Syllabus -- Electronics
Physics U-371/372 -- Electronics for Scientists

Don Heiman, Northeastern University, 8/26/07
Fall 2007



When: Mondays (2:50-4:30PM), Wednesdays (2:50-4:30pm) for lectures; Fridays (1:35-5:05) for labs
Where: 005 Dana for first lecture and labs (108 SN for all lectures?)

 

Instructor: Professor Don Heiman
    Office: Egan 361 or Dana 107; Phone 373-2912; email d.heiman@neu.edu
    Office Hours: by arrangement
    If you have trouble with anything please request help at the earliest possible time.

    Contact me through email (best) or phone.
    Either the TA or the instructor will be in the lab for the entire time.

 

Required Textbook: An Introduction to Modern Electronics, by William L. Faissler (Wiley, 1991) 512pp.
    Resource Texts:  Hands-On Electronics, by D.M. Kaplan and C.G. White, (Cambridge Univ Press, 2005).

        Analog Electronics for Scientific Applications, by Dennis Barnaal, (Waveland Press, 1982) 366pp.
        For more complex electronics, The Art of Electronics, by Horowitz and Hill (Cambridge Univ Press).
        For introductory solid state physics see, Introduction to Solid State Physics, by C. Kittel (Wiley).

Content: see Course Description

Labs: Eleven labs will be completed during the quarter.
    Notebook: All lab observations are to be recorded in a bound lab notebook.
        The notebook will be checked periodically for progress and graded.
        Data should be recorded in tables and roughly plotted as the data is recorded.
    Lab Report: Lab reports should be written with a wordprocessor.
        Graphs should be made with a package such as EasyPlot, Excel or Matlab and inserted in the document.
        The lab reports will be due on the Wednesday following the lab periods in which they are assigned.

 

Lab Experiments: see links in Calendar

 

Due Dates:     Lab reports due Wednesday following the lab period.

                        Homework due on Friday at the beginning of the lab class.

Special Project: Students are encouraged to design and complete a lab near the end of the term as a special project.  Students taking this class for honors are required to do a special project.  Suggestions for projects should be discussed with the instructor well in advance, both to allow us to insure that the proposed project is acceptable and to allow lead time for any equipment and supply purchases that would be required.

Grading:  (the weights of the grading are approximate to ±5%)
    Homework: Several problems will be assigned each week, and turned in for grading.  (10 % of grade)
    Quizzes: Several quizzes will be given during the quarter and be announced ahead of time.  (15 % of grade)
    Notebook/workspace: The lab notebook will be collected and graded periodically. (10% of grade)
    Lab Reports: Eleven lab reports are required.  (65 % of grade)