Electric field hockey lab answers

Electricity and Magnetism Simulation Worksheets and Labs

Physics 152 Online, CSU Long Beach

Dr. Thomas Gredig

Copyright c© 2016 Thomas Gredig ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED BY THOMAS GREDIG

THOMASGREDIG.COM

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit written permission from the publisher. Edition, June 2016

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.1 Activity Worksheets 8

1.2 Hands-on Experiments 8

1.3 Team Work 10

2 Lab Report Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.1 Online Lab Organization 13

2.2 Report Structure 13

2.3 Report Submission 15

2.4 Grading Rubric 15

2.5 Measuring Data 15

2.6 Ethics 16

2.7 Experiments 16

2.8 Arduino 16

2.9 Fitting Data 17

3 Practice Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.1 Problem with Solution 21

3.2 Midterm Practice Problems 22

3.3 Final Exam Practice Problems 23

3.4 Basic Relations in Electricity and Magnetism 24

3.5 Reference 26

I Interactive Simulations

4 Activity 14: Electric Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 4.1 Objective 33

4.2 Background 33

4.3 Prediction: Charge Configurations 34

4.4 Calculation 35

4.5 PHeT Simulation 35

5 Activity 15: Electric Field Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.1 Prediction 37

5.2 PhET simulation 39

5.3 Evaluation 39

6 Activity 16: Electric Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 6.1 Prediction 41

6.2 Simulation 42

6.3 Evaluation 42

7 Activity 17: Electric Field from Irregular Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.1 Background 43

7.2 Prediction 43

7.3 Calculation 44

7.4 Evaluation 44

8 Activity 18: Light Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 8.1 Prediction 47

8.2 Mesaurements 49

8.3 Evaluation 50

9 Activity 19: RC Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 9.1 Background 53

9.2 Predictions 53

9.3 Measurements 54

9.4 PhET Simulation 56

10 Activity 20: Series and Parallel Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 10.1 Series Circuit in a Parallel Circuit 59

10.2 Parallel Circuit in a Series Circuit 60

10.3 Series Circuit in a Parallel Circuit in a Series Circuit 60

11 Activity 22: Faraday’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 11.1 Background 63 11.2 Bar Magnet 63 11.3 Electromagnet 65 11.4 Pickup Coil 65 11.5 Transformer 66 11.6 Generator 67

12 Activity 23: Radio Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 12.1 Prediction 69 12.2 Simulation 69

II Hands-on Experiments

13 Lab 1: Measuring Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 13.1 Tools 75 13.2 Prediction 75 13.3 Experiment 76 13.4 Evaluation 76

14 Lab 2: Magnetic Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 14.1 Tools 77 14.2 Prediction 77 14.3 Experiment 78 14.4 Evaluation 78

15 Lab 3: Arduino Battery Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 15.1 Tools 79 15.2 Prediction 79 15.3 Experiment 80 15.4 Evaluation 81

16 Lab 4: Resistor Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 16.1 Tools 83 16.2 Prediction 83 16.3 Experiment 84 16.4 Evaluation 84

17 Lab 5: Voltage Divider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 17.1 Tools 85 17.2 Prediction 85 17.3 Experiment 85

17.4 Evaluation 86

18 Lab 6: RC circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 18.1 Tools 87 18.2 Prediction 87 18.3 Experiment 88 18.4 Evaluation 88

III Team Tasks

19 Team Task 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 19.1 Relevant Chapter 93 19.2 Electron mass 93

20 Team Task 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 20.1 Midterm Preparation 95

21 Team Task 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 21.1 Electric Field of Any Shape 97

22 Team Task 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 22.1 Resistor Network 101

23 Team Task 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 23.1 Problem Solving 103

24 Team Task 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 24.1 Reflections 105

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

1. Introduction

UNDOUBTEDLY experiments provide an real value to any learning experience as a way ofconnecting the real-world with the abstract. This is particularly true for the topic of "Electricity and Magnetism", which deals with quantities that are very real, electric and magnetic fields, but our senses are poor at measuring (although for electromagnetic waves in the visible range, our eyes help).

