20409 Laboratory: Physics II

Credits: 3 intermediate credits in Physics

Prerequisites: none

Required: Fundamentals of Physics (or Fundamentals of Physics I + Fundamentals of Physics II), or Modern Physics

Authors: Michael Gaft, Yoram Kirsh, Miron Bloch

The course aims to familiarize students with instruments and techniques used in research laboratories, to demonstrate phenomena and principles studied in theoretical courses, and to illustrate the relationship between physical theory and experiments.

The course is based on laboratory experiments on optics and waves, electricity and magnetism, as well as modern physics. Students conduct ten laboratory experiments from the list below. In preparation for each experiment, students are required to read theoretical material, and they submit a lab report after each session. The experiments are conducted in the laboratory on the Open University campus. The course corresponds to Physics laboratory courses offered to second-year Physics students in Israeli universities.

Experiments: Lattice and prism spectrometer; Slit diffraction; Thin film interference; Polarization; The laser and its uses; Photoelectric effect; Alternating current circuits; Magnetic field measurement; The Franck-Hertz experiment; Measuring the speed of light; Microwaves; Specific charge of electron e/m.