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Physics
Bachelor of Science Degree: 185.0 credits

Degree Requirements

General education requirements			Credits
ENGL 101	Expository Writing and Reading		3.0
ENGL 102	Persuasive Writing and Reading		3.0
ENGL 103	Analytical Writing and Reading		3.0
UNIV 101	The Drexel Experience		2.0
	Technical elective		3.0
	Liberal studies electives*		9.0
	Business electives		8.0
	Free electives		12.0
*It is strongly recommended that a student's liberal studies and/or free electives include COM 230 (Techniques of Speaking) and COM 310 WI (Technical Communication).
Mathematics/computer science requirements
CS 171	Computer Programming I		3.0
MATH 121	Calculus I		4.0
MATH 122	Calculus II		4.0
MATH 123	Calculus III		4.0
MATH 200	Multivariate Calculus		4.0
MATH 201	Linear Algebra		4.0
MATH 210	Differential Equations		4.0
Chemistry requirements
CHEM 101	General Chemistry I		3.5
CHEM 102	General Chemistry II		4.5
BIO 102	Biology I: Cells and Tissues		4.0
or
CHEM 103	General Chemistry III		5.0
Physics requirements
PHYS 113	Contemporary Physics I		5.0
PHYS 114	Contemporary Physics II		5.0
PHYS 115	Contemporary Physics III		5.0
PHYS 105	Computational Physics I		3.0
PHYS 160	Introduction to Scientific Computing		3.0
PHYS 217	Thermodynamics		4.0
PHYS 223 WI	Modern Physics Laboratory		3.0
PHYS 226 WI	Instrumentation for Scientists I		3.0
PHYS 305	Computational Physics II		3.0
PHYS 311	Classical Mechanics I		4.0
PHYS 312	Classical Mechanics II		4.0
PHYS 317	Statistical Mechanics		3.0
PHYS 321	Electromagnetic Fields I		4.0
PHYS 322	Electromagnetic Fields II		4.0
PHYS 324	Topics in Mathematical Physics		3.0
PHYS 326	Quantum Mechanics I		4.0
PHYS 327	Quantum Mechanics II		4.0
PHYS 328	Advanced Laboratory		3.0
PHYS 408	Physics Seminar		3.0
PHYS 428	Quantum Mechanics III		4.0
PHYS 491	Senior Research I		3.0
PHYS 492	Senior Research II		3.0
PHYS 493 WI	Senior Research III		3.0
Physics lab requirements			3.0 - 4.0
PHYS 227 WI	Instrumentation for Scientists II		3.0
or
PHYS 306	Computational Physics Laboratory I		2.0
and
PHYS 307	Computational Physics Laboratory II		2.0
Topical course requirements			12.0
Physics majors must complete four (4)Topical courses designated by the Physics department. Advanced Computational Physics (Phys 405) will also satisfy a topical requirement. In Any course which is not explicitly in the department's roster of topical courses must be approved by the department head or director of undergraduate advising.
Topical courses
PHYS 431	Galactic Dynamics		3.0
PHYS 432	Cosmology		3.0
PHYS 452	Solid State Physics		3.0
PHYS 453	Nanoscience		3.0
PHYS 461	Biophysics		3.0
PHYS 462	Computational Biophysics		3.0
PHYS 471	Nonlinear Dynamics		3.0
PHYS 476	Nuclear and Particle Physics		3.0
In addition to these Topical course options, the Department of Physics will count any non-required course at the 400-level or higher (for example, PHYS 405 Advanced Computational Physics), Special Relativity (taught at the 200-level in the Honors College), or directly appropriate advanced courses in related fields. The appropriateness of the latter is determined by obtaining a signed letter to that effect from the Physics Department's Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements In order to graduate, all students beginning with the entering class of 2002/01 (fall, 2002) must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate. A "WI" next to a course in this catalog indicates that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. Departments will designate specific sections of such courses as writing-intensive. Sections of writing-intensive courses are not indicated in this catalog. Students should check the section comments in Banner when registering. Students scheduling their courses in Banner can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term. For more information on writing-intensive courses, see the Drexel University Writing Program's Writing-Intensive Course page.