PHYS 2014     General Physics Lab I     Spring/Summer 2019


General Announcements
  • Summer Info

    • Summer Labs begin Tuesday, May 22! First lab: 1-D Motion. Read on!

    • Each experiment in Phys 2014 has a pre-lab exercise, typically the last two pages of each experiment in the manual, which you complete before lab and hand in at the start of your lab section.

      Before your first lab meeting:
      (1) read the syllabus
      (2) get the lab manual from the Bookstore
      (3) get a suitable lab notebook - see the syllabus for requirements (bound, 8x10 inch, quad-ruled)
      (4) read through the first lab and complete the pre-lab exercise for the first lab: 1-D Motion
      (5) have a calculator - useful for most labs



    Spr '19

  • Final course letter grades are still being worked on and will likely be finalized and submitted on Tuesday or Wednesday. They are typically visible to students a day after they are submitted. Results in e-gradebook are still preliminary and subject to minor adjustments. Asking about it does not speed the process.

    The final exam will be scaled to the highest score earned on the exam, 38. Percentage thresholds for letter grades, as described in the syllabus, are subject to adjustment (up or down) to account for inevitable variations in grading among TA's. This means that if you had a distinctly tougher TA, the threshold for a particular letter grade may be lower than for another TA who was less strict in grading. (A "tougher" TA is identifed not just by the lab average but also cross-checked against performance of those sections on the final exam, i.e lower average lab grade accompanied by average or better performance on the final exam across that TA's students.) Final grades are posted after all comparisons among TAs are completed. Asking about it does not speed the process.

    Individual grade adjustments just for being near a borderline are not made without documentary evidence of error.


  • Make-up week is April 29-May 3. All students must attend, at least briefly, to pick up their lab notebook if they wish to use it at the lab final exam.

    Excused absences from labs may be made up at your regular lab time. If you have more than one excused absence, it is your responsibility to get to a second lab time to complete the second excused absence. (More than one uncompleted lab results in a guaranteed failing course grade.)

    For students completing a lab during make-up week, your TA will announce the due date, which may be earlier than normal so that it can be graded and available for pick-up before the final exam.

  • FINAL EXAM ROOM ASSIGNMENTS
    PHYS 2014 Lab Common Final Exam -- for all lab sections -- Friday, May 10, at 10:00 am.
    • Montague 80 for TUESDAY and FRIDAY Lab sections (lab sec. 1, 2, 3, 5, 16, 17).
    • Bohannon 90 for WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY Lab sections (lab sec. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15).

    Students with approved exam conflicts (sign-up sheet in lab) will be notified by e-mail of the make-up location once that is finalized. Check the sign-up list in the lab room for the time of your make-up exam when you pick up your lab notebook during make-up week.


  • Lab Final Exam: The final exam for PHYS 2014 LAB is scheduled for Friday, May 10, at 10:00 AM. This is a common exam time-block. All lab sections take the exam at this time. Room assignments will be posted later.

    Please check your final exam schedule for conflicts. A final exam conflict exists if you have another common exam at the same time OR you have 3 exams scheduled for that day. Two exams in a row is not a conflict. A sign-up sheet will be available in lab beginning April 15 for you to provide details about any conflict you have, and it will list potential alternate exam times for those with verifiable conflicts.

    You need to bring a #2 pencil, a calculator (no cell phone calculators), and your graded lab notebook, which you may use as a resource. Bring your UMD student ID card. Your lab notebook consists of the notes you take during lab, including graphs taped in, and the analysis you did prior to submission for grading. The lab manual, including pre-lab exercises, may not be used or included as part of your lab notebook.

    The exam will be multiple choice with approximately 40 questions. The exam will test your understanding of the physics of the labs along with techniques for measuring, interpreting, and analyzing data. These techniques can include experimental procedures, estimation of errors/uncertainties, choice of variables to plot and how to analyze and interpret graphs, as well as your familiarity with and ability to estimate quantities typically measured in lab. Some questions will require calculations. No sample exam is available.


  • March 12: Mid-term alerts for less than satisfactory work are being entered as mid-term grades in MyU. These mid-term grades are entered only for those students where an alert is indicated as identified by the section lab instructor in consultation with the faculty coordinator. Alerts are given (1) where overall performance needs to improve or (2) when missing or late work or multiple absences (excused or not) suggest a pattern that, if continued, may result in difficulty in passing the course. If your work has shown a pattern of improvement or you have an excused absence, we may have concluded that a mid-term alert is not necessary, although your score to date might still be on the low side.

    If you receive a mid-term grade / mid-term alert, please feel free to discuss your situation with your lab section TA or the faculty coordinator (J. Maps, MWAH 356). If it's simply a missed lab, then the make-up week will probably resolve the problem. Otherwise we may be able to suggest strategies for improvement to get on the path for success.


  • Feb. 14: There are revised instructions for the lab on Newton's 2nd Law, for the week of Feb. 18-22. If you did not get a copy in lab or misplaced it, a pdf is available here, including the new pre-lab questions.

  • January 30: Due to the loss (so far) of two class days this week, we have decided to cancel all PHYS 2014 lab sections this week and postpone this week's lab on Graphical Analysis of Free-fall Motion until next week (Feb 4-8) for all PHYS 2014 lab sections.
    This will push back all remaining labs before spring break by one week in the original schedule, and the week preceding spring break will be used as a regular lab week. The make-up week at the end of the semester will remain for any other excused absences. A revised lab schedule will be posted in the next day or so.


  • Lab notebooks are turned in to drop-boxes in the 2nd floor hallway of MWAH, just down the hall from the lab room. Boxes are labeled by TA and lab section. Be sure you get the right box. Most TAs have more than one drop-box, and boxes may be shared with another TA. Notebooks are due at the time specified by your TA.


  • Labs begin Tuesday, January 22. Labs do not meet January 16-18, the first (partial) week of classes.

  • Each experiment in Phys 2014 has a pre-lab exercise, typically the last two pages of each experiment in the manual, which you complete before lab and hand in at the start of your lab section.

    Before your first lab meeting:
    (1) read the syllabus
    (2) check the lab schedule
    (3) get the lab manual from the Bookstore
    (4) get a suitable lab notebook - see the syllabus for requirements (bound, 8x10 inch, quad-ruled)
    (5) read through the first lab and complete the pre-lab exercise for the first lab
    (6) have a calculator - useful for most labs