Announcements

2/23/05
I changed the grade budget to reflect the comments I made in class today.
2/9/05
You should now be able to download the Mathematica notebooks as well as the Procedures for each lab.
4/27/05
Final Experiment
During the last two weeks, in addition to making up any regular labs, you will have a series of optical elements you will need to examine experimentally and describe theoretically. These elements will fall into the one of three categories:
- Diffraction
- Wavelength Determination
- Index of refraction Determination
All of the required measurements can be done with the instruments used during the semester. You will need to decide what instruments to use and the best way to make the determination in each case. The point spread is indicative of the difficulty of each measurement. You will be required to make each of the six measurements. In some cases, there will be multiple items of the same type; you will only have to examine one of them.

You will be graded on how well you make your measurement. For example, there is often more than one way to make the required determination. Extracting the required information several ways allows you to assess systematic errors. This would be viewed favorably. Extra effort will be rewarded with extra credit points. Consequently, it will be possible to receive more than 100 pt.

The notebooks for this and all labs will be due by 4:00 PM on Monday May 16! Late notebooks will be loose 25 pt per day per lab! The late clock does not stop running until I have conscious possession of the notebooks. It is your responsibility to get the notebooks into my hands! If you leave your notebooks in my mailbox or under my door one day and I don't physically pick it up until the next, it will be counted as being received the next day.

The final lab is in lieu of the paper and talk.