Section 001 Syllabus - Penn State University

PHYS 457 Experimental Physics (1- or 2-credit)
PHYS 457W Experimental Physics (3-credit)
Spring 2013 Section 001: MW 02:30 pm - 05:30 pm, 309 and 310 OSMOND
Instructor: J. D. Maynard
Email: maynard@phys.psu.edu
Telephone: 865-6353
Office: 330 Davey Lab
Office Hours: By appointment
Teaching Assistant (TA): Greg Harkay
Email: gjh157@psu.edu
Office: Davey 332
Office Hours: By appointment
Webpage: http://intro.phys.psu.edu/class/p457/SyllabusSP13 001.pdf
Textbook:
Required reading: “The Science of Scientific Writing”, G. D. Gopen and J. A. Swan
(17 pages). There will be a quiz on this material on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.
Short introductions to each experiment, including links to documentation for most instruments
to be used, can be found in the main Physics 457 webpage.
Students are also encouraged to use resources available in libraries or online for the background
of each experiment. The book, Experiments in Modern Physics, by A Melissinos and
J. Napolitano, is on reserve in the Physics Library.
Course Outline:
Purpose of the course: To provide a general introduction to experimental techniques and
instrumentation used in modern physics research labs, and to teach students how to write
effective scientific papers. While the instructor and the teaching assistants will be available to
help, the students should try to undertake the experiments on their own as much as possible.
For writing, students are encouraged to get help from Professor Maynard if desired.
Organization: Students will do experiments in teams of two. Students taking the course in
the 3-credit option will do three short experiments and one long experiment. Those taking
the course in the 2-credit option will do four short experiments.
For short experiments, each team is required to choose one experiment from each of the three
categories (see main Phys 457 webpage). Students with the 2-credit option can choose the
last short experiment in any category.
The best way to minimize difficulties with the experiments is to follow the detailed lab
manuals very carefully; the lab manuals, available online, should be read from beginning to
end before beginning the experiment. Do not remove hardcopy manuals or any item
from the lab room.
During the setup of the experiment, data acquisition, etc., you will take notes, recording
everything relevant to the experiment, in a lab notebook.
Lab papers: The papers which you write on the lab experiments are an important component
of the course, and they comprise much of your grade. You need to devote significant
effort in writing good papers. It is crucial to follow the ideas in “The Science of Scientific
Writing” and the more detailed guidelines in the appendix at the end of this syllabus. A
lecture aimed at helping you maximize the grades on your lab papers will be presented after
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the quiz on “The Science of Scientific Writing” (see the Calendar below). While the data
will be shared by two team members, each student will write his/her own experiment paper;
do not collaborate on the writing. The due dates for paper submission are indicated in the
Calendar below.
NOTE: A crucial part of the paper is the introduction and “sales pitch”, and you can get
help from Professor Maynard for this part. Much of your paper will be a discussion of the
procedure for the experiment, and in nearly all cases you can write this part by paraphrasing
the detailed manual for the experiment. In any case, you must follow the guidelines in the
appendix at the end of this syllabus.
For the long experiment, you are required to turn in a preliminary paper on the date as
indicated in the calendar. The preliminary paper should include the introduction and the
theory sections, and the results you have (you should have most data by then) The final
version of the paper on the long experiment will be due the last day of class.
End-of-Semester Presentation: There will be a presentation at the end of the semester
for all students. PHYS 457W (3 credit) students will present the long experiment as a team
using a graphical slide (digital projection) lecture. PHYS 457 (2 credit) students will each
present a short experiment. You may use LaTex with Adobe Reader, etc.
Grading:
PHYS 457W (3-credit): 10% for the “Science of Scientific Writing” quiz, 14% for each
short experiment and 28% for the long experiment, 10% for the presentation, and 10% for
overall performance.
PHYS 457 (2-credit): 5% for the “Science of Scientific Writing” quiz, 19% for each short
experiment, 10% for the presentation, and 9% for overall performance.
The presentation will be graded mainly on the clarity, general performance, and understanding
of the experiment. The guidelines for the papers are also relevant for the presentation.
Format for the papers:
1. The papers should be limited to 5-6 pages for short experiments and 10-15 pages for long
experiments, excluding illustrating figures and plots of experimental results.
2. Use 12-point fonts, 1.5-line spacing and 2.5 cm margins for your papers.
3. It is not required, but it is worth learning LaTex for scientific papers.
4. Papers should be turned in hard copy (single sided) or electronically in pdf format to
maynard@phys.psu.edu.
Guidelines for the presentation:
1. The attitude for the presentations will be informal.
2. Each presentation group will have 10 minutes for presentation and 2 minutes for questions
and answers.
3. Contents: consistent with the papers
4. Format will be graphical slides (digital) with lecture. A computer and a digital projector
will be provided for the presentation. Please bring your file to the TA to preload your
presentation.
