simulations that may include alternative physical laws.  In lab you will work in a group of 3 or 4 students that we assign to discuss each other's ideas and to record and analyze data such that you will be able to write a report or give a presentation on your group's results by the following week.

You can see all the required activities in a week in Modules.

Learning Objectives

After this course students will be able to:

• judge whether an experimental result is consistent with a model within the estimated uncertainties.
• pose questions and design experiments to test them.
• modify a simulation to make simple changes to the underlying model.
• characterize behavior in models developed by students.
• write a coherent scientific report about their experiments
• write and give a clear and coherent presentation.

Contact information

For questions send an email with your course (Phys 119), your UW net ID (the part before @uw.edu in your email address), and name as it appears on Canvas to:

• me (Suzanne White Brahmia) at brahmia@uw.edu for questions about your TA or questions that your TA may not be able to answer.
• the program coordinator at phys1xx@uw.edu for administrator questions related to registering, overloading, etc...

• your TA (contact information is here, and office hours is here) for other questions.

Grades

• You will get a grade of Credit if you earn 67% of the possible points, and you earn at least 1/3 of possible points in each report or presentation.
• Lab in-lab (35% of grade):
  • At the end of each lab your group will be graded out of 2 points based on your group's lab notebook and your group discussions.
  • If you cannot attend one week's lab session in-person due to illness, an urgent situation or a conflict, try arranging a Zoom meeting during the lab with your lab group partners. If that does not work, contact the TA for another session (from PHYS 119, 123, or 143) to see if you can attend their session. A schedule of labs can be found here.
  •  Be sure to contact your TA and your group members to let them know that you attended another section.
• Lab reports/presentations (65% of grade):
  • Lab write-ups, full reports, or presentations will be due one week after the lab in which the data was collected.
  • These will be graded as a group, so all members of a group need to contribute in some way that your group determines is fair.
  • It is important that your group discusses responsibilities.  If there are any conflicts that your group cannot resolve, then you should contact me.
  • Even if you attended another lab section for a week, you need to submit the report or presentation with your original group, so you also need to let your group members know and work out how you can contribute to your group's report or presentation.
  • If you submit your lab report/presentation after it is due, there is a penalty of 1% deduction of the score for every hour that it is late.
  • If your report receives less than the 1/3 of the total possible, you can revise the report and resubmit one per quarter to possibly earn up to 1/3 of the possible points for the report.

Resources to Succeed

This website contains a list of resources you may find helpful for a variety of issues students may encounter during your time at UW.  Contact me if you need help finding the resources you need.

Access and accommodation

Your experience in this class is important to us, so if you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical), please contact DRS to arrange accommodations.

Safe campus

We are committed to ensuring a safe environment on campus.  We encourage you to check out the resources available here.

For students who have a lab or tutorial section at night, night time escort services are available.

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Academic integrity and student conduct

The University takes academic integrity and student conduct very seriously.  Behaving with integrity and respect is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community.  Acts of academic misconduct may include, but are not limited to, copying other groups' data or reports.

Please note that taking photos or recording instructors, other students, and course materials without permission is strictly forbidden.  Streaming or posting inappropriate materials on any course platform is also not allowed. 

All the course materials including lab manuals and supplemental videos are intellectual properties of the instructor and the University of Washington. Distributing them in any form without permission is forbidden.  

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals.  Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution.  More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/.

If you’re uncertain about if something is academic or behavioral misconduct, ask us.  we are willing to discuss questions you might have.

Research Study Information

This course is part of a research project examining student reasoning ability and attitudes about physics with the goal of  improving physics teaching.  By enrolling in this course you are automatically included in the study. Early in the quarter, students will have an opportunity to learn about the study and to remove themselves from the study if they wish. Your instructor will not know whether or not you participate. Later in the quarter,  this link  will become active and allow you to review the details of the study, contact a member of the research team, or remove yourself from the study.