Physics
Bachelor of Science Degree: minimum of 185.0 credits
Required Courses
Incoming students, 2011/2012
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| General education requirements | ||||
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| ENGL 101 | Expository Writing and Reading | 3.0 | ||
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| ENGL 102 | Persuasive Writing and Reading | 3.0 | ||
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| ENGL 103 | Analytical Writing and Reading | 3.0 | ||
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| UNIV 101 | The Drexel Experience | 2.0 | ||
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| Technical elective | 3.0 | |||
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| Liberal studies electives* | 9.0 | |||
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| Business electives | 8.0 | |||
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| Free electives | 12.0 | |||
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| *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). | ||||
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| Mathematics/computer science requirements | ||||
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| CS 171 | Computer Programming I | 3.0 | ||
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| MATH 121 | Calculus I | 4.0 | ||
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| MATH 122 | Calculus II | 4.0 | ||
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| MATH 123 | Calculus III | 4.0 | ||
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| MATH 200 | Multivariate Calculus | 4.0 | ||
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| MATH 201 | Linear Algebra | 4.0 | ||
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| MATH 210 | Differential Equations | 4.0 | ||
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| Chemistry requirements | ||||
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| CHEM 101 | General Chemistry I | 3.5 | ||
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| CHEM 102 | General Chemistry II | 4.5 | ||
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| BIO 122 | Cells and Genetics | 4.5 | ||
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| CHEM 103 | General Chemistry III | 5.0 | ||
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| Physics requirements | ||||
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| PHYS 113 | Contemporary Physics I | 5.0 | ||
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| PHYS 114 | Contemporary Physics II | 5.0 | ||
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| PHYS 115 | Contemporary Physics III | 5.0 | ||
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| PHYS 105 | Computational Physics I | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 160 | Introduction to Scientific Computing | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 217 | Thermodynamics | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 223 WI | Modern Physics Laboratory | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 226 WI | Instrumentation for Scientists I | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 305 | Computational Physics II | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 311 | Classical Mechanics I | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 312 | Classical Mechanics II | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 317 | Statistical Mechanics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 321 | Electromagnetic Fields I | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 322 | Electromagnetic Fields II | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 324 | Topics in Mathematical Physics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 326 | Quantum Mechanics I | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 327 | Quantum Mechanics II | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 328 | Advanced Laboratory | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 408 | Physics Seminar* | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 428 | Quantum Mechanics III | 4.0 | ||
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| PHYS 491 | Senior Research I | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 492 | Senior Research II | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 493 WI | Senior Research III | 3.0 | ||
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| The Physics 408 course is registered for 1.0 credits each term, but must be taken three times for a total of 3.0 credits. | ||||
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| Physics lab requirements | 3.0 - 4.0 | |||
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| PHYS 227 WI | Instrumentation for Scientists II | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 306 | Computational Physics Laboratory I | 2.0 | ||
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| PHYS 307 | Computational Physics Laboratory II | 2.0 | ||
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| Topical course requirements | 12.0 | |||
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| 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. | ||||
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| Topical courses | ||||
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| PHYS 431 | Galactic Dynamics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 432 | Cosmology | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 452 | Solid State Physics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 453 | Nanoscience | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 461 | Biophysics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 462 | Computational Biophysics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 471 | Nonlinear Dynamics | 3.0 | ||
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| PHYS 476 | Nuclear and Particle Physics | 3.0 | ||
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| 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 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 may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List on the Drexel University Writing Center page. Students scheduling their courses in Banner/DrexelOne can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term. |
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