Experiments, however, can be complex to setup and costly. An intermediate experience, therefore, are interactive simulations. These are computer programs that have programmed algorithms, which simulate certain settings. Many simulations are available nowadays, but I would like to point out a particular project, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and developed by the University of Colorado, it is called the PhET simulations, available at https: //phet.colorado.edu/. A collection of interactive simulations for the Sciences and Mathematics made available to the public through federal science grants. We provide you with a set of worksheets that guide you using these simulations in part I starting on page 33.

In addition to the simulations, the online PHYS 152 lab includes hands-on experiments detailed in part II starting on page 75. The procedure for these labs is detailed in Chapter 2 starting on page 13. It is based on a home experimental kit and so all experiments can be performed with the help of this kit, a smartphone, computer, and everyday tools. Indeed, the aim of this series of small experiments related to discovering electricity and magnetism is to make the procedures applicable, so that you can carry out many more of the same type of experiments on your own. Therefore, this course provides only the beginning boundaries of much more exploration. A home kit is therefore ideal as it gives you some tools needed to continue this scientific process.

Lastly, science and engineering are highly collaborative disciplines with team tasks. Sharing, communicating, and evaluating each other is an everyday task of professionals in this field. A paradigm for this is research. It is based on proposals of experiments that are evaluated and vetted based on their merits and benefits. The best experiments are conducted, data is acquired and a lab report is submitted for publication. Peers review these reports before some are accepted for publication. You have the opportunity to practice and learn this process in small teams using an asynchronous discussion forum. The teams are small (around 5 participants) formed by the

https://phet.colorado.edu/
https://phet.colorado.edu/
8 Chapter 1. Introduction

instructor. The team will work on team tasks (see part III on page 93) using team roles that are mapped to the specific steps of problem solving.[4, 3] These roles are explained on page 10, with the underlying understanding that an expert wears all hats at the same time, but for a learner focusing on one role will be good practice. Additionally, we will use these teams to evaluate lab reports. The team will give feed-back based on the lab report grading rubric (page 15) to selected lab reports. This mechanism provides multiple benefits, for one you get to see how your peers write reports, normalizing your experience, applying the grading rubric focuses your attention to critical portions of the report, and finally you can received feed-back from teams to improve your reports. Lastly, this process mirrors the professional approach and eases a pathway into a career.

1.1 Activity Worksheets The following worksheets will provide you some guidance as how to use those simulations and others by asking questions. For the purpose of effective learning, it is important to first reflect on your current knowledge. This is generally done by making predictions, which is to think about different scenarios related to the topic and based on your knowledge foresee outcomes. You may be tempted to guess the answer without much reflection, or look up the solution.[5] Resist this temptation, as this step is crucial in memory building. It is important to write those predictions down. In the next step, you will use the simulations and recreate the questions, then make observations of the results. In the third step, you will compare the predictions with the observations and note any discrepancies. In the last step, you reflect on your findings and try to apply the learned experiences to other settings, which are similar. If done properly, this procedure is extremely efficient. Essentially, you know that learning would occur, if your predictions would be different in some way from your observations. Note that sometimes, seemingly the predictions agree with your observations, there are fine discrepancies, or nuances, that are different, scientists and engineers are good at detecting those details and ponder about them. During the course, different activities are assigned with specific deadlines. Submit your worksheets as single PDF files that you can easily scan with one of many available PDF scanners. From your phone, you can use CamScanners, GeniusScan, etc. there are other ways as well. You can either print the worksheets and directly work on them, using the space, or you can use separate sheets for your answers. Always make sure (to get full points) that you label all the questions in accordance to the numbering scheme from this worksheet. For every activity, you may also be asked to capture a screenshot of the simulation and include it. For full points, capture and submit a unique screenshot that shows that it is your work. It is also important to label the axes of all graphs and include units as well. Some examples are given in the worksheets.

