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PHS1019 - Laboratory Manual
PHS1019 - Laboratory Manual
(PHS1019)
LABORATORY MANUAL
A few individuals contributed to this manual in some way. Mr Clive Simpson and Mr Chadwick Costley
both helped with testing the experiments in this manual to see that they can be performed smoothly.
They also both contributed to the ideas of the heating and cooling experiment in this manual. Mr Herter
Simpson reviewed and provided useful feedback on the experiments in this manual.
General format for writing up lab report
1. Student data - Name, ID#, Institution, Course of Study, Module, Module Code
2. Experiment Data: Title, Lab #
3. Labelled diagram as necessary.
4. Tabulated results – proper title and units
5. Graphs – Title, label axes, relevant symbols and units
6. Calculation - indicate relevant formulae and units..
7. Answers to questions.
8. Discussion/Conclusion – include specify sources of errors that may have affected the results.
Read the experiment from the lab manual before entering the lab. It will also be important to read the
relevant sections of the text along with any other literature on the experiment. This enables the you the
student to be completely familiar with the experiment and allows very smooth operation of the lab.
There will be no time allowed during the session to read the experiment. Failure to conduct adequate
preparation often leads to poor experiment and low grades.
General behaviour
2) All cellular phones must be turned off during the lab session.
3) Students must not touch any equipment other than that involved in the experiment that they are
doing.
4) Visitors are not allowed to attend the class without the permission of the instructor.
5) All possible care must be taken with apparatus. A student will be called upon to pay for
anything broken as a result of carelessness, or mislaid during the period he/she is doing the
experiment. The apparatus is checked after each class and students will be held responsible for
anything found missing or broken.
Attendance
Prompt attendance at the specified hour is required. Each student is required to sign an attendance
register on entering the lab. No student is allowed to sign for another. Students must remain until the
end of the period unless they have written up the experiment completely and to the satisfaction of the
lecturer.
1) No student will be allowed to remain in the laboratory beyond the specified time for any reason
whatsoever.
2) Absence is excused only on medical grounds. In this case the student should obtain a medical
certificate to be shown to the lecturer in charge of the laboratory. Otherwise zero marks will be
awarded for the missed experiment.
3) The laboratory will not be open and experiments may not be performed outside of the
scheduled class hours.
The errors in a particular experiment may be due to the observer, or to the instrument used or to a
combination of both. They may also be present by the very nature of the experiment; for example, the
heat lost by cooling in an experiment causes an error in the final temperature obtained. Special
techniques (precautions) can minimize or eliminate errors. An uncertainty or error in an experiment
maybe classified as follows:
2) Systematic Errors: This type of error affects a set of reading in the same manner. It may be due
to experimental technique or faulty apparatus.
3) Random Errors: If several measurements of a quantity are made as precise as possible each
reading will differ haphazardly from each other. This is called a random error and arises because
each reading is limited by uncontrollable factors, so that no two measurements are ever carried out
in exactly the same way .As a result of errors, an estimate of its precision should be included
whenever a result is presented. Although approximate, without such an estimate the result is
meaningless, since the reader has no idea of its reliability.
1) the variation of one quantity with another may be seen easily, and
2) the average value of a constant may be determined from the graph.
Before looking at graphs in detail you should realize that certain guidelines should be followed when
plotting graphs.
1) The axes should be labelled with both the quantity and units
2) The graph should be given a title.
3) It should fill the space available on the graph paper or page as far as possible
4) Suitable scales should be chosen – something like 5 squares to 10 units, not 7 to 3!
5) The points should be plotted accurately and clearly.
6) The best fit line to the points should be drawn clearly but finely.
Probably the most useful form of graph is one in the form of a straight line and so we will begin by
considering this type.
y = mx + c (Equation)
This is the general equation for a straight line, where y and x are variables and m and c are constants. A
general example of the graph produced by such an equation is shown in figure 1. You should notice the
following points:
C
x
m
Figure 1
There are of course a large number of graphs but we will consider just a few other basic types. The
equations and the relevant graphs are shown below.
y = mx2 + c (figure 2)
This is a basic quadratic; if c = 0 the graph passes through the origin. An example of this would be the
variation of the kinetic energy of a body with its velocity.
y = Kex (Figure. 3) x
This shows an exponential increase in y with respect to x; k is a constant. An example of this would be
the increase in the pressure of air with depth.
y
x
-x
y = ke (Figure 4)
A rather more common form is the exponential decrease of y with respect to x. Once again k is a
constant. This equation applies to radioactive decay the discharge of a capacitor and many other
physical phenomena
y k
Figure 4
It is much more useful to plot the results of an experiment in the form of a straight line and so a means
has to be found by which the equations above can be altered to give a linear relation between function
of y and a function of x. This is quite simply done:
x2
Figure 5
y y
ex
Figure 1
k
k
e-x
e-x
Figure 7
gradient = c
ln k
x
Figure 8
An alternative method is to take logs of both sides of the equation; this is also useful when one is
attempting to derive an unknown equation form a set of experimental results. We will consider first
two versions where the equation is known and then one where it is not.
