Software
- Naming Files — some friendly advice on how to name your data files most usefully
- Lab Summaries — you should create a Google Doc to hold your summaries and proposals. Use the naming convention CL57_Maxwell_James, substituting your last name for Maxwell and your first name for James. Note that you can insert equations in Google Docs with the Insert | Equation command. See this Google page for more information.
You will undoubtedly use several pieces of software in this course, all of which you are able to install on your own laptop. Although some computers are available in the lab, I suspect that you will find it most convenient to use your own computer for data acquisition and analysis.
| Mandatory for everyone | |
|---|---|
| Igor Pro 6.22
Everyone should install an updated copy of Igor Pro 6, which you can obtain from http://www.physics.hmc.edu/igor/ . The current version of Igor Pro is 6.22A. If you already have that, there's no need to download it again. Igor is a powerful data analysis and graphing program with an extremely generous licensing program for students doing coursework. You may find it convenient also to use a spreadsheet, such as Excel, but spreadsheets cannot perform proper least-squares fitting with weighted data, as is required in this course, so you'll definitely need a copy of Igor Pro. |
| HMC Menu | The HMC menu provides a number of useful additions to Igor Pro. These make data taking, graphing, fitting, and note taking more convenient. Follow the linked instructions to install it. If you have an old copy, it should update automatically when you launch Igor Pro. |
| Data Studio
DataStudio is Pasco’s software to operate the Science Workshop 750 (and other interfaces and sensors). You will need to use DataStudio for the experiments that use the carts. |
| Optional | |
| Vernier Logger Lite
Logger Lite operates the Vernier motion sensor, rotary motion sensor, force sensor, and accelerometer. We have one of each. All but the first also require the Lab Quest Mini. |
| SysComp CircuitGear
SysComp software operates the 2-MHz USB oscilloscopes from Sys Comp Design. |
| LabJack
LabJack provides a variety of input and output options and can be controlled from Python on any platform. Windows users have several additional options. |