DEDICATED MICROCOMPUTERS AND PERSONAL COMPUTERS AS EXPERIMENTAL TOOLS IN THE PHYSICS LABORATORY

Abstract

Modern microcomputers and personal computers increasingly provide the user with facilities until recently found only in mainframes. As a result a new category of small scale, but computationally and numerically demanding laboratory experiments and instruments have become realizable on the spot. Three examples of pertinent experiments/instruments designed at the Signals and Systems Department, Faculty of Physics, Delft University are discussed.