The credit value for each course in semester units is indicated for each term by a number in parentheses following the title. Departments may indicate the term in which they expect to offer the course by the use of: F (fall), S (spring) or EOY (every other year).
Unifying principles of elastic, sound, light and matter waves. Models of nature. Successes and failures of wave and particle models and their synthesis. Designed for non-science students. Partially meets the lower division General Studies requirement in Natural Sciences. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 106 Physical Science I (3) FS.Students may take PHY 108 before 106. Mechanics, fluids, heat, waves. States of matter. Chemical and physical change. Applications to Earth Science. Emphasis on science principles, demonstrations and experiments that are relevant to elementary and junior high school teachers. PHY 106 and 108 were designed for Liberal Studies majors who may substitute them for PHY 100 and CHE 102/EAR 100 in the General Studies requirements. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 108 Physical Science II (3) FS.Students may take PHY 108 before 106. Electricity and magnetism and light. Atomic structure, chemical families and bonding. Applications to astronomy. PHY 106 and PHY 108 were designed for Liberal Studies majors who may substitute them for PHY 100 and CHE 102/EAR 100 in the General Studies requirements. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 120 Elements of Physics I (4) F.Motion, energy, waves and heat treated from a non-calculus point of view. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 122 Elements of Physics II (4) S.Electricity, magnetism and light. Nuclear radiation. Quantum phenomena. Atomic structure. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 130 General Physics I (5) FS.Kinematics and dynamics of particles, rigid bodies and fluids. Kinetic theory, temperature and thermodynamics. Calculus-based course. Four hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 132 General Physics II (5) FS.Waves, light, electricity and magnetism. Four hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 134 General Physics III (4) F (Formerly PHY 230).Twentieth century physics, including concepts of relativity and quantum theory and particle classification. Applications to radiation, atoms, elementary particles and nuclei. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 207 Physics with Clinical Science Applications (4) S.Electricity, magnetism and electromagnetic waves. Light, including the photon model. Laboratory emphasis on solid state devices and electronic instrumentation. Designed for students in the Clinical Sciences. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
Lecture-demonstration-laboratory covering fundamental concepts in physical science, designed especially for in-service teachers (K-12). Class emphasizes on hands-on activities using everyday objects. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Not for physics majors or minors. CR/NC grading.
PHY 306 Mathematical Methods in Physics (3) S.Application of the following techniques to physics: vectors, Gauss and Stokes theorems, series solutions of differential equations, Sturm - Liouville theory, and Fourier Series. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 310 Theoretical Mechanics I (3) F-EOY.Newtonian dynamics of one and two particles. Introduction to Lagrange s equations. Includes computer simulations.
PHY 320 Physical Optics (3) S-EOY.Scalar wave equations, interference and diffraction, spacial filtering, coherence and holography. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 331 Audio Electronics (3) F.Selection and utilization of electronic components and instrumentation. Solid state circuit design and construction. Fundamental electronics through linear amplifiers, power supplies, filters and feedback. A project is required. Designed for students interested in audio techniques. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 333 Analog Electronics (3) S.Design and use of systems employing digital integrated circuits. Gates, Boolean algebra, combinatorial and sequential design. Multiplexers, flip-flops, shift registers, ALUs and memories. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 337 Microprocessors (3).Architecture, programming and interfacing of microcomputers. Input/output, instruction sets, subroutines, interrupts, serial communications and process control. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 341 Advanced Laboratory (2) F-EOY.Advanced experimental work, including data acquisition and error analysis techniques. Experiments are taken from several of the major areas of physics, such as optics and spectroscopy, solid state, acoustics, nuclear physics and electronics. Course may be repeated for credit with instructor's approval. One hour of lecture and one three hours laboratory period per week.
PHY 346 Thermal Physics (3) F-EOY.Laws of thermodynamics. Equations of state, entropy, free energies, kinetic theory and concepts of statistical physics. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 350 Electromagnetic Theory I (3) F-EOY.Electro- and magnetostatics. Electromagnetic properties of matter, Faraday's law of induction, direct and alternating currents. Includes computer simulations. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 352 Electromagnetic Theory II (3) S-EOY.Derivation and applications of Maxwell's equations in vacuum and material media. Electromagnetic radiation. Includes computer simulations. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 380 An Introduction to Nonlinear Phenomena (3).Quantum phenomena; postulates and interpretation; Schroedinger's equation in one, two and three dimensions. Applications to atoms and barrier penetration. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 494 Independent Study (3) FS.A reading program on a specialized topic in Physics under the supervision of a faculty member. Repeatable course.
PHY 495 Selected Topics in Physics (3) FS.The study of an area of Physics that is not normally available in other courses. Repeatable course. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 498 Directed Research (1-3) FS.Advanced laboratory work in an area related to physics or instrumentation. The student participates in an independent investigation under faculty supervision. Repeatable course. Three to nine hours of laboratory per week.
The following courses are scheduled only on a "demand" basis. Students should consult the department office for information about the next scheduled offering.
PHY 201 Experimental Methods (1).Fabrication techniques applicable in the laboratory per week. Properties of materials. Three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 339 Instrumentation (3).Measurement techniques, transducers, noise reduction, signal processing in the analog and digital domains. Computer controlled instrumentation and data acquisition. Bus configurations and interfacing. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.
PHY 356 Astrophysics (3).Quantitative study of stellar astronomy with emphasis on stellar evolution and cosmology. Includes computer simulations. Three hours of lecture per week.
PHY 462 Quantum Mechanics II (3) S-EOY.Spin, identical particles. Applications of quantum mechanics to problems of current interest in physics, such as solid state, nuclear, astrophysics and particle physics. Three hours of lecture per week.