PHYS 3310 - Intermediate Experimental Physics

(PBS)

Fall, spring. 3 credits.

Prerequisite: PHYS 2208 or PHYS 2214 or PHYS 2218. Enrollment limited. PHYS 3330 provides a similar experience, but with a focus on optics experiments.

Fall, G. Hoffstaetter; spring, C. Franck.

Students select from a variety of quantitative experiments to test theory and explore phenomena studied in the core physics major courses. Choices include examination of nuclear decay following neutron activation; the observation of memory effects in a nonlinear mechanical oscillator, the microwave measurement of the sun’s temperature, optical interferometry that characterizes a laser and many more projects. Students work independently within a supportive infrastructure.