Department of Physics, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
PH20021 Laboratory & information skills 2 |
| Credits: 9 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Academic Year |
| Assessment:PR 90%, OR 10% |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take PH10011 |
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Aims: The aims of this unit are to develop further student confidence and competence in experimental laboratory skills, data processing, written and oral presentation skills and the use of scientific computer packages. A further aim is to reinforce elements of second level Physics units by providing experimental examples in these areas.
Learning Outcomes: While taking this unit the student should be able to: * successfully conduct short experiments, following written guidelines, on various topics relating to physics and analogue electronics; * plan, design and carry out a group project consisting of an experimental investigation; * maintain a scientific log book, recording details of experimental method and results to an appropriate standard; * write detailed scientific reports describing experimental work, displaying an appropriate standard of presentation, style, structure, attention to detail and analysis; * carry out simulations using PSpice of electric circuits incorporating transistors and operational amplifiers; * plan, design and carry out a small-scale investigation into a subject relating to electronics instrumentation. * prepare and deliver an oral presentation based on the group physics project and answer questions relating to the presentation. Skills: Written Communication T/F A, Spoken Communication T/F A, Numeracy T/F A, Data Acquisition, Handling, and Analysis T/F A, Information Technology T/F A, Problem Solving T/F A, Working as part of a group T/F A, Practical laboratory skills T/F A, Project planning/management T/F A. Content: Students will be introduced to devices, instrumentation and measurement systems as found in a modern research environment. A combination of short benchmark experiments and longer open ended projects will be employed. Students will routinely work in pairs but larger groups of four or five will be the norm in longer projects. Experiments will be drawn from topics encompassing optical physics, x-rays, electromagnetism, analogue electronics, instrumentation and ultrasonics. These activities will be underpinned by workshops on writing and oral presentation skills and scientific computer packages. The laboratory work in PH20021 and PH20022 is organised in three five-week sessions, focussing on one-day physics experiments, an extended physics project, and electronics, respectively. |