You should have a scientific calculator for use during the final examination. Note that calculators with text retrieval are not permitted for the final examination.

The final examination is a hurdle requirement. You must obtain a mark of at least 40% to be eligible to pass the unit. If your mark in the final examination is between 30% and 39% inclusive then you will be a given a second and final chance to attain the required level of performance.

You are expected to present yourself for the final examination at the time and place designated in the University examination timetable. The timetable will be available in draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of examinations and in final form approximately four weeks before the commencement of examinations.

If you receive special consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled in the interval between the regular exam period and the start of the next session.  By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available for a resit during the supplementary examination period and will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments.  Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. You can check the supplementary exam information page on FSE101 in iLearn (bit.ly/FSESupp) for dates, and approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

If you are given a second opportunity to sit the final examination as a result of failing to meet the minimum mark required, you will be offered that chance during the same supplementary examination period and will be notified of the exact day and time after the publication of final results for the unit.

There will be four major in-tutorial tests throughout the term. Each test will be similar to a single final exam problem and take 30 mins. This assessment aims to give students the opportunity to solve problems that require an in-depth understanding of the course material covered to-date.

There will be a ten-minute test during each tutorial from week 3 to week 13 (except for the 4 major tests = 7 minor tests). The tests will comprise a single question, based on the material covered in the tutorial of the previous week. The results of your best 5 tests from the total of seven will contribute 10% of your final mark.

Second Year Physics Laboratories are found in 14SCO (E7B) 217. You should enter from the northern veranda on the second level of 14SCO.

The laboratory component of this unit consists of three experiments illustrating oscillations in mechanical and electrical systems.

If you miss a laboratory, you should apply for disruption of studies, or make up the missed lab by arrangement with the Lab manager.

Laboratory Experiments

Each experiment will be recorded in a laboratory notebook which you must provide for the first laboratory session. In the laboratory notebook you will log your activity in the laboratory, including the activities of your partner, sketches of your laboratory, preliminary data and everything else needed to understand (and potentially repeat) your activities during lab time. You need to add a final report on the experiment, including your data analysis, error analysis, outcomes and interpretation of the experimental results. You can take your laboratory notebook home to add the final report. Both the laboratory log and the final report of each experiment will be marked each week. The final report in your laboratory notebook may be brief, but must include:

• Title of the experiment,
• Date performed and name of partner,
• Aims and Methods of the Experiment Results,
• Calculations, graphs, error estimates etc.,
• Comparison with theory, as necessary.
• The answers to any questions found in the notes and any comments that you think may help your report and clarify matters for the marker.

We ask you to write your reports with proper sentences and paragraphs. You should also pay special attention to details such as measurement uncertainties, labelling axes of graphs, using appropriate headings and tabulating results.

The Laboratory demonstrators may also meet briefly, during the lab period, with each student for a short period (~5-minutes), to discuss their progress, and in particular, to discuss their development in executing laboratory experiments and in their notebook writeups. This will help the student understand better any assessment comments made in their notebooks or advice on their performance of the experiments.

Laboratory Safety

A condition of entry to the laboratory is thorough knowledge of the safety requirements in the laboratory. Students should revise these and they should be observed during all laboratory sessions. The safety aspects of the laboratory can be found in the front of the PHYS 201 Laboratory Notes and also on posters in the laboratory.

Python is a modern programming language that is incredibly useful for scientific and engineering tasks. There will be seven weeks of python instruction. The first three weeks of labs will introduce Python’s syntax and structure as well as some of its numerical and scientific libraries. The final four weeks of labs  will make use of Python skills developed earlier to tackle case studies in modelling oscillatory and quantum systems. Each session will be assessed.