User:Alex G. Benedict/Notebook/Physics 307L: Junior Lab/Oscilloscope
Oscilloscope Lab Summary
Summary of Activities
During this lab we performed the activities listed on Physics307L:Labs/Oscilloscope, with the exception of the optional activities.
SJK 16:40, 24 September 2010 (EDT)
I think future lab summaries will be a bit longer, but you have the right idea with this. I like the attempt at the quantitative error analysis.
Lab Notebook
My lab notebook and data are on User:Alex_G._Benedict/Notebook/Physics_307L:_Junior_Lab/Oscilloscope_Lab.
Fall Time
As can be seen in the lab notebook in the embedded spreadsheet on sheet 2, the fall time varies based on the frequency of the generated square wave, for frequencies around 6ish hertz, it is about 20ms.
The uncertainty in my measurements is about 0.14*the expected tau. Which is the average of the relative errors.SJK 16:31, 24 September 2010 (EDT)
This is a good attempt at quantitative reporting with uncertainty and comparison to accepted / expected values. I don't think the expected values are correct, at least for the true fall time. But the practice is good, and when you get to the "real" labs it will be easier to compare with accepted values, and we will learn more methods for producing confidence intervals (uncertainty) on our measurements.
What Was Learned
In this lab I learned more about how to use an oscilloscope, and how to embed spreadsheets into wiki pages thanks to Embed a Google Spreadsheet and User:Alexandra_S._Andrego/Notebook/Physics_307L/2009/09/14.
Things Explored Outside of SLP
Nothing really, we stuck to the directions pretty closely.
Improvements
Adding a standard frequency of the square wave to measure during the AC coupling section. I would suggest a 5Hz wave.
