SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
S.7&/4
MEMORANDUM
0
To
.SEJ,.ATE
.
?
From .........
SENATE
.
.
COMMITT.E.E...ON ...
UNDERGRADUATE ..........
IES
............................... .. ................. .................... ...............
Subject ................
C ?
PROPOSAL...
NEW ...
-
?
Date. ........NOVEMBER.. 13,19.7.5........................................................
PHYS
131-2
MOTION 1:
?
"That Senate approve and recommend approval to the
Board of Governors, as set forth in S.75-184,
PHYS 131-2 - General Physics Laboratory."
MOTION 2: ?
"That Senate approve the offering of PHYS 131-2 -
General Physics Laboratory first in the Summer
Semester 1976-2."
r
Action taken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate
Studies at its meeting of November 12th, 1975 gives rise to the
following motion:
That Senate approve and recommend approval to the
Board of Governors PHYS.131-2 - General Physics Laboratory.
JASY.p'
That Senate approve the offering of PHYS.131-2 -
General Physics Laboratory first in the Summer semester, 1976 *
is ?
Daniel R. Birch
ants
att.
* Offering will be contingent on approval of resources.
Approval of the course by SCUS and Senate does not imply
allocation of resources.
SCWJdrIVI
SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
MEMORANDUM
From ?
S.
Aronoff ?
.
Dean of
of Science
October 24,. 1975
Date................................................................................................
At its meeting of October 16, 1975, the Faculty of Science passed the
following motion:
"That the Faculty approve the proposal for a new course,
PHYS 131-2, General Physics Laboratory, and forward to
SCUS for consideration."
This course is intended to prepare students in Physics for 200—level
lab courses, and also to simplify a problem with regard to transfer credit
from other institutions. It will result in no change to the 200—level
lab course.
The supporting documentation for this proposal is attached.
.-
/pe 1
End.
1
RefefCA1
SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
F-75-7
MEMORANDUM
To
?
Faculty Members
?
.From.. E. Lambert
Faculty of Science
Faculty Secretary
Subject. ?
New Course Proposal
PHYS
131-2 ?
. ?
October 6,175
At its meeting of August 6, 1975 the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
of the Faculty of Science discussed a proposal for a new course, PHYS
131-2, "General Physics Laboratory" which would be a first year lab
offering students experience with the equipment and practices used in
Physics experiments. It was noted that in the future the Physics Depart-
ment might require that students take
PHYS
131 in conjunction with
PHYS
102, but that this would not be necessary at the present time.
The Committee passed the following motion unanimously:
"That the Committee approve new course proposal
PHYS
131-2
'General Physics Laboratory' and forward to Faculty for
consideration."
The Department requests that
PHYS
131 be scheduled for offering in the
Summer Semester 76-2.
Supporting documentation for this proposal is attached.
/pe 1
End.
40-
SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
To
...................... Dr... S.... Aronoff
.
................................... . ......... .............
?
.....................
Dew .... o.f...S.c.len.ce.
.............................. ..........................
?
Sjbjed
............
New .. Course ...
Pi.3l-2
.................................. ................
From
...............
.Dr . . A.E.Curzon, .Cha.n
Dprt..entof Physics
Dow..... . ........ 8 ...
?
u1
y
... ...97.5.
....................................................... ..............
The attached documentation describes a proposed new
laboratory course, P131-2. The course has been approved
by the Physics Department and is being submitted for
consideration by the faculty. It Is hoped that the course
can be first offered In the Sumer Semester of 1976.
AEC/mgj
?
A.E. Curzon
w )
2
$ATZ. -
?
(
,
1-75—/3
AC3I..E ?R3POS,\L TOM
Ca1nJar ?
fcr:ioi
?
Dpartecnt:_PHYSICS
/Titlt
AbrsvLatin cod.:PH
YS
Couree uber: 131
?
Credit )Iours:2
?
Vdctr:(0-0-4)
?
/
?
of Course: GENERAL PHYSICS. LABORATORY
Calendar Description of Courss
Elementary experiments
in optics, electricity, mechanics and
( ?
heat, that are designed to augment
General Physics I and
.11.
