Introductory laboratory courses PHYS 151L, PHYS 152L, PHYS 170L, PHYS 272L
Physics & Astronomy Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Faculty supervisor: Philip von Doetinchem (email: philipvd@hawaii.edu)

Please contact your teaching assistant or faculty supervisor if you require this content in an alternate format.
Fall 2023

There will be no labs in the first week of the semester. The class will not meet during the first week. The labs will start on August 28, 2023.

Frequently asked questions:
  • The course is conducted in in-person format.
  • You have to be enrolled concurrently with the lecture. For example, if you plan to take the PHYS 151L lab, you must be enrolled in the PHYS 151 lecture. If you are currently waitlisted for the lecture, you cannot enroll in the lab.
  • As a strict prerequisite, the corresponding lecture must be taken concurrently or before. It is also impossible to take the mechanics and E&M labs concurrently (even if you have taken both lectures before). No exceptions will be made.
  • Not all lab sections are full. Please check the Fall 2023 Class Availability .
  • If you did not get into the lab or can only make it to a specific section, please email the TA of the section you would like to attend before class starts or go to the first class meeting. If availability allows, the TA can give you an override. This decision is within the discretion of the TA and should be seen as an exception. There is a hard enrollment limit of 22 per section due to equipment limitations.
  • The TA assignments to the different sections will be posted on this website during the first week of the semester.
  • If you would like to change to a different section, you will have to contact both TAs and see if the section you want to change to still has availability. The TA of the original section should be kept informed of this change. The change of the section will require the processing of an override form. You cannot just attend a different section. You have to change to another section officially.
  • If you cannot register for the lab and are under the assumption that you fulfill all prerequisites (e.g., this can happen when you are transferring from another school), please get in touch with our department secretary Karen Mertz: kmertz@hawaii.edu.
  • If you want to withdraw from the course, please have your TA, our department secretary Karen Mertz, or the faculty supervisor Philip von Doetinchem sign the drop form. In any case, please also inform your TA by email that you are dropping the class.
  • If you decide to drop the lecture, you also must drop the corresponding lab course. No exceptions will be made. You can drop the lab and stay in the lecture.
Location
PHYS 151L, PHYS 170L: PSB108 and PSB110
PHYS 152L, PHYS 272L: PSB111 and PSB112

Text for PHYS 151L, 170L
The mechanics labs use a zero-cost manual: Laboratory Manual for PHYS151L/170L
Please report mistakes in the manual to: philipvd@hawaii.edu

Text for PHYS 152L, 272L
The E&M labs use a zero-cost manual: Laboratory Manual for PHYS152L/272L
Please report mistakes in the manual to: philipvd@hawaii.edu

TA office hours in WAT421:


Analysis software
The course uses the free analysis tool SciDAVis: Teaching assistants and syllabuses
PHYS-151L-001 Sean Trafford seantraf@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-002 Sejin Nam sejinnam@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-003 Joshua Kinder jgkinder@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-004 Marvin Schwickert mschwick@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-005 Farnaz Montazerifar farnazm@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-006 Philip Offeh offeh@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-007 Rachel Watanabe rkwatana@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-008 Sean Trafford seantraf@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-009 Joshua Kinder jgkinder@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-010 Farnaz Montazerifar farnazm@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-011 Philip Offeh offeh@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-012 Rachel Watanabe rkwatana@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-151L-013 Shelby Mitchell smitch22@hawaii.edu syllabus

PHYS-170L-001 Tim Mahood mahood@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-002 Tom Redford tredford@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-003 James Harrison jameseh4@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-004 Tim Mahood mahood@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-005 Shelby Mitchell smitch22@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-007 Ethan Lee elee20@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-008 Marvin Schwickert mschwick@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-170L-009 Shelby Mitchell smitch22@hawaii.edu syllabus

PHYS-152L-001 Letrell Harris lkharris@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-002 Cory Gerrity cgerrity@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-003 Cory Gerrity cgerrity@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-004 Dorian Daimer ddaimer@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-005 Armida Bahrami abahrami@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-006 Letrell Harris lkharris@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-007 Rex Imanaka imanakar@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-008 Dorian Daimer ddaimer@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-152L-009 Rex Imanaka imanakar@hawaii.edu syllabus

PHYS-272L-001 Chris Reyes cmreyes3@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-002 Grace Tytus gtytus@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-003 Tchakamau Ra tchaka@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-004 Armida Bahrami abahrami@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-005 Chris Reyes cmreyes3@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-006 Grace Tytus gtytus@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-007 Michael Litke mlitke@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-008 Tchakamau Ra tchaka@hawaii.edu syllabus
PHYS-272L-009 Michael Litke mlitke@hawaii.edu syllabus


Videos for Mechanics (PHYS 151L, PHYS 170L):

Ch. 2 - Dimensional Analysis and Linearization Ch. 3 - Introduction to Error Calculation
Ch. 4 - The Mathematics for Handling Errors Ch. 5 - Introduction to Vectors Ch. 7 - The Normal Distribution with Darts Ch. 8 - Gravitational Acceleration with a Pendulum Ch. 9 - Gravitational Acceleration on an Inclined Plane Ch. 10 - Conservation of Energy with a Pendulum Ch. 11 - Conservation of Energy and Momentum in a Collision Ch. 12 - Natural Oscillations with a Fall Ch. 13 - Moment of Inertia of a Wheel Ch. 14 - Bulk Modulus of Air Ch. 15 - Driven Oscillations
Videos for E&M (PHYS 152L, PHYS 272L):

Ch. 3 - Simple Electric Circuit with a LED Ch. 4 - Electric Field Mapping Ch. 5 - Measuring Electric Deflection with a Cathode-Ray Tube Ch. 6 - Operation of an Oscilloscope Ch. 7 - Ohm's and Kirchhoff's Laws Ch. 8 - Capacitor Ch. 9 - Magnetic Field Mapping Ch. 10 - Charge-to-Mass Ratio of Electrons Ch. 11 - Inductor Ch. 12 - Natural Oscillations with an RLC Circuit Ch. 13 - Driven Oscillations with an RLC Circuit Ch. 14 - Snell’s Law and the Lensmaker’s Equation Ch. 15 - Refraction Studies with a Prism and Spectrometer
Philip von Doetinchem - 2023