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Safety and Responsibility:
Radiation Safety: No food or drink is allowed in 310 Osmond. Failure to comply will result
in being asked to drop the course. Some experiments require you use low-dose radioactive
sources. If you do these experiments you will read more about radiation safety.
Chemical Safety: Some experiments require that you use chemicals. None of these are
particularly dangerous but you should consult the instructor or TA for proper handling and
disposing of these chemicals.
Laser safety: Some experiments use high power lasers, and you should follow the safety
guidelines in the lab manuals or consult the instructor or TA when using these lasers.
Responsible conduct of Research: As described in The Penn State Principles, academic
integrity is the basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State University,
allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. We
expect that each student will practice integrity in regard to all academic assignments and will
not tolerate or engage in acts of falsification, misrepresentation, or deception. To protect the
fundamental ethical principles of the University community and the worth of work completed
by others, we shall record and report to the Office of Judicial Affairs all instances of academic
dishonesty.
Calendar:
week dates activity
1 1/7, 1/9 No class on 1/7; selection of labs and partners on 1/9.
2 1/14, 1/16 1st short experiment; quiz on “Science of Scientific
Writing” on 1/16.
3 1/21, 1/23 No class 1/21; 1st short experiment.
4 1/28, 1/30 1st short experiment; if possible start 2nd short experiment.
5 2/4, 2/6 2nd short experiment; paper on exp. 1 due Monday 2/4.
6 2/11, 2/13 2rd short experiment.
7 2/18, 2/20 3rd short experiment; paper on exp. 2 due Monday 2/18.
8 2/25, 2/27 3rd short experiment.
9 3/4, 3/6 Spring break. No class.
10 3/11, 3/13 4th short or long experiment; paper on 3rd exp. 3 due Monday 3/11.
11 3/18, 3/20 4th short or long experiment.
12 3/25, 3/27 4th short or long experiment.
13 4/1, 4/3 4th short or long experiment.
14 4/8, 4/10 Long experiment; paper on 4th short exp. and preliminary paper on
long exp. due Monday 4/8.
15 4/15, 4/17 Make-up week for the long experiment.
16 4/22, 4/24 Presentations; final version of paper on long exp. due Friday 4/26.
17 4/29, 5/3 Finals week. No class.
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APPENDIX: Crucial comments on writing experimental physics papers
1. You should be writing a paper in the style of a physics journal, such as Physical Review
Letters. You are not writing an “instruction manual”, and while you are writing an
“undergraduate lab report”, you should make it read like a Phys. Rev. Lett. as much as
possible.
2. Define, collect and organize information about the physics which is the object of the
experimental measurement. Make sure you have mastered it so that you can put it in your
own words.
3. Think up a “sales pitch” about why the object physics is important. Think about a
succinct and efficient way of stating it.
4. Define, collect and organize information about the method of measurement of the object
physics and the physics (or engineering) which is involved. Make sure you have mastered it
so that you can put it in your own words.
5. In developing a paper on a science experiment, first do all of the figures and tables, in
final form. With the figures and tables done, much of the paper will “write itself”; that
is, it is usually straightforward to write a logical flow of sentences which describe a figure,
whether it is an apparatus setup, electronics setup, measured data, etc.
6. Even though you may have a very clear figure, you still must describe it in words. You
must assume that the reader has not even looked at the figure. See item III.E. below.
7. Each paragraph must begin with a “topic sentence”. Every sentence must have only “old
information” in the topic position and “new information” must be in the stress position. A
paragraph should go like this: “action verb (if possible) . action
verb (if possible) . action verb (if possible) . etc.”
The topic position does not have to be but could be with m < n. The
in the topic position can be the exact same words as the in a preceding
stress position.
This structure is to avoid the (Number One) mistake where the writer makes “statement A”,
and then follows the statement with sentences which explain “statement A”. The problem
is that the reader reads “statement A”, doesn’t understand it, reads it again, then re-reads
preceding sentences trying to find out what he/she must have missed. The reader decides
the paper can’t be understood and gives up without ever reading the subsequent sentences
which contain the explanation of “statement A”. Examples of wording which helps somewhat
are as follows:
1. As will be explained later, “statement A”.
2. It has been found that “statement A” [reference].
3. It is important to understand that “statement A”. [Because you say it is important, the
reader will continue reading in anticipation that an explanation of something important
will be provided.]
Just a few words indicate to the reader that an explanation “will” or “can” be found, so
he/she keeps reading and discovers the explanatory sentences. However, the best fix is to
follow the recommended structure, putting “statement A” after the material that leads up
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to it.
8. End a paragraph with a “linking sentence” which indicates what the next paragraph will
be about. A useful method is to begin the next paragraph with a topic sentence whose topic
position is occupied with the exact same words as presented in the linking sentence of the
previous paragraph.
