Kettering University General Physics Laboratories

There are four introductory educational laboratories used by Applied Physics students at Kettering University. These laboratories provide hands-on application of concepts taught in lecture courses, as well as preparing students by giving them experience using laboratory equipment and developing data collection and analysis skills required for research in Kettering University's various advanced physics laboratories.

For information on one of these laboratories, follow the links below:

Mechanics Laboratory (AB 2-226B)

The Mechanics Laboratory is an educational laboratory which accompanies the lecture course PHYS-110, Physics I: Mechanics. Students spend approximately 2 hours each week performing exercises which illustrate many of the concepts taught in lecture. Laboratory exercises include:

One of the highlights of this introductory laboratory is the use of the World-in-Motion video motion analysis software package. This software allows students to make a short video of a moving system, download the video to an AVI movie on the computer, and analyze the physical motion of the system. The software enables students to make plots of displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum, kinetic and potential energies, and custom plots for further analysis.

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Electricity & Magnetism Laboratory (AB 2-601)

The Electricity & Magnetism Laboratory is an educational laboratory which accompanies the lecture course PHYS-220, Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism. Students spend approximately 2 hours each week performing exercises which illustrate many of the concepts taught in lecture. Laboratory exercises include:

In this laboratory students are exposed to the use of voltmeters, ammeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, and other electrical equipment used to measure electric and magnetic phenomena.

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Waves Laboratory (AB 2-617)

The Waves Laboratory is an educational laboratory which accompanies the lecture course PHYS-220, Physics III: Waves. Students spend approximately 2 hours each week performing exercises which illustrate and expand upon some of the concepts taught in lecture. Laboratory exercises include:

In this laboratory students gain familiarity with fundamental phenomena of waves, including the vibratory motion of mass-spring systems, pendula, standing wave patterns on strings and in tubes, ray tracing and the optical behavior of lenses and mirrors, and interference effects of light waves.

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Modern Physics Laboratory (AB 2-617B)

The Modern Physics Laboratory is an educational laboratory which accompanies the lecture course PHYS-360, Modern Physics. Students spend approximately 2 hours each week performing exercises which illustrate and expand upon some of the concepts taught in lecture. Laboratory exercises include:

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