Design your own lab
This lab is different from all others. Instead of following a lab manual, you will have to
write your own manual, for an experiment you design yourself. Before embarking on that
exercise, the groups are given a specific task, for which limited time is available. You
will have to work together well, in order to get it finished in time. The task is challenging,
but the goal simple and testable (your project will be tested in front of the whole section).
Not being able to complete or accomplish the task will not affect your grade negatively,
but if you do succeed, a bonus point will be given to all members in the group. Please
find the specific instructions on the 2nd page of this manual.
After you finish this initial task, write a short description of how the process of
completing the task went. What were the steps taken? Were they effective? Was there
someone who took charge? How did you correspond to each other? Make a list of things
that you managed to do well as a group (at least 3) and a list of things that went badly (at
least 3). You have to hand in this report to your instructor, but don’t spend more than 15
minutes on it.
Next, you will design your own lab. You will have the option to design a lab using the
optics kit (blue boxes) or the circuit board (both used during some of the earlier labs).
Only if you have a very good idea using a different setup, you can ask the instructor to
give you that material, but it will be his/her decision whether it is feasible/practical
The design should have the following parts:
1. An introduction
2. A small theory section (you can refer to lecture material but the essential things
for the lab should be included)
3. Description of setup and material required
4. The experiment itself
5. Questions (at least 3)
You also need to include the following to show that it all works
a. Graphs/tables/descriptions of the experiments
b. Answers to the questions with explanations
The experiment does not have to be very complicated or long (it will be very much
appreciated if you bring the Nobel prize to LBS though!). It can be things you saw in the
LBS272 homework problems or some idea you had while doing labs or using equipment
on the circuit board/in the optics box that were not used for the labs you have done earlier
or anything. Realize that there is a time limit and the only strict condition (besides
including the above items) is that you have to present a workable lab to the instructor.
Your grade will not depend on the actual physics you do (as long as it makes sense of
course and it works) but more on whether you included all items properly. The instructor
should be able to read your manual and understand what he/she has to do in order to
make it work. Because of the limited time, manage well: divide tasks, communicate and
make a good plan quickly! Creativity will be rewarded, as long as the boundary
conditions are met.
Instructions for the ‘simple’ design task.
You will be given the following material:
•
•
One roll of tape
100 cards (3”x5”)
Your task is to build a device that fulfills the following boundary conditions:
1. You must be able to lift it with one hand
2. You can only use the above material
3. You can only use pieces of tape that are maximally 2” long
4. The device must be able to hold a thick textbook at least 11” above a table
on which the device rests, for a time period of at least 10 seconds, all by
itself.
5. The task must be completed within 20 minutes