Physics307L:People/Knockel/Lab0

Oscilloscope lab summary

1. Summary of lab: basically, we practiced setting up and using an oscilloscope to get used to the online notebook and the equipment in the lab.
2. Link to my notebook: August 29 lab notebook
3. My values for AC fall time: I received three values for fall time by measuring the time it took for the voltage to drop to 10%: 52ms, 53ms, and 52ms. The average of these is 52.3ms. I'm not too sure what error bars are, but the standard deviation here is $\displaystyle \sigma=\sqrt{\frac{1}{3}\times\left(\left(52-52.3\right)^2+\left(53-52.3\right)^2+\left(52-52.3\right)^2 \right)}ms=0.47ms$
4. What I learned: I learned a lot about how oscilloscopes work and a little about editing a wiki. I don't really get the RC constant...
5. Fun things I explored during lab: I pushed a lot of random buttons which did nothing amazing, but when I didn't plug in a ground cable into the function generator, the screen looked like the the waves moving in the ocean.
6. how to make the lab better: hmmm... maybe say when this summary is due? It was very helpful when you explained the AC Coupling in front of the class. Maybe if you would have done the same for the RC constant things would have gone smoother.

Koch comments (02:15, 30 August 2007 (EDT)):

• 3: That's OK, we will spend a lot of time talking about error bars and the goal is to be an expert in it by the end of the semester (not right away). It's a bit complicated for me to spell out here, but calculating the standard deviation of your measurements is a great start (also nice use of math by the way: I don't know how to do that yet). It's slightly different to calculate the standard error in your estimate of the mean, and we'll talk about it later (probably the next lecture). If you want a preview, you can try this: http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/A103735.html
• 4: Great that you learned a lot! Yeah, don't worry about RC, you're right I should have explained it more.
• 5: The waves were groovy
• 6: Thank you for the constructive comments. I think it will be more clear when we're doing "real" labs when the summary is due. I was thinking at the end of the second lab session, but maybe that won't be practical. I'll send you an email about your final grade for all of this.