PHYSICS 241 is a two-hour weekly laboratory designed to accompany PHYSICS 240. This lab introduces students to experimental methods in science. Students make observations, analyze their data and compare their results to predictions based on the standard laws of physics. The course material is focused on understanding the principles of electricity and magnetism, including circuits and electrical devices.
First Lab Policy:
Attendance for the first lab is mandatory. If you have an extenuating circumstance, you must communicate with your lab instructor prior to the start of the first lab. Students who do not attend the first lab without contacting the lab instructor in advance will be dropped from their section.
Make-Up Lab Policy:
Lab attendance is mandatory. Make-ups are given only in rare cases for specific, documented reasons. These include medical reasons, family emergencies, religious holidays, and official University of Michigan sponsored events. Except for emergency situations, permission for make-ups need to be obtained prior to the event. Note that students who have to do a make-up lab must often work alone and generally do worse than those who attend the regular class session. Therefore, students should choose a lab section with the least number of predetermined conflicts, preferably none.
Course Requirements:
Students are graded on in-class performance and laboratory reports submitted at the end of each lab period. Students are expected to complete 10 experiments in this course.
Intended Audience:
This laboratory is intended for students interested in the physical sciences or Engineering and who are taking the 140/240 course sequence.
Fall 2020 Course Information:
This course welcomes entirely online participation.
Class Format:
Two hours a week in a laboratory classroom. There are ten stations in the classroom, and students work in groups of two.
Fall 2020 Course Information:
Instruction mode: As a DC (Distance due to COVID) course, this course will be fully compatible with remote online learning.
Learning mode: This course will be synchronous.
Testing format: Each lab will be start with a short quiz that will be administered and submitted via Canvas during the first 5 minutes of the designated lab period. There will be no midterm or final exams.
Additional information from the instructor: This laboratory course has been redesigned for the online environment. You will be provided with videos of the experiment function and you will analyze the data in small groups with other students. Students will be introduced to Python in order to perform the computational components of the lab.