Prof. Hughes' Physics
416 Web Page
Methods of Experimental Physics
General Course info:
-
Contacting me:
-
Office: Smith Lab 2006B
-
Labs: Smith Lab 2025 (Electronics)
and Smith Lab 2079 (Computing)
-
Phone: 614-292-7370
-
E-mail: hughes@mps.ohio-state.edu
Course Goals
Physics 416 is a computer lab course, designed to introduce students
to statistical analysis of data.
Physics is a science that is based on measurement. Measurements
by their nature always have associated
with them uncertainies. Proving whether a given theory is acceptable
depends on correctly evaulating these
uncertainties. The purpose of Physics 416 is to introduce students
to the tools and techniques of experimental
physics. With this in mind, we will focus on statistical analysis,
error estimation and error propagation.
Some of the topics we will cover:
-
Understand the application of various distributions:
-
Gaussian
-
Poisson
-
Binomial
-
Central Limit Theorem
-
Propagation of errors
-
Least squares fitting
-
Maximum likelihood techniques
-
Monte Carlo Techniques as applied to physics problems
Each student will have access to a PC running Windows NT. In the
course of doing computer labs, we will
use a number of tools:
-
A simple Editor (EditPlus)
-
Document preparation tools (Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint)
-
Graphing tools (Kaleidagraph)
-
Software to control electronics (LabView)
In addition, each student will be expected to do a modest amount of progarmming.
The official
computer language of Physics 416 will be Java.
Office Hours:
-
By appointment: phone or email to arrange.
Lecture info:
(note that this will be updated as the course progresses)
To look at the slides online, click on
the subject starting with "Lecture ....". You will find a list of
the lecture
notes page by page, which you can view
and/or print. If you have PowerPoint on your PC, and would like
to download a full lecture, click on
(PowerPoint) beside the lecture subject. You can then view the entire
lecture
from you own PC. Printing in this
case is a little easier.
The lab writeups are in Microsoft Word97
format.
-
Week 1
-
Lecture 1: Introduction
and Describing Data (in
PowerPoint95)
-
Lab
1 (Word97 Document)
-
Reading Assignment: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 sections 1,2,3,4, Chapter 3 sections
1,2,3.
-
Homework (Due Wednesday, April 7):
-
Ch 2, Problem 2.1. Only use the first 20 values.
-
Ch 2, Problem 2.2. As above, use only the first 20 values for the
students.
-
Ch 2, Problem 2.6. Use the first 7 lines of data (that
is, the first 70 data points). Use a bin size of 10, with the first
bin from 0-9, the second bin from 10-19, etc.
-
Ch 2, Problem 2.7. Using the first 70 data points from 2.6.
-
Ch 2, Problem 2.8. Using the first 70 data points from 2.6.
-
Homework Solution
(in
PowerPoint95) (Posted after the due date.)
-
Week 2
-
Week 3
-
Week 4
-
Week 5
-
Week 6
-
Week 7
-
Week 8
-
Week 9
-
Week 10
-
Monday: No Class, Memorial day.
-
Wednesday: Review course, review take home portion of final.
-
Friday: 12:30-3:30: In class portion of final.
Some Useful Links for this course:
JAVA:
Go to Prof. Hughes'
Main Web Page