PHY X41 PHY 341 Selected Topics in Physics 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
May not be counted toward the Bachelor of Science in Physics degree without prior approval of the department. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. An additional one-hour problem session is required for some sections.
Pre/Corequisites: Upper-division standing, three semester hours of coursework in a natural science, and three semester hours of coursework in mathematics.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Upper Division
Topic 1: Energy Production. The various means that exist or have been suggested for generating energy; comparison in terms of efficiency, safety, and effects on the environment.
Topic 2: Great Men, Moments, and Ideas. How our views of matter, energy, and the universe developed.
Topic 3: Musical Acoustics. Study of the production, transmission, and perception of the special kind of sound called music, based on the application of elementary principles of physics.
Topic 4: The Nature of Things. A qualitative survey of all of physics, from falling bodies to quarks, making heavy use of classroom demonstrations.
Topic 5: Pseudoscience. Study of a variety of ideas treated very seriously by the communications media but having no basis in fact, including astrology, extrasensory perception, and flying saucers; why such areas are not part of science.
Topic 6: Writing.
Topic 7: Research Methods: UTeach.