PH20105: Experimental physics and computing 2
[Page last updated: 21 April 2022]
| Academic Year: | 2022/3 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Physics |
| Credits: | 12 [equivalent to 24 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 240 |
| Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | PR 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | Before taking this module you must take PH10007 AND take PH10102 |
| Learning Outcomes: | While taking this unit the student should be able to:
* successfully conduct short experiments, following written guidelines, on various topics relating to physics and electronics; * plan, design and carry out a group project consisting of an experimental investigation; * write detailed scientific reports describing experimental work, displaying an appropriate standard of presentation, style, structure, attention to detail and analysis; * prepare and deliver an oral presentation; * write computer programmes in a high level structured language, including arithmetic expressions, loops, branching instructions and arrays; * use numerical techniques to solve physics problems. |
| Aims: | The aims of this unit are to develop further student confidence and competence in experimental laboratory skills, data processing, written and oral presentation skills and the use of scientific computer packages. A further aim is to reinforce elements of second level Physics units by providing experimental examples in these areas. The unit also aims to introduce and develop structured programming skills in a high-level language as a tool for the numerical solution of physical problems. |
| Skills: | Written Communication T/F A, Spoken Communication T/F A, Numeracy T/F A, Data Acquisition, Handling, and Analysis T/F A, Information Technology T/F A, Problem Solving T/F A, Working as part of a group T/F A, Practical laboratory skills T/F A, Project planning/management T/F A. |
| Content: | Experimental Laboratory:
Students will be introduced to devices, instrumentation and measurement systems as found in a modern research environment. A combination of short benchmark experiments and longer open-ended projects will be employed. Students will routinely work in pairs but in larger groups of four or five for the longer projects. Experiments will be drawn from topics encompassing optical physics, x-rays, electromagnetism, electronics, instrumentation and ultrasonics. These activities will be underpinned by work on writing, oral presentation skills, and more advanced python-based computer packages. Scientific Computing: Students will be introduced to compiler-based programming in C and basic Linux skills. Programming content will cover a range of C concepts from the basics up to memory management and pointers. Students will learn to write structured code from scratch and how to apply this to problems in numerical analysis. |
| Programme availability: |
PH20105 is a Designated Essential Unit on the following programmes:Department of Physics
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Notes:
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