INTRODUCTION 

The Second Year Physics Laboratory is designed to extend the experimental skills you learned in the First Year.

Compared to that laboratory, you will find the typical experiment more complex and the apparatus more sophisticated. 

Specifically, in the Second Year Lab, we aim to have you improve your ability to:

• solve problems in a hands-on context,

• plan an experiment and design a procedure,

• use laboratory instruments,

• perform data analysis with appropriate error analysis,

• keep complete records,

• appreciate your equipment and what it is really measuring,

• perform genuine exploratory work.

You will probably want to review the Error Analysis from your First Year Lab.

We offer a wide variety of experiments and you are encouraged to choose those that most interest you.

You will perform almost all the experiments with the same partner. The relative sophistication of our experiments compared to the First Year Lab means that our experiments are even more `open ended'. Experiment lengths are indicated by their weights rating. The weights given in the experiment listings at the end of these notes are only `typical' values: the actual weight an experiment is worth depends on your choice, in consultation with the staff and demonstrators, of breadth versus depth in doing this laboratory.