Week 3 Jan 20

• OK-you will be handing in first final report on speed of light WED Jan. 22 is on the syllabus
• HW-least squares fit on Wed.
• We are starting Schawlows Ruler--which I have probably started talking about.
• You will need to perform a non-linear ---user entered fit to a function to analyze Schawlow. ---In addition you will still need to know how to do the small angle approx linear fit for your quick hands on lab analysis. Having my handouts in your lab notebook is useful.
• This is a lab data taking week. I built some extra time into analysis draft due date --Feb 5th.

• .Let's plan on meeting at the starts of each lab day for at least logistics and also any Q&A
• Schawlow Ruler is often a typical redo on data till you get it right/careful ---or requires exceptional diligent care. WHERE IS Y=0?
• The experiment looks simple, but the analysis can be tough (even with the small angle approx). You can run through the numbers easy enough, but getting precise numbers and interpretation can be difficult. Error analysis matters. We know the answer to "what is the wavelength of the HeNe Laser light".
• • The discussion should be your questions on
    • equipment
    • lab procedures
    • analysis
    • writing
    • style
    • other
• You may have questions like---"my value for speed of light looks awesome but it is 10 times farther off than my fitted uncertainty"----It is not OK to leave that without some serious investigation and explanation.
• Asking Colbert questions like "is this OK", OR "what do you want"---will lead to answers like "what does your data indicate"? I'll do my best to help you interpret.
• You may have questions like ----"my value for wavelength in Schawlow's Ruler is 10 times farther off than my fitted uncertainty"----It is not OK to leave that without some serious investigation.
  • Possible answers are things like---There is a systematic error I need to investigate.
• Anytime your result is off from a known standard by several standard deviations (many times your uncertanty) ----it is up to you to explain why /how this happened. Otherwise, for example, your assertion is that the speed of light in our lab is different than what everyone else measures. Speculate if necessary, measure if possible. Do not claim the speed of light is different for you, or that the wavelength of the HeNe changed from 632.8nm for you on a given day.
• Goal--get reasonable results, and try to understand what is not reasonable.
• GOOD WORK ON ANALYSIS DRAFTS.
• TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY.
• I AM NOT GOING TO QUOTE THE POSTMAN'S CREED AGAIN---LOOK WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME I DID THAT.