What to do and what to write

Each of the experiments is located in its own partitioned area within the optics lab. To find the one you want, you may have to grope along the corridor because there is no master light switch. Switches for the local overhead lights are located on alternate partitions.

If you have problems that you cannot resolve and Prof. Kielkopf is not in the lab, try sending an email message. Unfortunately, sometimes someone will change something, move equipment around, or otherwise make it difficult to understand what you are to do. You can help by being considerate of others in this respect. There should be no need to borrow equipment from other experiments! If there is something you think we should provide, let us know. Please do not move equipment from one work area to another.

To start an experiment, read the instructions and look at the equipment. Try to understand what it is you are to measure or observe, and how that is to be done. We don't give a precise prescription - ``put tab A in slot C'' - but we do tell you, step by step, what should be accomplished. Usually expect to be confused or make mistakes on the first attempt, and then return to do it right after seeking advice. Some of the experiments may require the assistant to show you exactly what to do or look for. Others will be more obvious. Feel free to talk about the experiments with others in your class. You may work with one lab partner, or you may work alone. For the optical Michelson interferometer and the Foucault mirror test, you probably need to have a partner. However each of you should do your reports alone.

Once you have done an experiment, you should prepare a report and submit it immediately, or at least within one week. You will receive reminders if you do not seem to be making progress. Please be aware that if you wait until the last few weeks of the semester you are in big trouble.

The lab report need not be excessively long, however it must be excessively orderly and well-organized. It should be prepared with a with a word processing or typesetting program (we recommend L^ATEX). It must include these sections -

• A statement of who you are, who you worked with, and when you did the experiment.
• A brief, clear description of the goal of the experiment.
• An account of what you did in the course of the experiment.
• A tabulation of any measurements you made, clearly labeled.
• Analysis of the measurements as requested in this manual.
• If appropriate, clearly labeled graphs of your data and analysis, with a descriptive title and horizontal and vertical axis labels with units. The best program to use for such graphs is grace, also known as xmgr. Both xmgr and latex are available on the physics computing system, to which you should have access.
• Answers to any questions raised in the manual.
• Explanations, conclusions, comments, including suggestions on how to make this a more informative, interesting or worthwhile experiment.

After doing the experiment, clean up your mess! Put everything back where you found it. This lab does not have an assistant, and no one is here to straighten up after you. Sometimes half the time to do a lab is taken up putting the experiment back into working order, or looking for something that was not put away properly.