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Phy 231
Your 'collaborative labs' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.
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You will participate during the semester in two series of collaborative lab activities.
The first is designed to be relatively painless, and to begin to develop a degree of teamwork and collaboration.
These activities are designed for teams of four individuals, each with a specific function:
The designer will come up with the idea for the activity and will specify for other team members how the activity is to be conducted.
The experimenter will follow the designer's instructions to set up the experiment and collect data.
The analyzer will analyze the data.
The interpreter will describe what the results mean.
For each series of activities, you will participate in four different investigations, one as designer, another as experimenter, another as analyzer and another as interpreter.
As each investigation progresses, you will follow the work of your fellow team members.
Please summarize the above, as best you can, in your own words:
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The first series of activities will be spread out over the first half of the semester, the second series over the second half of the semester.
The first series will be based on systems you have seen in the Key Systems videos.
You will begin by describing at least three ideas for investigations related to the Key Systems videos. Valid ideas will ultimately be developed proposals, each of which will describe a question that could be investigated and tested using simple materials such as those seen in the videos. You will eventually develop three proposals, one of which will be chosen for an investigation. You will be the designer for that investigation.
At this point we're just beginning to explore ideas for the first series of investigations. Your instructor will work with you to further develop your ideas, and perhaps to explore other related possibilities.
Right now you don't have a wide variety of experimental techniques available to you, so this first series of investigations will be relatively simple.
List below three ideas for things you think might be fairly easy to test, based on the systems you have seen so far.
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Discuss your first idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
I discussed possible tests with three other people that are taking Physics, however they are taking it through a different school. Following with the first video, we thought about a way to measure the frequency, and amplitude of a pendulum during a given period. Instead of holding the pendulum, it can be attached to a fix position that allows it to swing freely. This way, we will be able to get a more accurate measure of the results. We can try first, by releasing the pendelum from different heights. From there, we can compare the results from the heights and comment on any differences and similarties and why we may think these have occured. We may also choose to test different string lengths. Testing different masses can better help us understand the reactions caused by its motion. By testing different masses and heights, we can determine how another object my act without actually having to do the experiment. Understanding these terms are not only important because they are used in the following Physics class, but becuase of their applications in everyday life, and possible future jobs. In order to perform this test we will need a piece of yarn or string to hold the pendulum. Plus, multiple masses, and a stable, fixed position to release the pendulum. We need to come up with a way to measure the time it takes for the pendulum to complete one oscillatino, as well as the distance the object is to be dropped from. This can be done by using the TIMER program and a ruler.
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Discuss your second idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
For our second idea, we discussed testing acceleration, and velocity. Since the topic is so important in phsyics, we wanted to keep exapnding on the subject. Like the tests we did in the lab in the beginning, we want to an object rolling down a plane. We want to be able to test multiple objects varying in size and mass. This way we will be able to compare results and understand why certain objects act the way they do. Testing from multiple heights gives us a chance to observe different situations. We talked about testing on different surfaces. By doing this, we can see the change in acceleration and velocity due to friction. In order to perform these tests, we would need multiple different objects to roll down an incline, however, we do not want them to be so different from each other. We want to be able to compare the results and relate the objects to each other. We would need to find different surfaces to test on, and the means to raise and lower the incline.
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Discuss your third idea. How do you think it might be tested? What sort of items do you think might be required? How do you think your idea might be tested?
For out final idea, we considered coming up with a way of testing density and water level. Our idea was to fill a cup up with water, and then drop an object in it, such as a coin or something of the sort. By doing that we can measure the increase in the water height. Based on previous knowledge, we believe the water will reach a point where it is just above the surface of the cup. We want to see how many coins was can add before the water tension breaks and spills the water, and from there we can calculate teh amount of water displacement. We need to make sure that we write down the amount of water we start out with in the container. For this experiment we would need a cup, or container, and the same sort of coins, or objects to drop into the cup. We would need to find a way to measure the amount of water above the cup line. We can then continue the test, by choosing another sort of coin to see how the change in mass affect the displacement of water.
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Your instructor is trying to gauge the typical time spent by students on these activities. Please answer the following question as accurately as you can, understanding that your answer will be used only for the stated purpose and has no bearing on your grades:
Approximately how long did it take you to complete this activity?
1 hour
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Very good ideas.
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