Nature of
Course
Laboratory
Prerequisites
(or special instructions);
Physics 102,or equivalent, should
precede or be taken concurrently; or by
permission of the department.
':
coin. (courses), it any, Is being dropped from the calendar at this coup. a
a;proved: None
Scheduli nx
Now
frequently vii]
the course be offered?
Two o three
it
jmes
p
ez annum in
ciance w
accor
n aemanci.
Sster in which
the course will first be offered?
Summer 1976
Which of your present faculty would be available to oaks the popo;ed offering
possible? All
3.
Obecttvee of the Course
To familiarize the student with the basic instrumentation that is commonly
used in making physical measurements. To provide the student with experience in
carrying out, and interpreting the results of quantitative physical experiments
with due recognition of systematic and statistical errors of observation. To
illustrate in practical terms the basic physical principles presented in the first
year Physics courses.
4.
4 j
etry and
S23ce
Requ1rcent
(for Information only)
What additional resources will be required in the following areas:
Faculty
The course can be mounted on a temporary basis with the
present faculty
Staff and with the
assistance of
post doctoral fellows.
Nil'
Library Nil
Audio Visual
Nil
Space Nil--Adoption of this course will entail complete utilization of present space.
Equipment $23,790.00
?
I
5, )proval
Date: ?
197S ?
i
?
.-'
?
Ch*irA, scis
SCS 73-34b:- (hen
coi.tLng this form, for LmatructLoS see
Mesomidum SC%$ 73-349.
Attach course
outlin e).
?
3-
INTRODUCTION
The laboratory courses presently offered by the
Physics Department are at the 200-, 300- and 400- level.
Over the years it has become increasingly clear that a
100-level physics laboratory course should be included
as an integral part of the course offerings in physics.
A 100-level Physics laboratory would enhance the success
of students in our upper level laboratories, provide a
much needed experience and background for all first
year science students and at the same time help to
alleviate many of the transfer credit problems that we
have encountered in recent years.
When the physics programme was originally set-up,
we felt that university physics laboratory courses
should be postponed until students had taken a first-
year physics course: then more interesting and more
sophisticated experiments could be offered to students
in a 200-level laboratory (this idea was
probably
unique in
Canadian
universities). Such an approach
has been successful and stimulating for exceptional
students, however difficulties have been experienced
by the vast majority of others, most of whom lack
adequate high-school physics laboratory
training.
The
department now recogizes that there is a definite need
for a first-year university physics laboratory as a
4
-2-
•, /
I
pre-requisite to our 200-level laboratory.
The
inclusion
of a first-year physics laboratory
will also provide our students with a background that
is more comparable with that obtained by students from
other universities
and colleges.
To the best of our knowledge all the post
?
secondary
institutions
in British Columbia provide
their first year science students with Physics laboratory
experience. We have also found from a brief survey
that at most Canadian universities a physics laboratory
is part of the undergraduate requirement in science.
This seems to make good sense to us, considering the
increasing
use of sophisticated instrumentation in all
of the natural sciences. Also it is thus clear that
a first year physics laboratory course at SFU would
help to alleviate many actual and anticipated transfer
credit problems.
We realize that a considerable fraction of the
students taking a first year physics laboratory would
be those majoring in the biological sciences, and
intend
to offer laboratory experiments that will be both
interesting and useful to such students. To this end
the attached list of experiments was drawn up with the
assistance of Dr. Belton and Dr. Burr of the Department
.
5
--.-4--.....--..
. ?
I ?
-.
? ...
.
?
I.
/ ?
•• ?
3
./
/
?
of Biological Sciences. It is hoped that further addition.
/ ?
and modifications will occur as result of consultation
/ ?
with other members of the faculty of science.
/
In summary, the physics departmónt recognizes the need
for a first-year physics laboratory course. The
introduction of such a course would enable SFU Science
students to obtain a background in physics comparable to
that provided by the vast majority of Canadian Universities
and Colleges. Physics 131-2 would also adequately prepare
inexperienced physics students for their second year and
would simplify the granting and obtaining of transfer
credit for incoming and outgoing students respectively.