1.2 Hands-on Experiments There are several experimental hands-on labs that can be carried out at home. The first step will be to clarify the experimental procedures and writing down the predictions. In your notebook, you write down the procedure of how you will carry out the experiment, the hypothesis, and the predictions. In the next step, you build the experiment and take data. Commonly, data needs to be taken several times in order to verify the experimental procedure and the reproducibility. The repetition also gives you a way to judge the reliability of the data and the error bars. During the experiment, all results are carefully noted in the lab notebook. At this point, you are ready to write the report according to the guidelines listed on page 13; scientists and engineers use this method and you can find many sample reports at https://arxiv.org/. We strive to learn from the experts. Note that the report provides both details about the experimental method used, the results, and analysis. It also includes photos of the experimental setup with the date in the photograph, see Fig. 2.2.1. A lab report has graphs, which you can generate with OpenCalc (https://www.openoffice.org/

https://arxiv.org/
https://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html
https://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html
1.2 Hands-on Experiments 9

product/calc.html), Google Sheets (https://www.google.com/sheets/about/), RStudio (https://www.rstudio.com/), R-Fiddle (http://www.r-fiddle.org/#/), gnuplot (http:// www.gnuplot.info/), or Plot2 for Mac (http://apps.micw.eu/apps/plot2/). All of these programs are free, and several open-source, most can be installed on different platforms. The lab report is, then, an independent, complete summary of the experiment you conducted.

Before reports are published, scientists and engineers, peer-review the reports and give feed-back. In the course, this process is called "lab evaluations", and you are responsible to review lab reports of your peers based on a rubric (see page 15). Reading your peer’s lab reports and evaluating them is a powerful learning tool that you should not underestimate. Not all reports will get published, based on the reviews and his or her judgement of the report, the editor (here, the instructor) will make the final evaluation of the report.

In order to make the experimental kit, or tool box, cost effective, we have adopted the micro- controller platform called Arduino. The Arduino controller is open-source and inexpensive (order of USD 10 – 20), widely available. There are many types of Arduino, for the course, the basic UNO type will be sufficient. The Arduino board comes with sensor inputs and also with outputs. We will use these sensors to connect resistor circuits, and test RC circuits. The board connects via USB port to a computer; details are provided on the website https://www.arduino.cc/ and the software is installed from the "Download" button.

1.2.1 Experimental Kit

You will need to purchase an experimental Arduino kit in order to perform the experiments. You have several options to purchase or build the kit. Reviewing the labs, you can see all the required tools and materials listed in part II starting on page II. Here is a summary:

• Arduino micro-controller with USB (http://tinyurl.com/phys152Arduino) • breadboard and wires • several resistors (1 kΩ, 10 kΩ, 1 MΩ) • one or more capacitors (0.5 µF or more, product of largest resistor multiplied with capacitance

should equal about 1 s) • basic compass (possibly compass of phone) • Al foil, drinking straws, other home materials

You can build your own kit based on the previous list, or you can purchase a package, which contains all of these items and a few more.

• Sunfounder Project Super Starter Kit for Arduino UNO R3 at tinyurl.com/phys152kit2 plus an Arduino Board at http://tinyurl.com/phys152Arduino

• Arduino UNO R3 Ultimate Starter Kit at tinyurl.com/phys152kit1 • KT003 Arduino UNO Start Kit with Bread Plate at http://tinyurl.com/phys152kit4

(does not include capacitor, see page 87)

Note that the Sunfounder Kit (tinyurl.com/phys152kit2) is probably the best and it includes 100 nF capacitors and one 5 MΩ resistor, which would give you a time constant of 0.5 s, a bit less than 1 s. However, if you put all 4 capacitors in parallel, you can quadruple the time constant by increasing the capacitance to 400 nF, which is quite sufficient.