Example:
“The magnetic moment of the proton will be measured using a nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) apparatus; before describing this apparatus, it would be worthwhile to first discuss
the physics of the NMR effect.
The NMR effect involves the ....”
The paragraphs in your first draft may not follow items 7) and 8). You should revise until
items 7) and 8) are followed; it is always possible to do this.
9. It may seem like items 7) and 8) above would produce inelegant writing and short,
choppy sentences. You can improve things by using transition words, action verbs (see
below), prepositional phrases, semicolons, etc.
10. The abstract is not part of the paper; do not assume that the reader has even read it.
The paper starts with the introduction.
11. A section heading does not give you license to start writing about new information, with
no link to old information. Give backward links and an overview (establish context) in a
topic paragraph. A Phys. Rev. Lett. does not have section headings; try writing without
them.
12. If a backward link goes some distance back, then use phrases such as “As mentioned in
the introduction [section A, etc.], ...”.
13. Make sure words, sentences and paragraphs are conveying relevant information.
14. For compound units, use parallel wording. Example: The article “The Science of
Scientific Writing” shows that the structure of discourse is important, that mixing old and
new information confuses the reader, and that if you follow the guidelines you will get a
good grade.”
15. Miscellaneous: Avoid colloquial wording; it’s inappropriate for a journal article. Avoid
the first person. Do not use forward references to equations. Do not use references as parts
of sentences; instead of “as discussed in [3], ...”, use “as discussed in the literature[3], ...”
Figures and tables must have captions. References should be in the style of Physical Review
Letters.
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Template for Phys 457 writing:
Abstract: Write it last! It should be short, but it should follow the logical flow of the
introduction and conclusion sections, as discussed below. It must contain the words “this
paper”, as opposed to the words “this experiment” or “this lab”.
I. Introduction: Should introduce the object physics, its importance (sales pitch), the measurement
method and its physics (and/or engineering), some comments about the results,
etc. It must contain the words “this paper”, as opposed to the words “this experiment” or
“this lab”.
A. Each sentence is supposed to go from old information to new, but you have to begin
somewhere. The first sentence can start with something obvious, but it must introduce
the object physics (the subject of the paper!). Example:
1. “Many phenomena of physics are applied in the field of [medicine, industrial
safety, electronics, computers, communication, materials testing, etc.], and one
of the most important is the phenomenon of . The phenomenon involves ...”
2. “Understanding the laws of nature clearly requires accurate knowledge of the
fundamental constants of physics, and one of the most important fundamental
constants is the . The
is important because...”
C. You should have a transition (with a clear link mechanism) from the object physics to
the measurement physics.
D. Each paragraph should follow Comments 7) and 8).
E. The introduction should end with a link to the theory section. Example:
“The and the method used in its measurement
are discussed in more depth, and the relevant formulas are derived, in the next
section.”
II. Theory of the and the method
A. Should include the theory for the object physics and the physics (or engineering) of
the measurement method
B. Minimize (or don’t bother with) history
C. All symbols must be defined. If not already defined, symbols in equations must be
defined immediately following the equation: “F = ma, where F is the net force on a
particle, m is its mass, and a is its acceleration.”
D. Each paragraph should follow Comments 7) and 8).
E. A transition to the Setup or Apparatus section could be: “Now that the and the physics of the method of measurement have been discussed, the
actual experimental apparatus, setup and operation can be described.”
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III. Experimental Apparatus, Setup and Operation section
A. Write like a Phys. Rev. Lett., not like an instruction manual or lab guide
B. Example of a topic sentence, etc.: “The setup of the apparatus for measuring the
is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The setup is configured to measure
the properties of a sample of sodium fizzphate, indicated as a cylinder in the figure.
The sample is contacted by a transducer which converts the atomic transitions of the
fizzphate into electrical pulses, as discussed in the theory section.”
C. Do not use “laundry lists” of apparatus or steps. Use complete sentences.
D. If the experimental setup involves some special instruments, explain them up front:
“the measurement involves a “lock-in amplifier” whose function is...” or “a key element
(or instrument) in the measurement is a “pulse-height-analyzer”; this instrument...”
or “the gamma rays are detected with a “gas proportional counter”, which operates as
follows:”. If the physics involved in the instruments needs to be discussed, it should
have already been done in the theory section.
E. Describe a setup (or setup figure) in a logical flow (e.g. following the signal) using general
terms for instruments (detector, transducer, preamp, amplifier, lock-in amplifier
(already explained), digital-to-analog converter, digital multimeter, etc.) Do this as
though the reader has not looked at a setup figure!
In referring to a figure, avoid using “(see Fig. 3)”. Figures are too important to
be referred to parenthetically, and commanding the reader is more appropriate for an
instruction manual. Instead, use “The instruments are connected as illustrated [shown,
pictured, etc.] in Fig. 3.”
