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Physics Laboratory Experiments

By Jerry D. Wilson, Cecilia A. Hernández-Hall

8th Edition © 2015
Discipline:Physics
Course:Introductory Physics
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About your course materials

This market-leading manual for the first-year physics laboratory course offers a wide range of class-tested experiments designed specifically for use in small to mid-size lab programs. A series of integrated experiments emphasizes the use of computerized instrumentation and includes a set of "computer-assisted experiments" that allow students and instructors to gain experience with modern equipment. It also lets instructors determine the appropriate balance of traditional versus computer-based experiments for their courses. By analyzing data through two different methods, students gain a greater understanding of the concepts behind the experiments. The Eighth Edition is updated with four new economical labs to accommodate shrinking department budgets and thirty new Pre-Lab Demonstrations, designed to capture students' interest prior to the lab and requiring only widely available materials and items.

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AboutTable of contentsResourcesPricing & formatsRelated products

About this product

This market-leading manual for the first-year physics laboratory course offers a wide range of class-tested experiments designed specifically for use in small to mid-size lab programs. A series of integrated experiments emphasizes the use of computerized instrumentation and includes a set of "computer-assisted experiments" that allow students and instructors to gain experience with modern equipment. It also lets instructors determine the appropriate balance of traditional versus computer-based experiments for their courses. By analyzing data through two different methods, students gain a greater understanding of the concepts behind the experiments. The Eighth Edition is updated with four new economical labs to accommodate shrinking department budgets and thirty new Pre-Lab Demonstrations, designed to capture students' interest prior to the lab and requiring only widely available materials and items.

The standard manual includes ten experiments integrating computerized and traditional instruction, with components that can be used independently of one another or in combination for maximum flexibility. An additional four integrated experiments are available for custom orders.

Customize the manual to include any combination of experiments that best suits your course, including the commonly used experiments featured in the standard text and additional experiments available through COMPOSE.

Each experiment includes six components designed to aid students in their analysis and interpretation and to support a consistent and proven instructional approach: Advance Study Assignment, Introduction and Objectives, Equipment Needed, Theory, Experimental Procedures, and Laboratory Report and Questions.

Table of contents

Chapters

Contents
Preface
Introduction*Preview this chapter
Ch 1: The Scientific Method and Thought
Ch 2: Experimental Uncertainty (Error) and Data Analysis
Ch 3: Measurement Instruments (Mass, Volume, and Density)
Ch 4: (GL) Simple Pendulum Parameters (Angle, Mass, Length, and Damping)
Ch 5: (TI-GL/CI) Uniformly Accelerated Motion: Measurement of g
Ch 6: The Addition and Resolution of Vectors: The Force Table
Ch 7: (TI-GL/CI) Newton's Second Law: The Atwood Machine
Ch 8: (TI/CI) Conservation of Linear Momentum
Ch 9: (GL) Projectile Motion: The Ballistic Pendulum
Ch 10: Centripetal Force
Ch 11: (TI/CI) Friction
Ch 12: (GL) Work and Energy
Ch 13: Potential Energy of a Spring
Ch 14: (GL) Torques, Equilibrium, and Center of Gravity
Ch 15: (GL) Simple Machines: Mechanical Advantage
Ch 16: (TI/CI) Simple Harmonic Motion
Ch 17: Standing Waves in a String
Ch 18: Temperature and Thermometer Calibration
Ch 19: The Thermal Coefficient of Linear Expansion
Ch 20: Specific Heats of Metals
Ch 21: Archimedes' Principle: Buoyancy and Density
Ch 22: Fields and Equipotentials
Ch 23: (TI/CI) Ohm's Law
Ch 24: The Measurement of Resistance: Ammeter-Voltmeter Methods and Wheatstone Bridge Method
Ch 25: The Temperature Dependence of Resistance
Ch 26: (TI/CI) Resistances in Series and Parallel
Ch 27: Joule Heat
Ch 28: The RC Time Constant (Manual Timing)
Ch 29: (TI/CI) The RC Time Constant (Electronic Timing)
Ch 30: Reflection and Refraction
Ch 31: Spherical Mirrors and Lenses
Ch 32: (TI) Polarized Light (CI) Malus's Law
Ch 33: The Prism Spectrometer: Dispersion and the Index of Refraction
Ch 34: Line Spectra and the Rydberg Constant
Ch 35: (TI) The Transmission Diffraction Grating: Measuring the Wavelengths of Light (CI) Single-Slit and Double-Slit Diffraction
Ch 36: Detection of Nuclear Radiation: The Geiger Counter
Ch 37: Radioactive Half-Life
Ch 38: The Absorption of Nuclear Radiation
Appendix A: Material Properties
Appendix B: Mathematical and Physical Constants
Appendix C: Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Deviation
Appendix D: Standard Deviation and Method of Least Squares
Appendix E: Graphing Exponential Functions
Show more

IntroductionPreview this chapter ↗

Why We Make Experimental Measurements ↗
General Laboratory Procedures ↗

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