You can also purchase capacitors and resistors separately from several stores and online from Mouser at http://www.mouser.com/, searching for multilayer "capacitors 10 uF", you will find that the cost is less than one US dollar.

https://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html
https://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html
https://www.google.com/sheets/about/
https://www.rstudio.com/
http://www.r-fiddle.org/#/
http://www.gnuplot.info/
http://www.gnuplot.info/
http://apps.micw.eu/apps/plot2/
https://www.arduino.cc/
http://tinyurl.com/phys152Arduino
tinyurl.com/phys152kit2
http://tinyurl.com/phys152Arduino
tinyurl.com/phys152kit1
http://tinyurl.com/phys152kit4
tinyurl.com/phys152kit2
http://www.mouser.com/
10 Chapter 1. Introduction

1.3 Team Work In addition to individual assignments, there are some problems for small teams. For the teams to work cooperatively, we have implemented some features that will help with the asynchronous online discussions. In particular, we have assigned roles, which help you train each step of the problem solving (see section 3 on page 21). Note that an expert problem solver will rotate independently through all roles (team leader, planner, researcher, executive, and skeptic). In order to become or improve as an expert problem solver, it is important to practice / train each specific step independently. The grading and point distribution of the midterm and final exam is based on the problem solving steps or the roles outlined here. Once you master each step, you can put them together and gradually become an expert yourself. If you are interested in more details and the physics education research, you can read more in this booklet: http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CGPS/GreenBook.html Use the team work assignments to your advantage, namely to make learning more productive.[1] Somewhat surprisingly, the benefits, although different in aspects, are to all learners regardless of their prior expertise.

1.3.1 Team Roles Here is a summary of the team roles. You will be assigned different roles in different tasks. As a member of your group you work holistically, but focus on your specific role. • Team Leader: motivates team, sends messages to the team, makes sure the team understands

the task, helps make major decisions, and keeps track of time, and posts the solution. The team leader of the team may also help assign sub tasks to the team and makes sure everyone stays motivated. The team leader is responsible to post a summary of the finding in the showcase. • Planner: restates the problem in his/her own words, draws a diagram including a coordinate

system, draws a sketch and identifies parameters useful in the problem. The planner typically identifies the important variables. Each sketch and diagram generally includes a coordinate system with labeled axes. • Researcher: identifies an underlying physical principle / concept useful to solve the problem,

such Coulomb’s Law, Mobile Charges in Conductor, . . . The researcher typically categorizes the problem (which section / chapter) and provides any definitions, or fundamental relations. • Executive: Applies the concept / principle to the specific problem outlined by the planner

and finds a concrete solution. The executive would apply the researchers definitions and fundamental relations to the specific problem and find a specific result. • Skeptic: Makes sure the planner, researcher, and executive are on the right track, by asking

questions, such as is this right? should we consider something else? did we assume anything here? then at the end, the skeptic says: are the units correct? did we answer all the questions? does the solution make sense? The skeptic provides critical feed-back to all members of the team.

1.3.2 Problem Solving Quantitative problem solving is a marketable skill. Any physics course is particularly geared towards training those skills. You are provided with the immutable fundamental principles. The premises are that a small set of fundamental principles (conservation of energy or loop rule, conservation of momentum, conservation of charge or node rule, Maxwell’s equations, etc.) fully explain all concepts across multiple disciplines. For example, a school of fish can be conceptualized as a result of Hooke’s law (|~F |=−k∆x), where fish experience two forces, one is that they like to stay around other fish, at the same time avoiding other fish. The different shapes of schools of fish are related to different spring constants k, which represent the material. A solid understanding of

http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CGPS/GreenBook.html
1.3 Team Work 11

