Electricity and Magnetism

Preface
- Getting Started
  
  These labs have been developed with a view to providing the students with meaningful and significant experience with experimental processes...
- Role Of WebAssign
  
  Your physics department decides whether to use WebAssign for labs...
- Lab Syllabus
  
  Lab assignments are common for all students taking the lab...
- Working in Groups
  
  In your labs, you will be working in cooperative groups...
- Tips From Students
  
  These tips are based on written comments from 275 former physics lab students who used WebAssign for their lab assignments...
Lab 1 - Electrical Measurements and Error Analysis
- Introduction
  
  If you want to design and test a hypothesis in your field of scientific research, you will have to collect data through observation or experimentation...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  Electrical instruments do not always give accurate measurements...
- Objective
  
  The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to learn to use some basic electrical measuring instruments in two different activities...
- Equipment
  
  Signal interface, DataStudio software, PASCO circuit board, Connecting wires, Resistors, Multimeter
- Procedure
  
  Fig. 4 below shows the PASCO circuit board with the bulb...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 1
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 2 - Electric Field and Electric Potential
- Introduction
  
  Physicists use the concept of a field to explain the interaction of particles or bodies through space, i.e., the "action-at-a-distance" force between two bodies that are not in physical contact...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  A charged body experiences a force whenever it is placed in an electric field...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to draw equipotential lines for four different charge configurations...
- Equipment
  
  PASCO scientific field mapper, Signal interface with power output, Electrodes, Voltage probe, DataStudio software
- Procedure
  
  You will use the PASCO scientific field mapper, which consists of a sheet of carbon-impregnated paper...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
Lab 3 - Capacitors
- Introduction
  
  The basic function of a capacitor is to store charge and thereby electrical energy...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  A capacitor is a set of two metal conductors separated by a small distance...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to study the characteristics of capacitors in series and parallel arrangements and to qualitatively investigate the energy stored in such arrangements.
- Equipment
  
  Signal interface with power output, DataStudio software, Multimeter, Capacitance meter...
- Procedure
  
  This lab consists of four parts. The first procedure is a qualitative investigation of the energy stored by different arrangements of capacitors...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 3
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 4 - DC Circuits and Ohm's Law
- Introduction
  
  During the nineteenth century so many advances were made in understanding the electrical nature of matter that it has been called the "age of electricity"...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  Ohm's Law can be written algebraically as ΔV = RI, where ΔV, measured in volts, represents the potential drop or potential difference across the conductor, I is the current in the conductor measured in amperes...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to use Ohm's Law to determine the resistance of several individual resistors and the equivalent resistance of series and parallel combinations...
- Equipment
  
  PASCO circuit board with two unknown resistors, DC power supply—adjustable from 0 to 5 V, Two hand-held multimeters...
- Procedure
  
  You will set up a simple DC circuit with a single resistor and measure the current flowing through the resistor and the potential difference across it...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 4
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 5 - Charge and Discharge of a Capacitor
- Introduction
  
  Capacitors are devices that can store electric charge and energy...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  A capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a small distance...
- Objective
  
  In this experiment a (computer-emulated) oscilloscope will be used to monitor the potential difference, and thus, indirectly, the charge on a capacitor...
- Equipment
  
  PASCO circuit board, Signal interface with power output, Connecting wires, DataStudio software
- Procedure
  
  The RLC circuit board that you will be using consists of three resistors and two capacitors among other elements...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 5
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 6 - Force on a Wire
- Introduction
  
  A stationary or moving electric charge will experience a force when placed in an electric field...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  The force exerted by a magnetic field on a short, straight wire of length L that carries a current I is given, using a cross product, by the vector equation...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to determine the magnitude of the magnetic field by measuring the force experienced by a current-carrying wire placed in this magnetic field.
- Equipment
  
  Magnet assembly, Digital balance, Rectangular loop of wire of multiple turns, Ring stand...
- Procedure
  
  The wire loop has different number of turns. This allows you to change the length of the wire through which the current flows...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 6
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 7 - The Magnetic Field of a Long, Straight Wire
- Introduction
  
  Magnetic fields are produced by current-carrying conductors...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  The magnetic field of a long straight wire is given by...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to establish the relationship between the field due to a current-carrying wire and the distance of the observation point from the wire and from that to experimentally determine the value of μ₀, the permeability of free space.
- Equipment
  
  Rectangular PVC frame, Long wire, Compass, Power supply, Sytrofoam pieces, Meter stick...
- Procedure
  
  For this experiment, try to keep metal objects as far from the compass as possible...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 7
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 8 - LR Circuits
- Introduction
  
  The English physicist Michael Faraday found in 1831 that when the current through a coil changes, the coil produces a changing magnetic field (in addition to the field of the changing current)...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  The inductance of a circuit, usually symbolized by L, and measured in henry (H), is the tendency of a circuit to oppose any changes in the current...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to examine the dynamic behavior of an LR circuit by using an oscilloscope to visualize the voltage across the resistor for both rising and decreasing current.
- Equipment
  
  PASCO circuit board, DataStudio software, Signal interface with power output, Connecting wires, Multimeter
- Procedure
  
  The RLC circuit board that you will be using consists of three resistors and one inductance coil among other elements...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 8
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 9 - AC Circuits
- Introduction
  
  The study of alternating current (AC) in physics is very important as it has practical applications in our daily lives...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  The voltage of an AC source varies sinusoidally with time with a frequency f given by...
- Objective
  
  The purpose of this experiment is to study resonance in a series RLC circuit by measuring and plotting amplitude of the voltage versus frequency as well as to observe the variation in phase angle for values of the frequency on either side of the resonant value.
- Equipment
  
  PASCO circuit board, DataStudio software, Signal interface with power output, Connecting wires, Multimeter
- Procedure
  
  Turn off the power amplifier and the signal interface...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 9
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
Lab 10 - Reflection and Refraction
- Introduction
  
  Geometric optics is one of the oldest branches of physics, dealing with the laws of refraction and reflection...
- Discussion of Principles
  
  When light is incident on a surface, some of the light is reflected back while some of it is transmitted or absorbed...
- Objective
  
  The objective of this experiment is to study the path of light rays due to reflection and refraction at plane surfaces and to verify the law of reflection in a plane mirror and Snell's Law of Refraction.
- Equipment
  
  Glass plate, Laser, Optic bench, Vernier caliper, Angular translator, Rotational stage
- Procedure
  
  We will use a HeNe laser with a wavelength of 632.8 nm...
- Worksheet
  
  You will use a hard copy of this worksheet to enter data as you work through the experiment in lab. Print the worksheet and bring it with you to the lab.
- Appendix for Lab 10
  
  Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.

Appendix