Module 2 Overview
As engineers, many of you will be involved in various aspects of design and development. After you prepare a design, the next stage often involves experimentation or testing to evaluate a prototype or idea. Alternatively, it might be necessary for you to conduct experiments to determine critical parameters necessary for your design. APSC100 Module 2 will help you to learn and develop skills and techniques to prepare you for these tasks.
APSC 100 Module 2 focuses on the following areas:
- The development of basic laboratory skills and the critical evaluation of results, plus a knowledge of measurement techniques, data management, and error analysis.
- Providing instruction and hands-on experience in designing experiments.
- Developing formal report writing skills through guidance and practice.
- Reinforcing basic physics and chemistry concepts with a hands-on approach.
Please see the
Schedule section of the website for a detailed organization of the course.
Due dates: All assignments and reports are due one week after the start time of the lab except the error analysis worksheet which is due by 3 PM on the Monday of week 2, outside Stirling 405 (in the locked box)and the project which is due by 3PM on the Thursday of Week 13.
Students will work in pairs for all of the tutorial labs and experiments. You can choose your own partners. Although you work in pairs, individual reports and assignments are required.
- The error analysis worksheet in conjunction with the error analysis guide found in the manual gives you a chance to learn and practice the analysis techniques that you will have to use for every lab during this course.
- The tutorial labs in weeks 2 and 3 are designed to help you understand concepts of measurement error and error analysis and also to introduce you to the important points to consider when designing your own experiments.
- The experiments you will do in weeks 4-9 have well laid out background and procedures. These labs are aimed at giving you experience in a variety of areas as well as to show you how a good experiment is designed.
You will alternate physics and chemistry labs for 6 weeks, doing a total of 3 physics and 3 chemistry experiments.
- The project experiments in the last three weeks of term are intended to give you practical experience in designing your own experiments. There are a total of 10 possible project experiments.