springs therefore helps understand aspects of fish in biology. Using the same example, the concept is extended to Electricity and Magnetism, where a capacitor can be understood in a similar way as a spring. The maximum displacement ∆x or amplitude A is compared with the charge Q and the inverse of the spring constant is compared with the capacitance C. In this sense, then capacitors reappear as an old concept related to springs and an expert quickly understands what happens to a configuration of capacitors in series, given the framework from springs. Therefore, training for the recognition of analogies is crucial in conveying the importance of physics in everyday life. Hence, problem solving in physics is based on a method than can be trained and learned. The first step in problem solving is "understanding the problem"; the problem solver resolves this step by paraphrasing the problem and drawing a sketch that includes all important variables in his/her own language. The paraphrasing should reuse the least possible wording images from the given problem. About 20 – 35% of the points are awarded for this practice. In the next step, the problem is "classified"; i.e. you identify the relevant broad principles and definitions of quantities associated with the problem. This step is given 20 – 25% of the score. At this point, you should be able to execute the problem by modifying and adapting the principles and definitions to the specifics of the problem and solving for unknown quantities. This step is scored 15 – 30%. In the last steps, verification that the units are carried in all steps, vectors are properly marked, answers are clearly, either as magnitudes or as vectors. This step receives about 5 – 10% of the score. At last, the answer is spelled out in a sentence that clearly answers all questions that were asked. You also check whether the answer makes sense, relates to anything that you know (being skeptical). This part is attributed about 10 – 20% of the full problem score. More details and examples are provided in section 3 on page 21.

1.3.3 Discussion Forum You will receive an invitation to participate in the discussion forum. Once, you accept it, you create a username, which will be the name listed for your postings (so do not use your student ID), but rather your first name or something simple. The discussion forum has two main sections, one for team tasks and another section for showcases. As a first step, familiarize yourself with the discussion forum, find your team members, and your assignments. The team leader will create a task in the forum, and members of the team will participate in the discussion to solve the particular task. Regular postings will be useful and are called "team posts". Aside from "team posts", you are also encouraged to make "peer posts" in threads run by other teams. You can also post images from your phone, dropbox, social media, and share your diagrams, sketches, and ideas you have on paper. Make sure to only include your own images, as other images may infringe copyright laws; the same is true for text, any amounts of text that exceed one sentence should be linked, rather than copied or paraphrased. Posting inappropriate and/or copyrighted content may result in getting permanently banned from the site with no possibility to make up further points for team tasks. The feed-back includes sentences, such as "did you think of . . . ", "I found section . . . in the book useful in respect to this problem as it explains", "a good application of this problem would be . . . ", "this problem makes me think of . . . ", and "In the book, I found . . . ", etc. For some students, solving problems is easy, for other asking questions is easy. Both are equally important in this task. Asking questions is particularly useful as it provides peers the opportunity to respond. Remember that team work is difficult, but also rewarding. Even though, you may think that you understand something, once you put the physics in writing, conceptions can be clarified.

1.3.4 Bloom’s taxonomy The educational benefits to team work stress that several learning levels of Bloom’s taxonomy can be integrated.[1] According to B. Bloom learning is based on the taxonomy that includes 6 aspects: • remember: memorize fundamental relations, such as ~F = 14πε0

Q1Q2 r2 r̂

12 Chapter 1. Introduction

• understand: what do the variables mean in the fundamental relations? What is r and Q1, can you make a drawing that explains it? • apply: can you solve a problem with Coulomb’s law? • analyze: how is Coulomb’s law different and the same to the gravitational law? • evaluate: what kind of charge distributions can be solved with Coulomb’s law? • create: can you synthesize a problem that involves Coulomb’s law?

You notice that the difficulty increase as you step through the taxonomy. A good learning style includes several or all of these aspects.

2. Lab Report Guidelines

THE following is an outline of the requirements and recommendations for a well-written labreport in the Electricity and Magnetism course. Please note that scientific writing is an important skill and your peers and instructor will be evaluating your lab report and provide you with feedback. The report has the specific purpose of giving a third-party (peer, instructor) an organized communication piece of your experiment, so that they can learn about what has been done, what was found, what the meaning of the results are, and so that they could redo the experiment themselves.

