• 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 - Measurement of Mass, Length, and Time
  • Introduction
    
    In an experiment we define and determine the relationship between physical characteristics of nature that have been observed...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    To determine the acceleration of gravity using a pendulum, you will be required to measure the pendulum's length and its period of oscillation...
  • Objective
    
    The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to: determine the acceleration due to gravity by measuring the period of a simple pendulum,...
  • Equipment
    
    Pendulum bob, String, Stand with clamp, Protractor, Meter stick, Balance...
  • Procedure
    
    Attach your pendulum to the stand so that it can swing without hitting any obstructions...
  • 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 - Uniformly Accelerated Motion
  • Introduction
    
    All objects on the earth's surface are being accelerated toward the center of the earth at a rate of 9.81m/s²...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    In this experiment you will measure, with the aid of computer-based instruments, the position of a falling body as a function of the time elapsed since it was released...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this experiment is to measure the position of an object in free fall as a function of time and to determine the acceleration due to gravity.
  • Equipment
    
    Picket fence, Photogate, Signal Interface, DataStudio software
  • Procedure
    
    A picket fence, which is a piece of clear acrylic (also known as Plexiglas or Lucite) covered with equally spaced black bands, will be dropped through a photogate connected to a computer. See Fig. 3...
  • 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 2
    
    Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
• Lab 3 - Newton's Second Law
  • Introduction
    
    Sir Isaac Newton put forth many important ideas in his famous book The Principia...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    Newton's second law in vector form is...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this experiment is to verify the validity of Newton's second law, which states that the net force acting on an object is directly proportional to its acceleration...
  • Equipment
    
    Low-friction track with pulley, Cart, String, Balance, DataStudio software, Two photogates...
  • Procedure
    
    You will conduct several trials, keeping the total mass M = m₁ + m₂ constant while varying m₁ and therefore m₂...
  • 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 - Uniform Circular Motion
  • Introduction
    
    If you have ever been on an amusement park ride that travels in a curved or circular path, then you have experienced a force, called a centripetal force, pushing you into the ride...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    Newton's second law states that the net force F_net exerted on a moving body is equal to the product of a body's mass m and its acceleration a...
  • Objective
    
    In this experiment you will measure the period of rotation for an object and calculate the centripetal force acting on it. You will compare this centripetal force with an equivalent force needed to maintain the object at the same radius.
  • Equipment
    
    Circular motion apparatus, Assorted weights, Bubble level, Balance, Stop watch, Meter stick, Spring
  • Procedure
    
    While it might be more fun to carry out this study on a midway ride, a simple laboratory apparatus shown in Fig. 4 below will be used to examine the nature of centripetal force...
  • 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 Lab 4
    
    Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
• Lab 5 - Impulse, Momentum and Energy
  • Introduction
    
    Newton expressed what we now call his second law of motion, not as...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    When an unbalanced force F_net acts on an object for a time interval Δt, the momentum of the object will change over this time interval...
  • Objective
    
    In this lab, you will verify the impulse-momentum theorem by investigating the collision of a moving cart with a fixed spring. You will also use the work-energy theorem to evaluate the energy losses during the collision.
  • Equipment
    
    Track, Force sensor with spring bumper, Cart with low friction wheels, Photogate, Meter stick.
  • Procedure
    
    The experimental setup consists of a long, inclined track to which a force sensor with a spring is attached...
  • 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 Lab 5
    
    Here is a list of all of the appendicies referenced in this lab.
• Lab 6 - Rotational Equilibrium
  • Introduction
    
    Have you ever tried to pull a stubborn nail out of a board or develop your forearm muscles by lifting weights?..
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    Torque is a measure of the turning effect of an applied force on an object, and is the rotational analogue to force...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this experiment is to learn to measure torque due to a force and to adjust the magnitude of one or more forces and their lever arms to produce static equilibrium in a meter stick balanced on a knife-edge; use the conditions for equilibrium to determine the mass of the meter stick and the mass of an unknown object.
  • Equipment
    
    Meter stick, Knifie-edge, Known masses of varying values, Unknown mass, Balance
  • Procedure
    
    There are three parts to this experiment. In the first part, you will balance three forces on a meter stick and show that the net torque is zero when the meter stick is in equilibrium...
  • 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 - Rotational Inertia
  • Introduction
    
    When you were younger, you might have had toy cars that you rubbed quickly across the floor several times to "rev them up...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    In Newton's second law, F = ma the mass m of an object is a measure of its inertia...
  • Objective
    
    In this experiment you will use a wheel with a step pulley to measure the acceleration of the rotating wheel and determine the moment of inertia of the wheel...
  • Equipment
    
    Wheel with step pulley, Smart Pulley with photogate, String, Mass with hanger, DataStudio software...
  • Procedure
    
    The apparatus (see Fig. 1) consists of a wheel with a small step pulley mounted at its center...
  • 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 - Conservation of Mechanical Energy
  • Introduction
    
    When a body moves, some things — such as its position, velocity, and momentum — change...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    The total mechanical energy E of a system is defined as the sum of the kinetic energy K and potential energy U of the system...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this experiment is to determine if the law of conservation of mechanical energy can predict the velocity of a rolling sphere after rolling down a ramp...
  • Experimental Design
    
    Let us consider several ways in which the translational speed of a small sphere can be measured...
  • Equipment
    
    Inclined ramp clamped to a table, Small steel sphere, Meter stick, Carbon paper, Bubble level
  • Procedure
    
    You will place a small sphere at 5 different vertical heights h₁, allow it to roll down the ramp, and read the distance d from the edge of the ramp to the location where it hits the table...
  • 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 - Simple Harmonic Motion
  • Introduction
    
    Have you ever wondered why a grandfather clock keeps accurate time?...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    A particle that vibrates vertically in simple harmonic motion moves up and down between two extremes y = ±A...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this lab is to understand the behavior of objects in simple harmonic motion by determining the spring constant of a spring-mass system and a simple pendulum.
  • Equipment
    
    Assorted masses, Spring, Meter stick, Stand, Stopwatch, String, Pendulum bob, Protractor
  • Procedure
    
    Using Hooke's law you will determine the spring constant of the spring by measuring the spring stretch as additional masses are added to the spring...
  • 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 - The Ideal Gas Law
  • Introduction
    
    The volume of a gas depends on the pressure as well as the temperature of the gas...
  • Discussion of Principles
    
    Boyle's Law gives the relation between the pressure and volume of a given amount of gas at constant temperature...
  • Objective
    
    The objective of this experiment is to measure the volume and pressure of a given amount of gas for constant as well as varying temperatures and study the relation between pressure, volume, and temperature of a gas.
  • Equipment
    
    DataStudio Software, PASCO pressure sensor, Science Workshop 750 interface, Computer
  • Procedure
    
    In the first part of the experiment you will maintain a constant temperature and measure the pressure for two different volumes...
  • 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

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