Calculations in the laboratory description hand-out should be carried out in the laboratory notebook. Students write laboratory reports for the five experiments they perform. The first laboratory reports are written in the style of internal reports used in industry. These reports hone organizational and writing skills. Later reports consist of complete journal-style articles, readable by those not intimately familiar with the techniques used in the experiments.
Students choose a final project, design an experiment, and execute it.
Results from the final project are presented in a short oral presentation at the end of the class. The project is partially graded on this presentation and partially graded on the design and execution of the project. Lab reports are due a week after the lab is completed. To make a prior arrangement, see Professor Simpson before the lab is due. See this page for generally useful information on the class.