Phys 226L Fundamental Physics Laboratory: E&M

K. Oskar Negron
Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. (Class 18549)
Thursday, 11:30 a.m. - 2:20 p.m. (Class 17859)

Location: MH 664
Email: koskar@csu.fullerton.edu
Website: http://koskarn.wordpress.com/
Office Location: MH 612
Office Hours: Thursdays 10:50-11:30 a.m. and 2:20-3:30 p.m. or by appointment.
I reserve the right to change portions of the syllabus.

Course Description
The purpose of the laboratory component of a physics course is to enhance the students understanding of physical principles learned in the lectures by performing experiments to test the validity
of these principles. The experiments we will perform require the same steps used in a university
research lab: careful observation, scientific measurement, interpretation of data, and communication of the results.
The manuals for this laboratory are provided on the Physics Department website at http://
physics.fullerton.edu/department/lab-schedules, and are also available on the computers
at each lab station. The student must read the current weeks lab manual in advance.
Concurrent courses: Physics 226.
Note(s): A minimum grade of C is required in this course to progress.
Credit Hours: 1

Course Policies
Each of the experiments will be performed by a team of 2 students. The members of each team work
together to set up the equipment and record the data. The members may discuss the experiment,
required calculations and graphs, and the results obtained, but each student must independently
perform all calculations and prepare a laboratory report.

Lab rules
Arrive to class on time and complete the experiment in the scheduled time.
Familiarize yourself with the lab beforehand by reading over the lab manual before class.
You are responsible for leaving your lab station neat and with all the proper lab equipment.

 Please be courteous to others.

No food allowed in the lab.
Failure to adhere to any of these rules will result in deduction of marks.

Grade Distribution
Each lab will be weighted equally. Depending on attendance we might might do something with
your lowest lab report. More on that as the semester ends, however no promises.

Final Exam
There is a final exam scheduled on May 7, 2015 at the beginning of class and you will have one hour
to complete said exam. The exam will be weighted equally as a lab report. It will cover concepts
from the course; I will post a study guide one week in advance.
Letter Grade Distribution
92.00
89.00
87.00
82.00
79.00
77.00

A
AB+
B
BC+

70.00
67.00
62.00
59.00
< 59.00

C
D+
D
DF

Class Web page

There should be a link to our class page in Titanium. The website is also found at the beginning
of this document. To find your specific class click on courses and then find your section. It is
labeled by time, and when prompted for the passkey enter Kiwi without the quotations. I will
have updates relating to the course, such as grade updates and so. More importantly, I state what
I expect for the lab report of each student. You may find some examples of exemplar lab reports.

Lab Reports
Lab reports should be turned in electronically via email by Thursday at 12:00 a.m., unless stated
otherwise. That is to say your lab report should be turned in no later than 11:59:59 on Wednesday.
If it is turned in any time after midnight, I will deduct marks. When sending your lab report please
do so in pdf or doc/docx. I will not accept txt nor wp (Wordperfect, sorry Corel) or excel files.
When submitting your lab report name your file as follows:
physics226L {Section time first two digits} {LastName} {First Name} L{Lab Number}
where for section you will put either 8 for the 8:00 a.m. class or 11 for the 11:30 a.m. class. Failure
to format the name correctly will lead to a deduction of marks. An example of the proper way of
turning in lab 3 for the 8:00 a.m. class,
physics226L 8 Negron Kevin L3
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When submitting your lab report via email write as subject

Physics 226L Lab {insert the lab number}.
Every lab should contain, unless told otherwise: an introduction, results (data, graphs, etc.), an
explanation of the results, answers to the questions (when appropriate), and conclusion (include an
analysis of the lab, for instance were there any errors and what could we do to improve the results).
Please include the name of your partner at the beginning of the document, preferably after your
name. Questions will be graded on correctness, if applicable.
I will not be returning lab reports. I will, however, be given some remarks to certain lab reports
that are below average in quality, via email. If you do not receive an email, probably you are on
the correct track, and only have minor mistakes or non at all.
Lastly, I would like to impress that while you are working in a group each person should do an
independent lab report write-up (furthermore, calculations and data analysis). Additionally, you
should never copy other groups data or make up data to fit the theory; this is scientific misconduct
and you will receive null or low marks on your lab report. No matter how inaccurate your data is,
it is unacceptable to take other groups data as your own. It defeats the purpose of this lab to do
so. You may compare you data, however do not take it or modify your own.

