| Junior Physics Laboratory |
Experimental Physics for all courses
You will normally be scheduled into one, three-hour practical session per week . Your first laboratory session is during the second week of semester. Registration will take place during this session.
In Semester One, the laboratory course consists of the following strands:
| Duration in weeks |
PHYS 1901 (Advanced) |
PHYS 1001 (Regular) |
PHYS 1002 (Fundamentals) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
4 |
Wave motion; lenses; planning and problem solving skills, including use of computers in physics, data analysis and uncertainties. |
Mechanics, fluid flow; including concepts, problem solving, use of computers in physics. |
An introduction to measurement, data acquisition, analysis skills, statistics and computer use in the context of mechanics and waves. |
|
4 |
Computational Physics based on the study of Chaos. |
Wave motion; lenses; planning and problem solving skills, including use of computers in physics, data analysis and uncertainties. |
Tests on both laboratory and lecture material are held in the laboratory through the semester.
In Semester Two, students undertake a project, the planning for which is initiated at the start of this semester. The practical components for the semester are:
| Duration in weeks | PHYS 1902 (Advanced) | PHYS 1003 (Technological) | PHYS 1004 (Environmental and Life Sciences) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
4 |
Electrical Circuits | Electrical Circuits | Fundamental Electricity |
|
4 |
Projects and student presentations |
Projects and student presentations |
Projects and student presentations |
| Check your lab marks! |
 |
It is your responsibility to ensure that your lab marks are correctly recorded in our LabRAT system. Login to LabRAT here |
| Downloading data from the laboratory |
If you have saved your work to directory (E:\STUDATA) after your lab
session, it will be available for downloading from the
Laboratory Download Site
at the end of the day.
You can then work on the data at home and mail it to your University
account which can be read from computers in the lab. This will be
mainly of use for the Projects and Presentations in semester 2.
| Projects in Semester 2 |
The Junior Physics Projects page provides a list of resources to help you choose and perform your project. In particular it includes a list of suggested projects and an indication of the equipment available to complete them. Note that the topics listed are only suggestions!
| Extra Laboratory Resources |
The following is a collection of resources to assist you with your Experimental Physics course in the lab:
- Experimental Analysis notes
- Experimental Skills - Significant Figures
- Computational Physics - Oscillations and Chaos (PHYS 1901 only)
- Electrical Circuits Glossary (semester 2)
- SI units, physical constants etc.
- Thermal Physics database.
| Tests given during laboratory time |
Semester 1 - Progressive and Skills Tests
The Progressive Tests are 'closed book' tests that cover lecture material in the first lecture module only. They are a chance for you to practise some questions similar to those in the final exam at the end of the semester. The Skills Tests are 'open book' tests designed to test your ability to record, analyse and graph your experimental results, make sensible estimates of their uncertainties, and derive a meaningful conclusion from them.
Semester 2 - Practice Exam and Circuits Test
The Practice Exams are 'closed book' tests that cover lecture material and designed to test your understanding of the material covered in
- the Fluids module and the electrostatics portion of the Electromagnetism module (for PHYS 1003 and 1902).
- the Properties of Matter module (for PHYS 1004).
The Practice Exams are not worth any marks.
The Circuits Tests concentrate on your understanding of material presented in Laboratory sessions.
| Sample Tests |
The following sample tests are in the respective Laboratory Manuals, with answers also provided here (in pdf format)
Semester 1
PHYS 1001 (Regular) and PHYS 1901 (Advanced)
PHYS 1002 (Fundamentals)
Sample Progressive Tests
EDUH 1017 (Sports Mechanics)
Semester 2
Note that these versions are slightly old and do not match the samples in the lab manuals.
- Circuits - mostly PHYS 1003 (Technological) and PHYS 1902 (Advanced)
Sample Circuits Test - Test - Solution - Introductory Circuits - mostly PHYS 1004 (Environmental & Life Sciences)
Sample Circuits Test - Test - Solution
For all tests, students work individually.
Have a look at Helpful hints to maximize your marks in exams.
| Solutions - Progressive and Skills Tests 2007 |
The following are solutions to the various Progressive and Skills tests done in the lab (in pdf format)
Semester 1
PHYS 1001 (Regular)
Progressive Test Solutions
Test 1 - Test 2 - Test 3
Skills Test Solutions
Test 4 - Test 5 - Test 6 - Test 7 - Test 8
PHYS 1002 (Fundamentals)
Sample Progressive/Skills Tests - Language of Physics
Test 1 - Test 2
Sample Progressive/Skills Tests - Mechanics
Test 1 - Test 2
PHYS 1901 (Advanced)
Progressive Test Solutions
Test 1 - Test 2 - Test 3
Skills Test Solutions
Test 4 - Test 5 - Test 6 - Test 7 - Test 8
EDUH 1017 (Sports Mechanics)
Progressive Test Solutions
Test 3 - Test 4