We r;ecommend that it consist of one 4 hour session per week,
and that it be designated
Physics 131-2, General Physics Laboratory. We also
recommend that physic. 131-2 be taken concurrently with
Physics 102-3.
Object of the First-
y
ear Physic. Laboratory
4
// ?
I
The object of the laboratory includes the followings
( j
) To familiarize the student with the basic instru-
mentation that is commonly used in making physical
measurements.
(ii) To offer the student experience in carrying
Out
quantitative physical experiments, with due
recognition of systematic and statistical errors
of observation.
To illustrate in practical
1
terms
the basic physical
principles presented in our first year physics
courses, particularly Physic. 102-3.
Calendar Description
Physics 131-2. General Physic. Laboratory.
Experiments in optics, electricity, m,chanica,
and heat.
(0-0-4)
Prerequisites Physics 102-3 must precede or be taken
concurrently.
•
7
Physics 131-3.
-5-
Introductory Physics Laboratory.
1
List of Experiments
1. Refraction of Light
Ray tracing to verify Snells Law and determine
refractive index of glass slab; ray tracing for a
glass prism and a water prism, find the refractive
indices by minimum deviation.
2.
Thin Lenses
Determination of the focal lengths of converging
and diverging
lenseS;
verification of the thin lens
formula, magnification.
3.
The Com
p
ound Microscope
Includes setting up a simple compound microscope
on an optical rail, location of images, determination
of magnification and comparison with simple theory;
demonstration of the basic components of a modern
optical microscope.
4. The
Spectrometer
Use of the prism and grating spectrometer, in-
cluding observations on the spectral distribution from
tungsten, sodium and mercury lamps; measurement of
wavelength.
-
?
8
•75.
Periodic Motion
Motion
Oscillation of
a simple pendulum is observed and
compared with the theory for small displacements and
g is determined; centripetal force is measured using
a conical pendulum.
6.
Calorimetry
Measurement of the specific heat of copper; the
latent heat of
fusion of ice; use and calibration of
a thermocouple.
7.
D.C. Measurements
Resistance measurements
using a voltmeter and
ammeter, resistance
in series and parallel; the EMF
and terminal voltage of a battery using a slidewire
potentiometer.
8. Alternating Current and the Oscilloscope
Principles of operation of an oscilloscope,
observation of various waveforms; the half-wave
rectifier; AC and DC meters; decay of current
in a
capacitor-resistor circuit.
9.
Particle Size by Diffraction
Determination of mean particle
size of, for example,
lycopodium powder by means of laser diffraction;
com-
parison with measurement of mean
particle size with a
microscope, and also by weighing a large quantity of powder.
-7-
10.
Polarized Light
Production of polarized light; verification of the
Law of Malus; determination of refractive index from the
Brewster angle for glass; measurement of optical rotation.
11.
Resolution of a Microscope and the Principles of
Phase Contrast
Experimental determination of the resolution of
an objective lens using a grating as object and com-
parison with simple theory; use of the phase contrast
technique to observe a phase grating object. Both of
these experiments use a simple set-up on an optical rail.
40
1^
?
12. Particle Counting
Determination of the characteristics of a Geiger
tube; the absorption of B particles in aluminum and
other materials.
13.
Measurement of Surface Tension.of a Liquid
Two
techniques are used: the capillary tube
method and measurement of the angle of contact; measure
-
ment of variation in surface tension with temperature
using Jaeger's method.
14.
Wave Motion and Standing Waves
Observation of standing
waves in wires and air.
10
• ? S ?
I
-8-
/
?
References
For most experiments the textbook used for
Physics 101 and 102 will be adequate.
For experiments 9 and 11, supplemental notes
will
be provided in the laboratory.
For experiment 13, "Experimental Physics for
Students", R.M. Whittle and J. Yarwood, Chapman and Hall,
1973,
p.
172.
S.
11