2.1 Online Lab Organization

An experiment has roughly the following sequence, which is based on the real-world process for scientific discovery:

1. Request for proposal (RFP), the experiment should be clear, include a hypothesis, computa- tion, and prediction.

2. Specify your prediction. 3. Assemble all pieces required for the experiment. 4. Perform the experiment, and note every detail in your lab notebook. 5. Write the Lab Report 6. Submit your Lab Report 7. Receive feed-back from the instructor and peers. 8. Evaluate Lab Reports from your peers to become better writer. 9. Reflect on the received feedback.

2.2 Report Structure

The lab report should have the following structure, which is common in the scientific literature. Many examples are available at the e-print archives (https://arxiv.org/):

1. Title 2. Author

https://arxiv.org/
14 Chapter 2. Lab Report Guidelines

3. Affiliation, Date 4. Abstract (one paragraph) 5. Introduction (overview and purpose) 6. Experiment (explain how the experiment is performed) 7. Results (list your specific results, include a table) 8. Analysis (explain what the results mean, include a graph) 9. Summary (one paragraph), sometimes called conclusion

10. Acknowledgments (any help received) 11. Bibliography (any references)

An example for the Title is "Lab 1: Number of Electrons Removed in Tape". Titles such as "experiment 1" are not descriptive of the text. The title should reflect the outcome of the report in a succinct way. The author is your full name. The affiliation is the school’s name including the department. The date is added after the affiliation. Important: In the scientific lab report, passive voice is generally accepted. If active voice is used, the royal we is used: "we", when referring to yourself. The experiment should be conducted by yourself, however, if you have collaborated with others, then you need to include the names of the collaborators in the acknowledgement along with their clear contribution. Any work that is not quoted and cited is assumed to be your work. If the report contains more than 10% of work from other’s (including wikipedia) that is not quoted or properly cited, then the report is considered incomplete and no points are awarded. The report should be an original piece of work. The Abstract is written only after the report has been finished. You should keep a placeholder and then come back. It is always one paragraph, or 3 – 5 sentences. It is a brief summary, such as ?Using electrostatics, the number of electrons that can be removed from a common piece of tape was measured. Using a neutral piece of tape and a charged piece of tape, we determined the farthest distance of interaction to be 4(1) mm, which corresponds to a charge of Q = -40(10) nC (or 250 billion electrons). The charge was determined from the distance using an electrostatic model of interaction between a charge and a neutral object.? The abstract should include the final numbers and be very specific. A common mistake is to confuse the abstract with the introduction. These are very different parts. Also, commonly, we use the notation 4(1) to mean that the measured results have a confidence of 67% to lie within 3 – 5 mm. So 4(1) = 4±1 mm. Make sure that you include units. Keep the abstract succinct. The Introduction includes an overview. It generally includes material from the book. The relevant information about Coulomb?s Law, interactions between a charged and a neutral object, where the force decays as 1/d5, where d is the separation distance. Importantly, this is the section where you must include your prediction. The Experiment includes the specific procedure that you used to make the measurement. Ideally, you would include a photo of your setup and then explain it in about two paragraphs. The Results include a table with the measured results and a paragraph of what the results are. "In table 1, the distance d is listed for 5 experimental runs". The Analysis part states your final answer and makes a comparison with the prediction. Note here, that if you do not have a prediction, then you cannot analyze anything. That is the reason it is so important to have predictions ready. Of course, the predictions can be off from your experimental results. It is important that you include the original predictions. If you realized that in the predictions you forgot to include a component, then you can explain this. The Summary is a one-paragraph summary of all that has been done. It is different from the abstract as it focuses on the analysis. The purpose of the abstract is to interest the reader in reading the full report. The purpose of the summary is to give a brief synopsis of what has been found. In the Acknowledgment section, you should include any other persons who participated in the experiment, or contributed in any way.

