Submitting your papers

Some of you will choose to submit your papers electronically - which is fine. I have no problem accepting papers by email, it is actually far more convenient. However, make it easier on me, if you would:

1. Include your last name in the filename somewhere, preferably first.
2. Include 'ph102' in the filename.
3. Remember that I will have >50 papers in the end ...

For example, "smith_ph102.pdf" is good. I know which paper is which right away, alphabetical sorting will work, and I know this is related to ph102.

These silly little things help a lot in the end - having 55 files named 'physics-paper.pdf' or something similar is extremely frustrating.

How to write a physics paper

Physical Review Letters' editorial board tells you how to write a good 'letter.'

By 'letter,' of course they mean 'short paper suitable for a general physics audience,' not something of the 'Dear John' variety.

Of particular note: I am not alone in being deeply confused by scientists' love for the passive voice. From the article:

The issue of sentence-level construction is less critical, and it will not surprise me if some writers still take comfort in the passive-voice style described above. Frankly, this comfort is a mystery to me.

In all, the article is useful advice from one of the top physics journals around. And I'm not saying that just because we have the same initials.

Fun

http://xkcd.com/397/

No recitation on Friday 14 March ...

... I mean, let's be perfectly honest with ourselves.

Lab for Thursday 13 March 2008

Mutual inductance.

Make sure you read it through before starting the experiment, and follow each step carefully. It is straightforward in the end, but there are some preliminaries that must be taken care of first.

Homework 8 hints ...

I figure you want to get this out of the way before the break ...

Full-wave rectifiers:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/electronic/rectbr.html
http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~dsculley/tutorial/diodes/diodes3.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge

Diode protection:

http://www.coilgun.info/theory/inductivekickback.htm
The electronics bible

Audio crossover:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_crossover

Filters:

http://www.play-hookey.com/ac_theory/lo_pass_filters.html

and links within. play-hookey.com is great for learning about practical circuits.

Inductive and capacitive coupling:

http://www.thinksrs.com/downloads/PDFs/ApplicationNotes/AboutLIAs.pdf

Look at page 7, you should recognize the figures. The rest is a bit hardcore, and not directly relevant. I think you might find the first page or two interesting, though, if you have time to kill. I'm happy to explain what a 'lock-in amplifier' is if you are curious ... I use them daily.

Using the internet to do your homework is fair game, copying verbatim is not. Restate things in your own words, at the least. I picked the problems for a reason, namely, that I think they illustrate important concepts that you will find useful at some point. [1]

[1] For example, an MRI magnet is a giant inductive load, hence problem 10. Understanding audio electronics is nice, hence problems 1,2, 7-9. Problem 3 is something you put into practice every time you plug in your laptop or charge your ipod. Etc.

Lab for Tuesday 11 March

Today, we will investigate current and voltage in ac circuits.

Enjoy. Print one per group, that is enough. Note that you do not need to print any plots for this lab.