Solid State Physics: Hall Effect + Semiconductor Lab

[Turion]

Homework Statement

The lab is attached. I've also attached the pre-lab just for the diagram.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

Can anyone think of some good errors for this lab?

We ended up with ~80% error.

I've thought of two:
1. Adjusting the potentiometer so that the width of the conductor would start with 0 voltage was very difficult.
2. The magnetic field was strongest in the center but was weak on the sides of the wafer. This caused some uncertainty.

 

[Jamison Lahman]

Homework Statement

The lab is attached. I've also attached the pre-lab just for the diagram.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

Can anyone think of some good errors for this lab?

We ended up with ~80% error.

I've thought of two:
1. Adjusting the potentiometer so that the width of the conductor would start with 0 voltage was very difficult.
2. The magnetic field was strongest in the center but was weak on the sides of the wafer. This caused some uncertainty.

There are some thermo-magnetic effects associated with the Hall Effect, namely The Nernst Effect, the Righi-Leduc Effect, and the Ettingshausen Effect.

Some other errors I remember from having done the Hall Effect are mostly with regard to the magnet. Not using a consistent pole will result in non-consistent data. As you have pointed out, the field is strongest in the center and you can estimate the effect of this error by measuring the magnetic field at different points around the magnet.

Explaining exactly what error you're calculating and how you calculated it might be helpful.