GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

LAB MANUALS:

• Can be pulled off the web of the Physics and Astronomy Home Page, under the section of Undergraduate Courses.

LAB SECTIONS SIGN-UP:

• Please sign up for a lab section during the first week of classes (if you did not do this at the time of registration) by writing your name on the appropriate sign-up sheet that is located on a bulletin board outside your lab:

• If your schedule changes after the first lab you may change lab section.
• The recommended number of students in each section is 16 to 18 (2 students per setup with 8 or 9 setups.) The maximum number of students in a lab section is 24 (3 students per setup with 8 setups).
  

GRADING POLICY:

• There are currently (5) 3-hour labs per course.
• The labs typically count about 10-15% (DEPENDING ON COURSE INSTRUCTOR) of the grade.
• There will be a 2 point (out of 10) grade penalty for every late week if Prelabs are not handed in on time.
• There will be a grading penalty for late labs reports.
• You must attend all the labs to pass the course.

LAB LECTURES:

• The theoretical concepts used in lab are reviewed in the lab lecture. The lab lecture is designed to ensure that the material is covered in some lecture form before it is used in the lab, and to go over the experiment apparatus and analysis techniques that you will be responsible for in your lab.
• Attendance in the lab lecture is not mandatory, and students may chose to read the lab manual and do the prelab assignments on their own. However, attendance in the lab is mandatory.

PRELAB HOMEWORK:

• You should do the prelabs at home, and hand them to the TA at the beginning of the lab.
• The lab lecture and prelab homework are designed to prepare the student for the lab.
• Again, there will be a 2 points (out of 10) grade penalty for every late week if Prelabs are not handed in on time.

LAB PARTNERS:

• There are on average 2 (sometimes 3) students per setup.
• Students must change lab partners from lab to lab, students cannot have the same lab partners more than once.

DATA SHEETS:

• You must have your data sheets signed by your TA prior to leaving the lab.
• The data sheets should show the names of the laboratory partners on every page.

LAB REPORTS:

• Lab reports are due one week after the lab.
• Deposit reports in the appropriate lab section in lockers located on the 2nd floor of the Bausch & Lomb bldg.
• Again, there will be a grading penalty for late labs reports.
• Attendance in the lab is mandatory. Any student who does not complete all the labs will not receive a grade in the course.

MISSED LABS:

• If you miss a lab, please arrange with the TA to attend another session during the two weeks that the same lab is set up. There are two makeup labs days towards the end of the semester. However, unless there is a legitimate reason, makeup labs will count as late labs.

ERRORS IN THE LAB MANUAL:

• Report any errors (i.e. notation, grammar, misspellings etc.)found in the lab manual to Mary Beth Vogel, undergraduate secretary via e-mail: marybeth@pas.rochester.edu.
• Any general comments about a specific lab should be written in your lab report in remarks section.