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2026-2027 FALL PHYS 101-102 LABORATORY SESSIONS

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

  • PHYS101 and PHYS102 Laboratory classes will start on 21 September 2026. Please check the times and classroom for your section: Weekly Lab Schedule.
  • The detailed semester plan for your physics laboratory commitment including projects and deadlines can be found in Semester Plan.
  • For the first three experiments: You will be expected to do the experiment, record your data, and finish the writing of your lab report during your regular three lab hours. Lab reports will be submitted to the lab assistant in charge at the end of the lab session.
  • If you are encountering problems, you should contact your responsible lab assistant either personally or by writing an e-mail. PhysLab assistant list can be found at: PhysLab Assistants
  • You can download your lab manual from the side panel. 
  • There will be a quiz given at the beginning of each lab session, therefore, it is important that you study the manual before you come to the lab.

NOTE FOR REPEATING STUDENTS (EXEMPTION REQUESTS)

If you have taken this course in the past and your lab grade in the system is satisfactory (i.e., 60 or above), you have the right to apply for exemption.

To do this click on the menu item “Request Exemption” and fill in the on-line form. The deadline for the application is  11 October 2026 at 23:59. Be sure that your details are entered correctly so that we can find your previous lab grade from our files. Few days later after your application, check and make sure that your name appears on the “Exemption List’’.

Those students who took and passed the lab for the first time in 2019-20 Spring, 2019-20 Summer, and 2022-23 Spring semesters will not be given exemption due to the fact that no project work was done in those semesters due to extraordinary conditions.

Students who withdraw from the course will not be able to complete the lab work and will have to repeat the lab next time they take the course.

GENERAL INFORMATION AND GRADING

Physics lab includes 3 experiments (45 % contribution) and 1 lab project (55% contribution). The aim of the 3 experiments is to provide basic laboratory training.

  1. Experiments for Phys 101

Experiment 1 – Measurement and Errors (%15)

Experiment 2 – Velocity and Acceleration (%15)

Experiment 3 – Conservation of Linear Momentum: Collisions (%15)

  1. Experiments for Phys 102

Experiment 1 – Electrical Measurements (%15)

Experiment 2 – Equipotentials and Radial Electric Field Lines (%15)

Experiment 3 – Capacitance Circuits (%15)

  1. Project

The remaining part of your lab activity will be related to the design, development, and carrying out of an experiment as an individual lab project.

The project must be in the form of an experiment designed to calculate a physical quantity by making a series of measurements and using the data thus obtained.

As the first step, you have to write a proposal for your lab project. To do this, you should start planning on your project by doing preliminary research for the physical quantity you can calculate, and how you can set up an experiment to do so. It is important that the experiment you design should be carried out in our lab facility. Therefore, before proposing an experiment, please check our lab inventory with the laboratory technician Mr. Sebahattin Erarslan.

The proposal template will be available to download at the Moodle assignment. (Moodle->Phys 101-102 All Sections-> Project Proposal)

The proposal must be uploaded in PDF format to the Moodle/Turnitin system before the deadline (Sunday, 18 October 2026; 23:59). Turnitin system will check for similarity of your proposal to past proposals, and your project will be rejected if similarity is more than 50%. Late submissions will result in 10-point deduction for each day late. No submissions by e-mail will be accepted after the cut-off date (Wednesday 21 October 2026; 23:59).

You will receive feedback from your lab assistant within a week. If needed, make the necessary changes and re-submit your proposal before the deadline (Wednesday, 1 November 2026; 23:59). You should not upload the same file if no changes are made. In case you missed the deadline and did not submit an initial proposal, you can still submit your proposal as a revised one. The cut-off date for the submission of revisions is Wednesday 4 November 2026; 23:59.

No feedback is given to the revised proposal.

After your revised proposal is submitted, you are expected to come to the lab at your lab hour to work on your project. You can find your section’s project hours from the Semester Plan.  Due to the increasing demand on the lab usage at the last project weeks, it is mandatory to use the lab only in your assigned hours. You cannot enter in another section’s project hour. 

At your project hour, collect your data, analyze your results and write a final report when you complete your experiment. Your final report should be structured similar to your proposal. You will find the report template in the moodle assignment where you need to upload your report. Reports must be submitted through the MOODLE before the deadline (6 December 2026; 23:59). The cut-off date for the final submission 9 December 2026; 23:59.

Each student is expected to appear in a three-minute video recording presenting the experiment which must be uploaded to YouTube, and its link must be given in the final report (make sure its accesible). 

  1. Grading

Your Lab grade will be composed of the following components:

First experiment: (%15)

Second experiment: (%15)

Third experiment: (%15)

Project proposal (or revised proposal) (%15)

Final report (%30)

Presentation Video (%10)

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • The documents you submit to MOODLE will experience similarity and AI checks automatically by Turnitin. You should clear out all the excessive similarities by guidance from your responsible lab assistant.
  • You may receive help for your proposals from various sources or discussions with other people, but anything you submit as Lab work must be your own work. Any form of cheating will result in failing the Lab, as well as disciplinary action.
  • You will lose points from components for late submission (10 points for each day). In order to pass the Lab, your lab grade must be at least 60. Students who fail the Lab will receive an FZ grade from the course, independent of how they perform in their exams.
  • You may ask for a reassessment of any component of your laboratory activity, (except for video presentation). Reassessment application must be done within five workdays following the announcement of the grades.
  • Labs will be available for you to work on your projects during your regular lab hours (click to check semester plan for your section). Your lab assistant can answer your questions about available equipment as well as how you will be submitting your proposals and reports electronically.