Details of PH2103 (Autumn 2025)
| Level: 2 | Type: Laboratory | Credits: 3.0 |
| Course Code | Course Name | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|
| PH2103 | Physics Laboratory II | Bhavtosh Bansal, Bheemalingam Chittari, Bipul Pal, Nirmalya Ghosh |
| Preamble |
|---|
| It doesnt matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesnt matter how smart you are. If it doesnt agree with experiment, its wrong - R. P. Feynman
Introduction: This is a two-semester long laboratory course for the second year BS-MS students. The course aims to give the students hands-on experience with some of the experimental aspects of modern (twentieth century and beyond) physics, electrical, electronics and optics and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of the relationship between experiment and theory. The experiments for this course are divided in three categories: (a) Modern Physics: The students will perform selected experiments of modern physics to observe and understand phenomena whose discoveries led to major advances in physics. The experiments are designed to cover principles and origins of Quantum Mechanics, studying the quantum structure of atoms, understanding the concept of wave particle duality of matter-energy and so forth. (b) Electrical and Electronics: The experiments are designed to cover fundamental electrical and electronic principles - basic laws of electrical phenomena and principles of semiconductor devices like transistors and diodes. (b) Optics: Experimental observation, measurements, understanding / interpretation of basic phenomena associated with electromagnetic (EM) wave nature of light - namely, interference, diffraction and polarization. In general, this course follows the traditional laboratory course format where students reproduce classic experiments in physics while following fairly detailed instructions from a laboratory manual. |
| Syllabus |
|---|
| Course outline:
1. Modern Physics: Experiments involving determination of Plancks constant, study of atomic levels, electron diffraction, basic measurements and concepts in quantum mechanics, verification of the black body radiation law, measurement of elementary electric charge. 2. Electrical and Electronics: Practical usage of basic electrical / electronic components, voltage, current, resistance, and power measuring instruments, oscilloscope, signal generators etc. Experiments on LCR circuits, RC filters, diodes, rectifiers, transistors and measuring their characteristics. 3. Optics: The experiments cover concepts on fundamental properties of light (EM) wave and some basic phenomena associated with light matter interactions. The experiments involve- determination of wavelength / frequency, velocity of light; observation / understanding interference and diffraction phenomena concept of coherence of light; measurements of polarization characteristics of light and polarizing interactions with matter. 4. Along with the lab work, there will be lectures covering statistics (error analysis), data analysis, and physics behind some of the detectors and sensors used in the experiments. Detailed list of experiments:
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| Prerequisite |
|---|
| None. |
| References |
|---|
| 1. Manuals for 2nd year physics lab prepared by DPS faculty |
Course Credit Options
| Sl. No. | Programme | Semester No | Course Choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IP | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 2 | IP | 3 | Not Allowed |
| 3 | IP | 5 | Not Allowed |
| 4 | MP | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 5 | MP | 3 | Not Allowed |
| 6 | MR | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 7 | MR | 3 | Not Allowed |
| 8 | MS | 3 | Core |
| 9 | MS | 5 | Not Allowed |
| 10 | MS | 7 | Not Allowed |
| 11 | MS | 9 | Not Allowed |
| 12 | RS | 1 | Not Allowed |
| 13 | RS | 2 | Not Allowed |