Teaching Philosophy

To have learned is to be able to teach. To be able to teach is to understand concepts at a granular level. In my classes, I expect my students to become learners of physics but to become teachers of it too.

Calculus-based Introductory Series

PHYS 101

First of a three-course physics sequence introducing mechanics to engineering and science majors. Topics include: Translational kinematics of particles in one and two dimensions. Inertial and non-inertial frames, Newton’s laws of motion, force, energy and momentum. Concepts of conservation of energy and momentum. Rotational kinematics and dynamics.

PHYS 102

Second of a three-course physics sequence introducing electricity and magnetism to engineering and science majors. Topics include: Electrostatics, Coulomb’s law, electric field and flux, and Gauss’s law. Electric potential and potential energy and capacitors. Charges in motion, voltage and current measurements. Direct current circuit analysis using Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s rules. Sources of magnetic fields, concepts of magnetic flux and electromagnetic induction.

PHYS 201

Third of the three-course physics sequence introducing waves, relativity, and quantum mechanics to engineering and science majors. Topics include: Maxwell’s equations, electromagnetic waves, interference and diffraction of electromagnetic waves. Introduction to special theory of relativity. De Broglie’s wave-particle duality hypothesis, Compton scattering, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and Schrodinger’s equation.

Physics For Art & Design Students

PHYS 121

Introductory physics for non-physics students. Topics include: linear kinematics, Newton’s laws, the electromagnetic spectrum.