F. When you first refer to some item, you cannot use the article “the”, because that
would mean that there is only one such item in the whole universe. The first reference
must be to “a lock-in amplifier”; later you may refer to “the lock-in amplifier”, since
an individual instance has been established. However, don’t count on the reader as
having already seen the item in a figure.
G. Use references to provide the manufacturer, model, etc. of particular instruments, e.g.
“recovering the low-level signal from noise was accomplished with a lock-in amplifier[1]”.
H. A possible transition to the Procedure section might be: “The setup was used to
measure the using the procedure described in the next section.”
IV. Procedure
A. Begin the procedure section with a topic paragraph, and subsequent paragraphs or
procedural stages should have topic sentences; there should be good links between
paragraphs.
B. Do not use “laundry lists” of procedural steps. Use complete sentences.
C. Prepare the reader if more details are forthcoming: “While details will be provided
below, the steps of the procedure may be briefly enumerated as follows:”
D. Important steps should have explanations, as to what the step is doing and how.
E. If there is some procedure for data analysis, you could include it in this section. However,
it might fit better in the results section.
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F. Each paragraph should follow Comments 7) and 8).
G. Example of a link to the Results section: “The procedures described above were followed
under a number of different conditions [temperatures for the sodium fizzphate,
etc.], and the particular conditions and the results obtained are presented in the next
section.”
V. Results and Conclusions
A. A good way to start: “Following the procedures for measurement and data analysis as
discussed in the preceding section, the results of the may be seen in
Fig. 3. [and/or Table I.]”
B. Keep this section, as well as the error analysis, very brief.
C. The conclusion section should return to the “sales pitch” ideas presented in the introduction.
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From J. Schall, Style for Students: Transition words
The best stylists become masters at artfully placing transition words in pivotal positions-i.e.,
places where the sentence or paragraph meaning shifts slightly. What follows is a handy list
of common transition words and their functions. If you open sentences appropriately with
these words it will help your writing to flow. One caveat though: Always keep the literal
meaning of a transition word in mind as you use it; therefore, do not use “for example”
unless you are introducing an example that links to the preceding information; do not use
“nevertheless” unless you are offering a contrasting point. Note how this paragraph has
required a minimal use of transition words; they should not be forced in where they do not
belong. When you do use them, keep their broader functions (i.e., “causality,” “emphasis,”
etc.) directly in mind.
Causality Emphasis Amplification
Accordingly Above all Again
Consequently Certainly Also
For this reason Clearly Apparently
Hence Indeed Besides
Therefore In fact Equally important
Thus In short Finally
Obviously
First, Second, etc.
Intention Of course Further
For this purpose
In addition
In order to do this Closure Moreover
To this end
In conclusion
With this in mind In sum Detail
On the whole Especially
Location To summarize In particular
Beyond
Namely
Here Similarity Specifically
Nearby Likewise To enumerate
Opposite
Similarly
Overlying (underlying)
Comparison/Contrast
There Time However
To the right (left) Afterward In contrast
At the same time In relation to
Concession Before Nevertheless
At any rate Earlier On the other hand
At least In the meantime Still
Sometimes
Example Later Interpretation
For example Next Fortunately
For instance Preceding this Interestingly
To demonstrate Simultaneously Significantly
To illustrate Soon Surprisingly
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Active Verbs That Describe Work
yield illustrate illuminate reveal employ
mean suggest clarify indicate represent
prove insist propose imply assert
postulate consider infer state extrapolate
estimate define classify invoke analyze
compare hypothesize synthesize summarize disagree
generalize narrate evaluate simplify measure
note predict introduce report challenge
delineate depict construe interpret provide
acknowledge distinguish inform specify restrict
determine detail sum up designate point out
set forth deduce derive characterize guide
maintain believe speculate present organize
investigate assess determine calculate support
devise construct evaluate attribute obtain
assume argue reiterate discover decide
A Short List of Active Verbs That Describe Phenomena
discharge overlie emanate radiate scatter
exchange separate surround combine eliminate
emit transmit carry bombard exert
exude interact behave exchange absorb
converge extend constrain force elongate
contract trend plunge occur fracture
continue mix slow quicken produce
bond interlock fuse deteriorate migrate
encompass access traverse join dominate
deposit underlie overlap originate isolate
invade permeate evolve divide sinter
reclaim restore abandon contain accrue
precede influence saturate circulate forecast
orient distribute allow lag terminate
activate cease record form transect
condense enrich invert convert alter
link superimpose rotate rupture streamline
appear require ascend descend collapse
superpose crystallize bisect cede coalesce
disperse disseminate disintegrate propel repel
accelerate transfer penetrate halt curb
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