PHY - Physics Course Descriptions
This course relates the physical and chemical sciences to everyday experiences. Students will learn the scientific method and its use in understanding the physical environment. Topics include measurement and the scientific method, motion, forces, work and energy, temperature and heat, waves and sound, optics, electricity and magnetism, atomic and nuclear physics, the chemical elements and the periodic table, chemical reactions, and organic and biological chemistry.
This course relates earth science and astronomy to everyday experiences. Students will learn the scientific method and its use in understanding the physical environment. Topics include measurement and the scientific method, place and time, the solar system, planets and moons, deep space, the atmosphere and atmospheric effects, structural geology and plate tectonics, minerals and rocks, and geologic time.
Is a lecture- and recitation-based intensive introduction to mechanics and kinematics, fluids, and waves. Emphasizes quantitative and conceptual understanding without the use of calculus.
Science majors co-requisite: PHY 112 (not required but strongly encouraged for non-science majors).
Includes experimental confirmation and reinforcement of some topics from PHY 111; includes computer use in data collection and analysis.
Is a lecture- and recitation-based intensive introduction to electricity and magnetism, heat, and optics. Emphasizes quantitative and conceptual understanding without the use of calculus.
Science majors co-requisite: PHY 114 (not required but strongly encouraged for non-science majors).
Includes experimental confirmation and reinforcement of some topics from PHY 113; includes computer use in data collection and analysis.
Is a one-semester course, including a laboratory component, covering the major theories of physics and its ability to give a quantitative explanation for the world around us. Algebra is used to define quantities, to state the physical laws, and to solve simple problems. Emphasis is on macroscopic explanations, not on quantum mechanics. The major topics are mechanics, thermodynamics, waves, and electromagnetism. Three lecture and one 3-hour laboratory periods per week.
Is a calculus-based introduction to Newtonian gravitation, sound, fluids, thermodynamics, heat transfer, electromagnetic waves, and op- tics. Comprises 3 lectures hours and 1 recitation hour per week.
Science majors co-requisite (not required but strongly encouraged for non-science majors):
PHY 221
Includes experimental confirmation and reinforcement of some topics from PHY 220; includes error analysis, computer use in data collection and analysis, and formal laboratory notebook write-ups.
Is a calculus-based introduction to Newtonian gravitation, sound, fluids, thermodynamics, heat transfer, electromagnetic waves, and optics. Comprises 3 lectures hours and 1 recitation hour per week.
Science majors co-requisite (not required but strongly encouraged for non-science majors):
PHY 223
Includes experimental confirmation and reinforcement of some topics from PHY 222; includes error analysis, computer use in data collection and analysis, and formal laboratory notebook write-ups.
Is a calculus-based introduction to electricity and magnetism including Maxwell's equations, circuits, and power. Comprises 3 lectures hours and 1 recitation hour per week.
Science majors co-requisite (not required but strongly encouraged for non-science majors):
PHY 225
Includes experimental confirmation and reinforcement of some topics from PHY 224; includes error analysis, computer use in data collection and analysis, and formal laboratory notebook write-ups.
This course provides a broad overview of the Western tradition of social and political thought. It is organized chronologically in order to emphasize continuity and innovation within the tradition. Authors read often include ancients like Plato and Aristotle; medievals like St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Marsilius of Padua; modern thinkers from Hobbes to Bossuet; and contemporary writers from Bentham to Lenin to Pope St. John Paul II. Special attention is paid to philosophical assumptions about nature and the human person that lead to such disparate political philosophies.
Notes
This course does not satisfy the POL 291 or POL 292 requirements of the POL major.