Physics Laboratory

The Physics Laboratory is a space of academic support for the School of Architecture, Engineering and Design.

Physics Laboratory

The Physics Laboratory is a space of academic support for the School of Architecture, Engineering and Design. It provides services to bachelor’s and master’s students for the execution and verification of experiments related to experimental physics. These experiments require the support of the lab’s specific work stations.

The Physics Laboratory facilitates students’ understanding of both the theoretical and applied aspects of science. It has three main objectives: to illustrate the content of theoretical classes, to teach students experimental techniques, and to promote scientific mindsets.

Several fields of application emerge here, each with a different set of experiences:

Newtonian mechanics

By carefully measuring the forces acting on an object, we can study in detail phenomena such as velocity and acceleration on curved paths, or friction and dissipation of mechanical energy in real physical systems.

Oscillations and waves

Examining the properties of oscillatory and wave movements, as well as their periodicity and length. In particular, we analyse the Earth’s gravitational acceleration, Young’s modulus of various elastic materials and the behaviour of non-linear oscillators.

Electromagnetism

Students learn to handle voltmeters, ammeters and other electronic devices, investigating, among other systems, electric fields in material media, the capacitance of condensers and the behaviour of ohmic and non-ohmic materials.

Labs provide a unique opportunity for students to:

Demonstrate the fundamental principles of general physics and materials physics.
Learn modern measurement techniques.
Understand the role of observational error.
Gain solid training for future courses and professional life.

Subjects to which it applies:

Experimental techniques: Simple pendulum, Archimedes, Bernoulli, surface tension, Reynolds, the conservation of energy (shocks), condensers, magnetic field (coils), friction, parabolic motion and centrifugal force.
Experimental project I: Young’s modulus, forced oscillations, Maxwell’s wheel, moment of inertia, Pohl’s pendulum, equation of state and critical point, Stirling engine, conductivity of metals, heat capacity of metals, adiabatic gas coefficient, transmission, reflection, microwave, Michelson interferometer and lenses.
Experimental project II.
Experimental project III.

Main facilities

Work tables

The laboratory is a space that consists of four work tables spread across the central area.

Inch

The lab has an 84-inch smart TV/digital whiteboard.

The Physics Laboratory is located in classroom C-308 on the third floor of Building C (Villaviciosa de Odón Campus).

The laboratory is a space that consists of four work tables spread across the central area. Each one of them has a monitor/computer for students to use to visualise the projects carried out individually at each work table. In addition, the lab has an 84-inch smart TV/digital whiteboard, which is connected to the computers at each of the four stations described above.

At each work table, the material is distributed in 11 cabinets by theme and project.

The laboratory has an extensive inventory available to students to facilitate the rigorous collection and analysis of experimental data. It’s worth highlighting the lab’s electronic equipment (voltage sources, multimeters, capacitors, etc.) related to the study of electromagnetism, as well as inclined planes and oscillating systems (oscilloscopes, tuning forks, vertical springs, non-harmonic oscillators) for the study of Newtonian mechanics and the phenomena of oscillations and waves.