2.3 Report Submission 15

Figure 2.2.1: Experiment with charged straw. When the charged straw is (a) far from the uncharged mass, the force to lift it is too weak. However, at a distance of 8 mm, the attractive force overcame the gravitational pull and sticks to the charged object (taken into account the offset at the bottom of the ruler). This is a sample photo for lab reports, showing the name and date on the post-it in the background.

In the Bibliography section, you should include any relevant references. Some students choose to use Zotero plugin to simplify citations and produce professional references.

2.3 Report Submission

Your report should include a photo of the experiment (including the date stamp and name), a table for your results, and a graph from the analysis. Commonly, you would use a MS Word, Google Docs, OpenOffice Writer, or LaTeX (https://www.sharelatex.com/, https://www. overleaf.com/) to write your report. Please submit the Word document, or if needed PDF- converted document to the DropBox on Beachboard.

2.4 Grading Rubric

Each report is graded. The following criteria are generally applied in grading your lab reports (100 points = 100%).

1. (10pts) Are all predictions from the lab assignments included in the report? (not graded on correctness, but completeness only, as predictions can be different from experiment)

2. (10pts) Is it complete? Does it have all the structural elements? (see section 2.2) 3. (10pts) Does the abstract convey the main results succinctly in one paragraph? 4. (10pts) Is there a good experimental image with the date and name of the author? (see

Fig. 2.2.1) 5. (10pts) Does the report include a data table? 6. (10pts) Does the report include a graph with a long caption? 7. (10pts) Is there a summary that includes all main results? 8. (10pts) Are correct SI units used throughout the report? 9. (20pts) Do the results make sense, and was proper language used in the report, is the report

unique, interesting, and complete?

2.5 Measuring Data

For precise measurements, images are captured with the phone and then analyzed with software. An easy and freely available software for multiple platforms is NIH ImageJ at https://imagej.

https://www.sharelatex.com/
https://www.overleaf.com/
https://www.overleaf.com/
https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/
https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/
16 Chapter 2. Lab Report Guidelines

nih.gov/ij/. The software allows you to calibrate the image; i.e. define a known distance on the ruler. From the menu choose "Analyze", then "Set Scale". Apply the units, for the report all units should be SI units; i.e. meters, millimeters (mm), and so on. After the calibration you can easily read of distances in the proper units. You can also measure areas.

2.6 Ethics Ethical behavior is utmost important. Plagiarism is not accepted as a policy by the University and ramifications are listed on the University page for "Cheating and Plagiarism" (http://web.csulb. edu/divisions/aa/catalog/current/academic_information/cheating_plagiarism.html). What are some of the important things to know for this course. Individual reports must clearly identify the contributions of others in the acknowledgments and throughout the text by using quotes, references, and proper wording. During the experimental conduct, cooperation is acceptable, ques- tions, and support to make the experiment successful are acceptable as long as there are significant contributions. The lab report is an individual account What is ethics in the Sciences? Ethical behavior has a long tradition in science, mathematics, and engineering. It is necessary for its continuation. Misconduct in science centers around reporting research results that are fabricated, plagiarized, and or falsified, see http://www.aps. org/programs/education/ethics/.[6] Proper conduct includes • truthful, careful handling and reporting of data, • responsible, respectful interactions with peers and subordinates, • adherence to journal publication guidelines, including proper recognition of research contri-

butions. The American Physical Society publishes the "APS Guidelines for Professional Conduct" (https: //www.aps.org/policy/statements/02_2.cfm) with the goal to advance and diffuse the knowl- edge of physics.

2.7 Experiments Not all experiments "work", see discussion during Office Hours. Therefore, if your experiment does not yield results, please document the steps that you have taken to make the experiment work and the limitations that you have found. It is important to submit your effort for partial points. Include images of the experiment. Many scientists, mathematicians, and engineers draw valuable information from experiments that did not fully "work", as lessons can still be learned. Sometimes, experiments are designed with the purpose of showing nothing, these are called null experiments.