Excused Absences
Students may have a valid reason to miss a class. When any of the following reasons directly conflict
with class meeting times, students are responsible for informing the instructor of the reason for the
absence. Excused absences include, but are not limited to: (1) Illness or injury to the student; (2)
Death, injury, or serious illness of an immediate family member or the like; (3) Religious reasons
(California Education Code section 89320); (4) Jury duty or government obligation; (5) University
sanctioned or approved activities. The instructor is not obligated to consider other absences as
excused. However, for all of these the student will require to provide proper documentation.
Make Up Policy
If the previous section applies to the student, we can make an arrangement for the missing work.
Each case will be dealt accordingly.
Missing Labs or Excessive Tardiness
Should student miss lab without a valid excuse the student will receive a zero on the lab report.
Should the student be excessively tardy (tardy will be considered more than 15 minutes late), the
student will not be admitted to the lab and thus will receive a zero for that particular lab. If the
student misses more than 3 lab meetings, excused or unexcused, your final grade for the class will
be an F.
Deduction of Marks
Any of the following will result in deductions.
1. Missing sections of the lab report
2. Incomplete measurements, including but not limited to missing units
3. Incomplete or illegible calculations
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4. Incomplete (unlabeled), unclear, or obviously wrong graphs (when required)

5. Missing, incorrect, or illegible answers to the questions in the text
6. Incorrect argument in discussion or conclusion
7. Untidy laboratory station
8. Abuse of apparatus
9. Failure to follow the instructions given in the laboratory text or by the instructor
10. Failure to equally participate in performing the experiment
11. Tardiness, up to five minutes is acceptable

Academic Honesty Policy Summary

Students who violate university standards of academic integrity are subject to disciplinary sanctions,
including a score of zero on an assignment or exam, failure in the course and suspension from the
university. Since dishonesty in any form harms the individual, other students, and the university,
policies on academic integrity are strictly enforced. Each act of academic dishonesty will result in an
academic penalty and a report to the Dean of Students Judicial Affairs Office. Examples of academic
dishonesty include, but are not limited to: plagiarism. Taking the work of another and presenting
as your own without giving credit to that source, whether that material is paraphrased or copied in
verbatim or near-verbatim form. This includes copying lab from old labs, or websites. Submitting
labs which have been copied from other sources, including from old lab reports, whether the wording
is changed or not, constitutes plagiarism and will be treated as such. For more information please
visit http://www.fullerton.edu/senate/documents/PDF/300/UPS300-021.pdf
Consequences
Possible sanctions include but are not limited to, the following: (1) Require the student to redo the
assignment; (2) Require the student to complete another assignment; (3) Assign a grade of zero to
the assignment; (4) Assign a final grade of F for the course. A student may appeal these decisions
according to the Dean of Students Judicial Affairs Office. Multiple violations of this policy will
result in a referral to the Conduct Review Board for possible additional sanctions.

Accommodations for Students with Special Needs

On the CSUF campus, the Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS) has been delegated the authority to certify disabilities and to prescribe specific accommodations for students with documented
disabilities. DSS provides support services for students with mobility limitations, learning disabilities, hearing or visual impairments, and other disabilities. Counselors are available to help students
plan a CSUF experience to meet their individual needs. If you believe you require accommodations
in this course for special needs, contact the Disabled Student Service office in UH 101, (657) 2783117. For more information please visit http://www.fullerton.edu/DSS/

Emergency Information
In the event of an emergency such as earthquake or fire:
Take all your personal belongings and leave the classroom. Use the stairways located at the
east, west, or center of the building.
Do not use the elevator. They may not be working once the alarm sounds.
Go to the lawn area towards Nutwood Avenue. Stay with other class members for further
instruction.
For additional information on exits, fire alarms, and telephones, building evacuation maps
are located near each elevator.
Anyone who may have difficulty evacuating the building should see the instructor.