Physics 201/202 lab manual downloads


Be sure to consult the 201 syllabus or 202 syllabus to determine the order in which the experiments are done.

If you use Adobe Acroread, download the .PDF version. If you use Ghostview or Ghostscript, download the .PS version. These are not in order, consult the syllabus as to which lab is current for a given week.

Some pre-labs require that you perform statistical analysis or linear regressions on small data sets. The programs statistics.exe and regression.exe and chisquared.exe are Windows executables, the console programs that you have used in lab, to perform these calculations. Simply download them and place them in your working directory. To use them (afterwards) double-click on them. Linux users should download the sources and Makefile and compile them yourselves.

If you are still having trouble with vectors, try this program that will help you check your vector arithmetic. here is the source code for Linux users.

Important note about the lab report programs. The web-interface programs used in lab to report and analyze your data will perform all of the computations that you do, and check the results against the values that you enter. It will allow a 6 percent error tolerance. If you round up or down any result beyond this tolerance, it will report the discrepancy as an error. Do not round past 6 percent of your computed values! The programs were written this way for a reason. This is not a bug. It simply requires that you perform calculations accurate to 6 percent of the correct value. If you obtain a measurement in the 201 lab that has insufficient significant figures for this level of precision, the measurement is useless, and needs to be made with more care or precision.

Entire 201 lab book (PDF). (2007 version)

Entire 201 lab book (DjVu).

DjVu (de'ja vu) is much nicer than PDF, it is smaller (file size) and rescales and prints better. It looks exactly the same on all platforms. Free DjVu viewer.

The complete 202 lab book for 2008 will be available shortly.

Appendices with conversions, statistical tables, formulas and constants. xml version

The MathML (xml) versions are not meant for printing, for that purpose get a PDF or PS file. The MathML versions are put here in case you find yourself working at a computer without printer access, or software to read PDF or PS files, only a browser.

Individual labs

Description     PDF     DJVUMathML
Introduction (mandatory**) pdf djvu xml
Data and statistics pdf djvuxml
Measurements pdf djvu xml
Free Fall pdf djvu xml
Vector addition pdf djvu xml
Projectiles pdf djvu xml
Friction pdf djvu xml
Power and friction pdf djvuxml
Newton's laws* pdf djvu xml
Momentum conservation pdf djvu xml
Circular motion pdf djvu xml
Static equilibrium pdf djvu` xml
Hooke's law pdf djvu xml
Rotational dynamics pdf djvu xml
Mech. equiv. of heat pdf djvu xml
Waves on strings pdf djvu xml
Waves in air columns pdf djvu xml
Speed of sound pdf djvu xml
E field mapping pdf djvu xml
Linear circuits pdf djvu xml
AC circuits (Oscilloscope) pdf djvu xml
Charge to mass ratio pdf djvuxml
Electromagnetic induction pdf djvuxml
AC filters pdf djvuxml
Snel's law pdf djvuxml
Lenses and mirrors pdf djvuxml
Interference and diffraction pdf djvuxml

*-Pasco electronic data acquisition instructions. **-contains the chi-squared tables.