y = kx2
Taking logs gives:
Log y = log k + 2 log
x
Plotting log y against log x (figure 9) will give a straight line of slope 2, with intercept on the log y axis
of log k.
log y
gradient = 2
log k
log x
Figure 9
gradient
=b
log
a
log x
EXPERIMENT: 1
DISCUSSION
Scientific measurements have progressed to a high state of refinement. However it is still not
possible, and never will be, to make exact measurements, because all measurements are made
with instruments that have an inherent degree of error. The error associated with a measuring
instrument is usually taken as a half of the smallest division or the smallest division. For this
course the errors involved in measurements will be taken as the smallest division on our
measuring instrument. The amount of error is reflected in the uncertainty of the measurement.
In this experiment you will become familiar with several measuring instruments and the errors
associated with them.
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EXPERIMENT: 2
AIM: To investigate the process of heat transfer and its role in the cooling of electric circuits.
APPARATUS: Heat sink, 10 Ω resistor, fans, DC power supply, LabQuest temperature probe, scotch
tape
METHOD:
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EXPERIMENT: 3
AIM: To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of
reflection.
PreLab Questions:
1. When is reflection said to occur?
2. Draw a fully labelled diagram showing the boundary, normal, incident ray, reflected ray, angle of
incidence, angle of reflection.
3. Where are the angles measured from?
4. List three precautions associated with this experiment.
APPARATUS:
Figure 1
Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr8exoX-uE0
PROCEDURE:
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DATA ANALYSIS:
1. Discuss the results you have obtained, stating clearly what you have found out about the
relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection.
2. What is the slope of the graph plotted? Does the value of the slope obtained make sense? Why or
why not?
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EXPERIMENT: 4
AIM: To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the corresponding angles of
refraction for a glass block.
PRELAB QUESTIONS:
1. What is refraction?
2. Draw a fully labelled diagram showing the boundary, normal, incident ray, refracted ray, angle of
incidence, angle refraction
3. Where are the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction measured from?
APPARATUS
Figure 2
Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfawFJCRDSE
PROCEDURE
3. Adjust the rotating protractor on the channel to different incident angles (from 0 to 30 degrees)
and record the refracted angle for each incident angle.
4. After you do question 5 in the data analysis section below, go back to the experimental set-up and
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check that your value for the critical angle make sense.
Data Collected
Draw a table showing the values of i, r, sin i and sin r.
Data Analysis
1. How do your observations show that light is refracted?
2. Plot a graph of sin i against sin r.
3. From your graph find the value of the angle of incidence when the angle of refraction is 25 o.
4. Use your graph to determine the refractive index of the glass.
5. Given that n = 1/sin c, where c is the critical angle of glass, find the value of c the critical angle of
glass.
6. Discuss any precautions and sources of error in this experiment.
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EXPERIMENT: 5
AIM : To determine the relationship between current and voltage for a fixed resistor.
APPARATUS : Voltmeter (0 – 12 V), ammeter (0 – 1 A), switch, resistor, rheostat (2 A, 80 ), power
source (12V)
PROCEDURE :
Figure 3
Connect the circuit using the circuit diagram in Figure 3. Vary the voltage across the resistor (R)
by moving the slider while noting the current. This should be done such that six values of the
voltage and the corresponding values of the current can be tabulated.
ANALYSIS:
DISCUSSION
Discuss your results be sure to include sources of error and any precautions taken.
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EXPERIMENT: 6
TOPIC: Transformers
AIM: To investigate the relationship between the primary and secondary voltage of a
transformer.
APPARATUS: Two (2) transformer coils of different turns, wires, AC power supply, two (2)
multimeter capable of reading AC, laminated core.
METHOD:
Figure 4
Table 1
DATA ANALYSIS:
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EXPERIMENT: 7
TOPIC: Rectification
METHOD:
Half-wave rectification
Figure 5
photo credit: https://www.elprocus.com/half-wave-rectifier-circuit-working-
principle-and- characteristics-2/
Full-wave rectification
Figure 6
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1. Setup the circuit as shown in Figure 6 above. The load resistor is 1 kΩ.
2. Connect the oscilloscope probes appropriately to obtain the:
i. Input waveform from AC voltage source.
ii. Output waveform (across the load).
3. Sketch the waveforms obtained from (2) above indicating the voltage and time values.
4. Determine and compare the input and output frequencies.
5. Explain any differences in your observed input and output waveforms.
Figure 7
1. Connect a 220 uF capacitor across the load resistor R1 as shown in Figure 7 above.
2. Use the oscilloscope to obtain the output waveform (across the load).
3. Sketch the waveform observed clearly indicating voltage and time values.
4. Compute and compare the input and output frequencies.
Explain the differences in the output waveforms obtained in the experiment for full-wave
rectification without smoothing and with smoothing
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