2.8 Arduino You can learn about the Arduino micro-controller at https://www.arduino.cc/. There are videos, resources, and tutorials available. After installing the software on your computer, you would test the Arduino board, generally by running the "blinking LED" program, see Listing 15.1 on page 80. After loading the program, you choose the Board. From the menu, select "Tools", then "Board". The second item is that you need to select the USB port. Go to "Tools", then select "Serial Port" and choose your USB connection. Next upload the program and watch for any errors. The Arduino allows you to connect sensors, such as temperature sensor, light sensor, and others, but also to control devices, such as LEDs, motors, and so on. The operating voltage for input and output is generally 5 V. The input voltage is analog, so it is converted to a digital signal using an analog-to-digital converter (DAC). The digital signal can be sent back to the computer and monitored via the so-called "Serial Monitor".

https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/
https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/
http://web.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/current/academic_information/cheating_plagiarism.html
http://web.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/current/academic_information/cheating_plagiarism.html
http://www.aps.org/programs/education/ethics/
http://www.aps.org/programs/education/ethics/
https://www.aps.org/policy/statements/02_2.cfm
https://www.aps.org/policy/statements/02_2.cfm
https://www.arduino.cc/
2.9 Fitting Data 17

After you compiled the program and sent it to the Arduino. You can open the Serial Monitor by clicking on the top right most button in the Arduino IDE labeled "Serial Monitor" and represented by a looking glass. It will open a new window with the output from the board. You can see an ex- ample listed at https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-5-the-serial- monitor/overview.

2.8.1 Breadboard

The Arduino kit often comes with a breadboard and wires which will be very helpful. If you are unfamiliar with a breadboard for circuit compilation, then refer to tutorials on the web, or at https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-breadboard. In general, a bread board has two parallel long lines for ground and positive voltage (5 V); then it has horizontal rows of 5 pins each. Each of the 5 pins are at the same potential, on the back of the board, they are connected.

2.9 Fitting Data

Scientists, mathematicians, and engineers often use models and compare them with experimental data. The model also allows the experimentalist to extract specific information. For example, in the lab on magnetic fields (chapter 14 on page 77) you can determine the magnetic moment from fitting the magnetic field data to a dipolar model. Fitting data is certainly a useful and valuable (think CV, resume) skill, but it is not necessarily easy. Fortunately, there are some tricks of the trade. If you can fit a line with the equation y = mx+b and determine the slope m as well as the offset b, then you can take more complex functions and linearize them. One example of this strategy is explained on page 14.4. In this case, a power law can be plotted on a log-log graph and the exponent is revealed as the slope, the pre-factor is buried as the offset. For another type of common equation, an exponential function, such as those used in the RC lab (chapter 18 on page 87) would be graphed on a semi-log plot and the slope is proportional to the time constant. The specifics can be derived in the same fashion as shown page 77 for the power law. Using brute force, the less mathematically inclined person, would using a fitting program and simply take the data and fit a particular function corresponding to the model. Common programs include Excel and RStudio (open source) based on R language. The following advanced example provides code to make a fit using R and is intended for the enthusiastic reader and should be considered optional. In the first part, the data is loaded from a file generated by the Tektronix oscillator, which is in a comma-separated format. The command to load the data into a data frame is called read.csv.

# Loading data from Tektronix oscilloscope data <- read.csv(’data.csv’, header=FALSE) names(data)[4:5] = c(’time’,’V’) # label columns data$time = data$time*1E3 # convert s to ms q = subset(data, time < -0.1) # correct for offset data$V = data$V - mean(q$V)

This data frame contains two columns labeled time and V, which contains the time in units of ms and the electric potential measured in units of V. A graph is generated by first invoking plot to generate the data points. A second layer is added with the command points in order to high light the data points that will be used for the fit.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-5-the-serial-monitor/overview
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-5-the-serial-monitor/overview
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-breadboard
18 Chapter 2. Lab Report Guidelines