The Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics

(updated on May 12, 2008)

 

The B.S. degree in physics is traditionally taken by students interested in a career in physics research in government or industry, or in college- and university-level teaching and research. Nationally, about half of all B.S.-physics students go on to graduate school, either in physics, engineering or another professional area. At CWRU, about 80% of our B.S. majors continue their studies after graduation. The others choose to take immediate employment in a variety of technical fields in industry and government. CWRU physics majors have been remarkably successful at winning prestigious National Science Foundation graduate fellowships and at being admitted to the best research universities, medical and other professional schools.

The courses taken by our BS majors provide a comprehensive foundation in physics. Starting (preferably) in the first semester, intoductory mechanics and introductory electromagnetism include both lecture and laboratory components. In the second year, the physics major takes lecture courses in modern physics, classical mechanics, and mathematical physics and computing, as well as laboratory courses in electronics and in instrumentation.

In the junior year, the B.S. physics major will have lecture courses in quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics / thermodynamics, and advanced electricity and magnetism. A fall semester laboratory includes a selection of experiments from classical and modern physics. A spring semester laboratory concludes the formal training in experimental physics by providing students an opportunity to conduct state-of-the-art experiments using research quality equipment.

In their senior year, students take a required second course in advanced electricity and magnetism and may choose from a variety of upper-level physics courses in areas such as condensed matter physics, optics, quantum electronics, nuclear and particle physics, cosmology and general relativity. An important component of the senior year is the two semester senior project. Each student works on an independent experimental or theoretical research project leading to a paper and a public presentation in the styles expected by the American Physical Society, the premier professional society of physicists.

The science and mathematics courses required for the Bachelor of Science in Physics are given in a table below. In addition to these courses, the student must complete the Arts and Science General Education Requirements, including a set of SAGES courses. The total number of credit-hours required for this BS degree is 127. The suggested year for taking each course is indicated in the table, but scheduling is flexible, particularly for students entering with advanced placement credits. Many of our physics BS students complete a second major during their four years at CWRU.

 

Course		Yr*	Cred	Course		Yr*	Cred
PHYS 121 or 123	Intro Mech	1	4	CHEM 105 or 111	Chem 1	1	3 (4)
PHYS 122 or 124	Intro E&M	1	4	CHEM 106 or ENGR 145	Chem 2	1	3 (4)
PHYS 221	Modern	2	3
PHYS 203	Elec Lab	2F	4	ENGR 131 ***	CompP	1	3
PHYS 204	Instr Lab	2S	4	MATH 121 or 123	Calc 1	1	4
PHYS 250	CompMeth	2S	3	MATH 122 or 124	Calc 2	1	4
PHYS 310	Clas. Mech.	2S	3	MATH 223 or 227	Calc 3	2	3
PHYS 301	Adv. Lab 1	3F	3	MATH 224	Dif Eq	2	3
PHYS 303**	AdvLabSem	3F	1	PHED two semesters			0
PHYS 313	Thermo	3F	3
PHYS 331	QM 1	3F	3
PHYS 332	QM 2	3S	3
PHYS 302	Adv. Lab 2	3S	4	Subtotal			25(27)
PHYS 324	E&M 1	3S	3
PHYS 325	E&M 2	4F	3	SAGES first/univ sem			10
PHYS 351**	SrProj	4	4	Breadth requirement****			12
PHYS 352**	SrProjSem	4	2	Open electives*****			22
CHOOSE 1 of the following 3:
PHYS 315	Solid State	4F	3
PHYS 326	Physical Optics	S	3
PHYS 327	Quant. Elec.	4S	3
CHOOSE 1 of the following 4:
PHYS 316	Nuc. Particle	4S	3
PHYS 328	Cosmo.Univ.	4	3
PHYS 336	Mod.Cosmo.	4	3
PHYS 365	General Rel.	4S	3
Subtotal			60	Total			127

* course usually taken in this year, offered only in F = fall, S = spring

** PHYS 303 + PHYS 352 satisfy the SAGES departmental seminar requirement. PHYS 351 is an approved SAGES capstone course.

*** or other approved computational course

**** The breadth requirements include 6 hours of Social Sciences and 6 hours of Arts and Humanities. This may increase by 3 credits if the required Global and Cultural Diversity course is not also one of the breadth requirement courses. Courses required for the BS in Physics satisfy the 6 credit GER for Natural Sciences and Mathematics as well as the Quantitative Reasoning course requirement.

***** The number of open electives may vary as determined by the degree requirement that the total number of credits be at least 127.

For more information, contact Prof. Gary Chottiner , gary.chottiner@case.edu .

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