Transition to Physics II

This assignment is focused mainly on some lab-related exercises that can be done without the initial materials.  It also includes some short videos of some of the key hands-on physical systems used in the lab and as primary examples in the class (including first-semester systems such as the incline, rotating systems and a number of others, as well as some of the systems used in the early part of your second-semester course), and some questions associated with the videos.

The first week's content work is focused more heavily on lab-related exercises than on text work.  One reason for this is that these exercises can be done before you receive the initial materials package.  Some students will not have registered until near the end of the registration materials, and can't be expected to receive initial materials in time for Week 2.

We begin with five lab-related exercises.  The total time reported by students for these exercises averages 5 hours; however the time required does vary significantly from one student to another.

1. Using the Timer Program:  A convenient way to time multiple events is with the TIMER program.  The program is simple to use and the instructions are self-explanatory.  Click on the link and do as instructed: Using the Timer Program  This exercise takes most students about 15-30 minutes.  NOTE:  The instructions in the document Using the Timer Program include a Java applet as an alternative to the recommended timer.exe program.  The timer.exe program can easily be made to work on most Windows computers and some Macs.  The Java applet should work on just about any computer.
2. Error Analysis I:  It is important in an experimental science to have a basic understanding of error and uncertainty.  The exercise Error Analysis I is designed to develop a basic sense of error and uncertainty, including some rudimentary statistical concepts.  This is actually a first-semester exercise, and students who have completed it in my first-semester course need not repeat it.  However these ideas are not always covered in first-semester courses, and the exercise is therefore included here.  A student not initially familiar with these ideas will typically require a couple of hours to complete the experiment; if you're familiar with these concepts it might require only about half that long. 
3. Error Analysis Part II, Data Program:   This exercise further develops the statistical ideas of the Error Analysis I exercise. This exercise typically requires between 1 and 3 hours.
4. Fitting a Straight Line: This is a pretty standard technique.  In this exercise you will fit straight lines to data manually rather than by a calculator or a computer.  To understand what's going on in data analysis, it's useful to have experience with the manual process; the process is quick and handy for 'back-of-envelope' calculations.  A student experienced in manually fitting straight lines to data can complete the exercise in less than an hour.  Most students report times between 40 minutes and 2 hours.
5. Hypothesis Testing with Time Intervals: This exercise demonstrates one test of whether the results of an experiment are supported by data.  Students report that this exercise requires between 30 minutes and 1 hour.