PHY 113 — General Physics I
Course Description
First course in a two-semester sequence for students in the life sciences. Covers Newtonian mechanics, including Newton's laws, straight-line and circular motion, energy, linear and angular momentum, harmonic motion, sound, wave properties, and fluid dynamics. Calculus is used as needed.
Location & Time
Labs are held in B&L 267.
- Afternoon: 2:00 PM – 4:40 PM
- Evening: 4:50 PM – 7:30 PM
- Night: 7:40 PM – 10:20 PM
Statistics & Error Analysis
Prior to the first lab, go through the statistics & error analysis tutorial. Print out the accompanying document, and go through the examples.
Labs
Lab 1 — Statistics and Error Propagation
Develop familiarity with the statistical tools used to describe experimental data, including mean, standard deviation, and error estimators. Apply these tools to estimate measurement uncertainties and propagate them through derived quantities such as areas and ratios.
Lab 2 — Gravitational Acceleration
Use an Atwood machine to measure the acceleration due to gravity, accounting for systematic effects such as pulley friction and rotational inertia that prevent a direct free-fall measurement. Analyze how these apparatus imperfections propagate into the final result and compare your measurement to the accepted value of g.
Lab 3 — Conservation of Momentum
Verify the conservation of energy and momentum through two independent experiments: elastic and inelastic collisions on a linear track, and the launch of a projectile captured by a ballistic pendulum. Both methods provide an independent estimate of the projectile velocity, allowing direct comparison of results.
Lab 4 — Moments of Inertia
Measure the moment of inertia of three objects about a specified rotational axis using a photogate timer, and verify the parallel axis theorem. In the second part, investigate Hooke's Law by measuring the oscillation period of a spring-mass system as a function of the attached mass.
Lab 5 — Thermal and Mechanical Energy
Observe the conversion of mechanical energy into heat by turning a crank that drives friction against an aluminum cylinder, and measure the resulting temperature rise of the cylinder. Use these measurements to estimate Joule's constant, the proportionality between Joules and Calories.