1/7/08
to: Students of Physics 1 Practical Track
from: D. Politzer
subject: using ZAP!
Two themes recur among students' reactions to the Prac labs. First, when things go well, they can be pretty cool and enlightening. (Well,... admittedly not everyone says that.) But when there's trouble, they can be an incredible time sink, enormously frustrating, and of no obvious value. A second (and, as you'll see, related) response is that ZAP! is insufficiently clear in its instructions regarding what to do.
In my experience, a major source of trouble is a subtle but profound misunderstanding of what ZAP! really is. A natural but erroneous assumption is that ZAP! provides step-by-step instructions on how to procede with the experiments. Despite superficial appearances, it doesn't. What it does try to do is get you to think about the physics -- a tall order.
So what are you supposed to do in practice?
Reading ZAP! will give you an idea of each week's goals. Many concrete suggestions and construction guidelines are offered there, but, if you can think of a better way to do it, you're welcome to try. Your TAs are well aware of the challenges involved (having done the labs themselves) and will devote class time to discussing these goals in advance and giving advice on the hardware. They welcome questions and would gladly spend even more time on lab preparation. Also, the evening Help Labs and your fellow students are potentially valuable resources.
The better you understand your goals in advance, the more efficiently you can work. You will have a sense of what details require considerable care and attention and what can be done quickly. You'll be better equipped to identify problems and mistakes along the way, rather than plodding along only to discover much later that major time and effort were wasted.
IMPORTANT:
With the copyright having reverted to Caltech, we are now in a position to make changes in ZAP! each year. So if you find a specific passage particularly unclear, please bring it to my attention. I will give serious consideration to how it might be done better.