This document is the source-code for the lab manual for An Introduction to Physics through Experiments (PHY1010). This is a second semester Physics gateway course at Ashoka University.
The goal of this laboratory course is to offer students the opportunity to work on experimental problems and activities that develop abilities required for experimental physics.
Students will be expected to be much more independent while carrying out the experiments than they were at school, while being given all necessary resources, including sophisticated equipment and help from more experienced hands. As they become more accustomed to the format and structure of this course, they will be encouraged to use their creativity to solve problems based on observations, measurements, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
The laboratory is based firmly on the principle that physics is an experimental science: observation and experimentation are just as important as concept, calculations, and theory. These laboratory investigations should hopefully teach the student how to ask an interesting question of Nature, and then select the methods and apparatus needed to make progress towards finding an answer.
This lab manual has been released under a Creative Commons license, the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Feel free to modify or build upon it.