Recent content by Browntown

The equation we used in this lab was Δλ = (λ^2 / 2Δd) where Δλ is the separation of the sodium D doublet lines and is the value we're trying to calculate, λ^2 is the wavelength of sodium light given in the lab manual (589 nm) and Δd is the distance one of the mirror moves to go from one faint...

Hello, This term in university I'm taking a second year intro to astrophysics course and my professor talks a lot about different situations and then solves a problem using the virial theorem. The reason I'm confused is because the range of topics that he applies this theorem to vary in many...

Oh ok, thank you, I'll give that a try

Homework Statement: Propagation of Error for Focal Length Homework Equations: f = (s'*s) / (s' + s) In my lab, we had to calculate the focal length of a lens based on object distances (s) and image distances (s') that we measured. The object distances were measured with an uncertainty of...

Hey, so in my lab I took some apparently bad data and when I averaged it and took the standard deviation I got values for the SD that were larger than the average of the data. I'm sure they still want sig figs in the results but I'm not sure how to report it. My average is -0.7101 and my...

Thank you for the advice, I looked up RMS and got a better final value.

In my lab report, I average the values of the index of refraction of a prism and I calculated the average uncertainty from the uncertainties in all those measurements. My questions is my final value is 1.585 +/- 0.006 I'm assuming my uncertainty should be rounded to 0.01 but does that mean my...

A is the angle of refraction (~60 degrees) and Dm is the angle of minimum deviation that was different for each of the spectral lines associated to one of the six wavelengths measured. The problem I'm having is when I use equations of propagation of error to find the uncertainty in these...

In my physics lab, we placed a mirror in front of a telescope with built in crosshairs and crosshairs that were shining out the front of the telescope which reflected against the mirror and allowed us to see them and then adjust the level of the telescope until the two were aligned. Later we had...

Homework Statement: How does the surface of a refracting prism become reflective? Homework Equations: None In my physics lab, we placed a mirror in front of a telescope with built in crosshairs and crosshairs that were shining out the front of the telescope which reflected against the mirror...

Awesome! Thank you so much!

So that means that even though its the inverse tangent function, because it's the derivative of it, it can have units of cm^-1?

I'm sorry, my lab report is due tomorrow and I think the stress of trying to get it done is just not letting me think properly.

Would they just cancel?

I'm sorry but I honestly have no clue..