• General equipment:
  • 1-m sticks
  • Rulers
  • Tape

• Solar cells
  • Assorted sizes

• Assorted “loads”
  • LEDs (Red, Blue, Green and the multicolor boards)
  • Fan motors
  • Light bulbs (w/ alligator clips)

• Assortment of lightbulbs:
  • 40 W incandescent
  • 100 W incandescent
  • 150 W incandescent
  • box of mixed incandescent
  • LED
  • CFL

• Backup/extra equipment
  • Desk lamps (1 or 2 extra)
  • Homemade “power” circuit boards (1 or 2 extra)
  • Multimeters (~4 extra)
    • Check all meters for blown 500 mA fuses!
  • Wooden blocks (a big pile)

As this is the first lab of the course, make sure all the computers are clean and ready to go.

• Make sure the desktop of “student” account is clear.
• Make sure Google Chrome is the default browser and starts on the wiki homepage when opened
• Write username/password info to board

• Desk lamp (with 40 W incandescent bulb)
• 1 or 2 wooden blocks
• 1 solar cell
  • Use the same size for all groups
• Homemade “power” circuit board
• 2 multimeters
  • Include 2 red and 2 black banana cables
  • Check all meters for blown 500 mA fuses!
• Whiteboard
  • assortment of dry erase markers
  • eraser
  • bottle of cleaning spray
• 1 red LED

If using, you can also set up the Vernier light meters (either at individual stations or as one or two optional tools for groups who want it).

The light meter connects to a Lab Quest Mini. Open Logger Pro, and the software will auto-detect the sensor. A live reading is available in the lower left corner of the screen.

Note that the chip on the end of the stick is the light-sensitive part (not the glass tube). Also note that the sensor has an adjustable range switch; students should change this as needed.