Physics Laboratory with Introduction to Statistics

The course of Physics Laboratory with Introduction to Statistic has two main learning objectives: a) to provide the student the necessary mathematical competences for the statistical treatement of data from observations and experiments; b) to approach the physics of mechanical oscillating systems by a series of laboratory experiments. The latter allows the student to acquire skills in the planning of an experiment, in the collection of experimental data and in their statistical analysis, in the understanding of the issues met in the passing from an ideal theoretical model to a real-world experiment.

At the end of the course, the student:
1) will understand the concepts of statistical and systematic errors
2) will know the fundamentals of the theory of probability and the concepts of distributions, both discrete and continuous
3) will know some important distributions (binomial, Poisson, Gauss, chi-square, Student's t) and will be able to apply them in real-world applications.
4) will be able to perform the basic data analyses (computation of mean, standard deviation, correlation)
5) will be able to quantitatively check the observed data against models (probability distributions, linear functions, power functions, exponential functions) using linear regression and the chi-squared test.
6) will have a practical knowledge of the physics of mechanical oscillating systems (pendulum, spring and mass systems, strings, sound waves)
7) will be able to plan an experiment to study such phenomena
8) will be able to collect and analyse experimental data using the learned statistical methods
9) will acquire group working skills finalized to the realization of the experiments
10) will learn how to effectively present experimental results

The skills from 3) to 5) will be achieved by practical exercises
The skills from 6) a 10) will be achieved by the realization of laboratory experiments in small groups of students, followed by the preparation of written reports