Physics

Mechanics, heat, and sound. Three class hours and one two-hour laboratory per week. Students with sufficient mathematical prerequisites for PY 201 are strongly encouraged to take PY201 instead.

A continuation of PY 181 covering electricity, magnetism, and light. Three class hours and one two-hour laboratory per week. Students with sufficient mathematical prerequisites for PY 202 are strongly encouraged to take PY 202 instead. 

Fundamental for work in advanced physics, engineering, chemistry, and applications of mathematics and computer science. Covers mechanics, and heat with the use of calculus. Four class hours and one two-hour laboratory period per week.

A continuation of PY 201 covering electricity, magnetism, and light with the use of calculus. Four class hours and one two-hour laboratory period per week. 

Electric circuits, node voltage and mesh current techniques, time domain and frequency domain. Laboratory determinations of potential, resistance, capacitance, inductance, transistor characteristics, and other electrical quantities. Includes one three-hour laboratory period per week.

Electrostatics, magnetism, Maxwell's Equations, and introduction to the electromagnetic theory of light. Includes one three-hour laboratory period per week.

Geometrical and physical optics: reflection, refraction, dispersion, lasers, interference, diffraction, polarization, and spectroscopy. Includes one three-hour laboratory period per week.

This course in Materials Sciences and Engineering is ideal for 3-2 engineering and physics students interested to pursue mechanical, civil, industrial, materials science and general engineering. This course provides balanced, current treatment of the full spectrum of engineering materials, covering all the physical properties, applications and relevant properties associated with engineering materials. It explores all the major categories of materials while also offering detailed examinations of new materials with high-tech applications. The course involves investigating the relationships that exist between the structures and properties of materials.

Force, moments, and couples; conditions of equilibrium; distributed forces; center of gravity and moment of inertia; trusses; frames; beams.

Kinematics, kinetics, simple harmonic motion, work, energy, power.

This course covers the fundamental concepts of temperature, work, and heat. Specific topics include the Laws of Thermodynamics, gas laws, entropy, conditions of equilibrium, gas cycles, the Maxwell relations, chemical potential and equilibrium, Gibbs' phase rule, Clapeyron-Clausius equation, kinetic-molecular theory, and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Includes one lab per week. 

Introduces chemistry and physics students to principles of quantum theory with applications to material and chemical systems, and spectroscopy. Topics include: development of quantum theory, fundamental postulates, quantum theory of simple systems, quantum theory of molecules and extended systems, application of quantum theory to spectroscopy of atoms, molecules, and extended systems. Appropriate as an introduction to quantum theory for students of physics or as a physical chemical treatment for students of chemistry. Course replaces CH342 (Physical Chemistry II) and PY306 (Modern Physics). Cross-listed between physics and chemistry. Three class hours and one three-hour lab per week

The first half of the Physics senior seminar experience. Students develop lab-based or expository projects which include literature review and interdisciplinary aspects.

The second of a two-semester sequence of 2-credit hour courses which together make up the senior seminar. Students continue to work independently on research projects (lab-based or expository) under the supervision of a faculty member. The projects will include an interdisciplinary component developed with the aid of the instructor.

Individual projects course for advanced qualified students

Students spend an entire summer or academic semester as interns in physics/engineering research projects at Argonne National Laboratory, other government agencies or in the private sector.