This new book aims to guide both the experimentalist and theoretician through their compulsory laboratory courses forming part of an undergraduate physics degree. The rationale behind this book is to show students and interested readers the value and beauty within a carefully planned and executed experiment, and to help them to develop the skills to carry out experiments themselves.
This book on the use of Arduino and Smartphones in physics experiments, with a focus on mechanics, introduces various techniques by way of examples. The main aim is to teach students how to take meaningful measurements and how to interpret them. Each topic is introduced by an experiment. Those at the beginning of the book are rather simple to build and analyze. As the lessons proceed, the experiments become more refined and new techniques are introduced. Rather than providing recipes to be adopted while taking measurements, the need for new concepts is raised by observing the results of an experiment. A formal justification is given only after a concept has been introduced experimentally. The discussion extends beyond the taking of measurements to their meaning in terms of physics, the importance of what is learned from the laws that are derived, and their limits. Stress is placed on the importance of careful design of experiments as to reduce systematic errors and on good practices to avoid common mistakes. Data are always analyzed using computer software. C-like structures are introduced in teaching how to program Arduino, while data collection and analysis is done using Python. Several methods of graphical representation of data are used.
This textbook provides the knowledge and skills needed for thorough understanding of the most important methods and ways of thinking in experimental physics. The reader learns to design, assemble, and debug apparatus, to use it to take meaningful data, and to think carefully about the story told by the data. Key Features: Efficiently helps students grow into independent experimentalists through a combination of structured yet thought-provoking and challenging exercises, student-designed experiments, and guided but open-ended exploration. Provides solid coverage of fundamental background information, explained clearly for undergraduates, such as ground loops, optical alignment techniques, scientific communication, and data acquisition using LabVIEW, Python, or Arduino. Features carefully designed lab experiences to teach fundamentals, including analog electronics and low noise measurements, digital electronics, microcontrollers, FPGAs, computer interfacing, optics, vacuum techniques, and particle detection methods. Offers a broad range of advanced experiments for each major area of physics, from condensed matter to particle physics. Also provides clear guidance for student development of projects not included here. Provides a detailed Instructor’s Manual for every lab, so that the instructor can confidently teach labs outside their own research area.
Physics practical classes form an important part of many scientific and technical courses in higher education. In addition to the older standard experiments, such practicals now generally include a few computer-controlled experiments developed in association with the research groups active in the particular university or college. Since there is relatively little exchange of information between the teaching staff of different institutes, the personal computer, despite its ubiquity, is underexploited in this role as a teaching aid. The present book provides a detailed description of a number of computer-controlled experiments suitable for practical classes. Both the relevant physics and the computational techniques are presented in a form that enables the readers to construct and/or perform the experiment themselves.
Clear, detailed explorations feature extensive quotations from original research papers in their coverage of groundbreaking research. Topics include x-rays, superconductivity, neutrinos, lasers, and many other subjects. 120 illustrations. 1975 edition.
This book presents experiments which will teach physics relevant to astronomy. The astronomer, as instructor, frequently faces this need when his college or university has no astronomy department and any astronomy course is taught in the physics department. The physicist, as instructor, will find this intellectually appealing when faced with teaching an introductory astronomy course. From these experiments, the student will acquire important analytical tools, learn physics appropriate to astronomy, and experience instrument calibration and the direct gathering and analysis of data. Experiments that can be performed in one laboratory session as well as semester-long observation projects are included.
A treatment of the experimental techniques and instrumentation most often used in nuclear and particle physics experiments as well as in various other experiments, providing useful results and formulae, technical know-how and informative details. This second edition has been revised, while sections on Cherenkov radiation and radiation protection have been updated and extended.
This book is written specifically for the students of intermediate (or Higher Secondary) standard. Keeping in view of the standard of their education, the book is written in simple and lucid language. Each of the experiments written in the book comprises necessary introductions and theoretical details alongwith stepwise procedure for performing practicals, so that they can easily follow this book in their Laboratory classes. Whenever needed the experiments are followed by Viva-Vice questions along with their answers. These questions will help the students to guide them for their college practical examinations in advance.
