Summary of lab skills I learned from PHYS 1114 labs:

• I have seen these measuring tools:
• 2-pan balance, kitchen scales: to measure mass;
• Ruler, micrometer: to measure length;
• Stopwatch: to measure time;
• Ammeter: to measure current;
• Voltmeter: to measure voltage.
• A lab report consists of these sections: Purpose, Apparatus, Data, Calculations, Conclusions and Discussions.
• I must use pen to record data.
• I should always check the zero reading before a measurement. If it is not zero, I should make zero corrections.
• When I take a reading, the last digit is an estimated digit. Usually it is the only estimated digit.
• Uncertainty can be as small as ½ of the smallest division, but is usually bigger and situation-dependent.
• A reading and its uncertainty should have same number of decimal places. (The uncertainty and the last sig fig are at the same decimal place.)
• Uncertainty usually has one non-zero digit. (But a reading like 37.6cm±1.0cm is possible: it has 2 sig figs rather than 3.)
• I should keep 5 non-zero digits or more in the calculations, but use sig figs rules to decide the sig figs of the final result.
• I do not know how to calculate the uncertainty of the final result, but I know it is related to the uncertainties in the data.
• I know how to calculate the percentage discrepancy between my result and a reference value, and I know that a satisfactory result is both accurate and precise.