Physics
View courses in
- Physics
- All Departments
- African American & Black Diaspora Studies
- African Studies: Culture (in English)
- African Studies: East African Languages: Kiswahili (Swahili)
- African Studies: East, West & South African Languages: Amharic, Igbo, Mandinka, isiZulu
- African Studies: South African Languages: isiXhosa
- African Studies: West African Languages: Akan Twi, Wolof
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Arabic: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Archaeology
- Astronomy
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Chinese: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Cinema & Media Studies
- Classical Studies: incl. Classical Civilization and Tradition (in English), Ancient Greek, and Latin
- Classical Studies: Modern Greek
- Comparative Literature
- Computer Science
- Core Curriculum
- Earth & Environment
- Economics
- Editorial Studies
- English
- First Year Experience
- French: Language, Literature, Linguistics, Culture (including courses in English)
- German: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Hebrew: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Hindi-Urdu: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- History
- History of Art & Architecture
- Interdisciplinary Studies
- International Relations
- Internships
- Italian: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Japanese: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Jewish Studies
- Korean: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Linguistics
- Literary Translation
- Marine Science
- Mathematics & Statistics
- Natural Sciences
- Neuroscience
- Persian (Farsi): Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science
- Portuguese: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Psychological & Brain Sciences
- Religion
- Russian: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- SEA Semester
- Senior Year Development
- Sociology
- Spanish: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Turkish: Language, Literature, Culture (including courses in English)
- Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
- Writing
-
CAS PY 104: Physics of Health Sciences
Undergraduate Prerequisites: some knowledge of algebra and trigonometry.
PY104 is a one semester introduction to the basic physics concepts that relate to the health sciences. Material covered is selected from a range of topics, such as include Kinematics and Dynamics, Newton's Laws, Statics, Momentum, Work and Energy, Mechanical Waves, Electric Charge and Force, Capacitance and Resistance, Electric Circuits, and Properties of Electromagnetic Waves, Atomic and Nuclear Physics, and Medical Imaging. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 105: Physics 1
The CAS PY 105/106 sequence satisfies premedical requirements. PY105 covers some of the basic principles underlying the physics of everyday life, including forces and motion, momentum and energy, harmonic motion, rotation, and heat and thermodynamics. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 106: Physics 2
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 105; or equivalent.
The CAS PY 105/106 sequence satisfies premedical requirements. PY106 covers some of the basic principles underlying the physics of everyday life, including electricity and magnetism, direct-current circuits, waves, optics, and modern physics. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 107: Physics of Food and Cooking
Physical science concepts of thermal / soft matter physics and molecular biophysics such as phase transitions and gelation, viscosity, elasticity illustrated via cooking. Labs and demos using molecular gastronomy methods of sous-vide cooking, pressure cooking, making desserts, cheese, emulsions, foams, gels, ice creams. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 195: Freshman Seminar for Physicists
Undergraduate Prerequisites: freshmen with declared majors in physics.
Seminar where freshman physics majors learn successful strategies for studying physics and become familiar with BU's policies, procedures, resources, and extracurricular activities. Exploration of research and career opportunities through invited speakers, book discussions, and laboratory tours. -
CAS PY 211: General Physics I
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 123; or consent of instructor for students concurrently taking MA 123.
Undergraduate Corequisites: CAS MA 124 or CAS MA 127.
Calculus-based introduction to basic principles of physics, emphasizing Newtonian mechanics, conservation laws, and thermodynamics. For science majors and engineers, and for premedical students who seek a more analytical course than CAS PY 105/106. Interactive, student-centered lectures, discussion, and laboratory. Carries natural science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS PY 212: General Physics 2
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 211 and CAS MA 124; or consent of instructor for students concurrently taking MA 123 or MA225
Calculus-based introduction to basic principles of physics, emphasizing electromagnetism, circuits, and optics. For science majors and engineers, and for premedical students who seek a more analytical course than CAS PY 105/106. Interactive, student-centered lectures, discussion, and laboratory. Carries natural science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS PY 231: The Physics in Music
Undergraduate Prerequisites: musical performance experience, or some familiarity with the notes onthe musical clef, or consent of instructor (no physics prerequisite).
An introduction to musical acoustics, which covers vibrations and waves in musical systems and sound production, intervals and the construction of musical scales, tuning and temperament, the percussion instruments, the piano, the string, woodwind and brass instruments, room acoustics, the human ear and psychoacoustical phenomena important to musical performance and perception. Examples from the musical literature that illustrate various acoustical effects are covered. Some aspects of electronic music are also discussed. Satisfies CAS natural science divisional credit. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I. -
CAS PY 241: Principles of General Physics 1
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 123.
Undergraduate Corequisites: CAS MA 124 or CAS MA 127.
Calculus-based introduction to principles and methods of physics. The two semester sequence of PY241 & PY242 covers mechanics, heat, light, electricity and magnetism, and atomic and nuclear physics are treated. Topics relevant to medical science are emphasized. Ideal for premedical students. Lectures, discussions, and laboratory. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. -
CAS PY 242: Principles of General Physics 2
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 241.
Calculus-based introduction to principles and methods of physics. The two semester sequence of PY241 & PY242 covers mechanics, heat, light, electricity and magnetism, and atomic and nuclear physics are treated. Topics relevant to medical science are emphasized. Ideal for premedical students. Lectures, discussions, and laboratory. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. -
CAS PY 251: Principles of Physics 1
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 123; or equivalent.
Undergraduate Corequisites: CAS MA 124 or CAS MA 127; or consent of instructor for students currently enrolled in CAS MA 123.
Introduction to mechanics, conservation laws, rotation, waves, and thermodynamics. Primarily for physics, mathematics, and astronomy majors, but open to other students with a strong background in mathematics. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS PY 252: Principles of Physics 2
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 251; or equivalent.
Introduction to electric and magnetic fields, circuits, electromagnetic waves, and optics. Primarily for physics, mathematics, and astronomy majors, but open to other students with a strong background in mathematics. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS PY 313: Waves and Modern Physics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 211 ; CAS PY 212 ; CAS MA 124.
Graduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 211 ; CAS PY 212 ; CAS MA 124.
Waves and physical optics, relativistic mechanics, experimental foundations of quantum mechanics, atomic structure, physics of molecules and solids, atomic nuclei and elementary particles. Along with CAS PY 211, 212, PY 313 completes a three-semester introductory sequence primarily intended for students of engineering. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 351: Modern Physics 1
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 251 and CAS PY 252; (or CASPY211, CASPY212) and CASMA124.
Undergraduate Corequisites: CAS MA 225.
This course traces the historical and intellectual developments that led to the formulation of modern physics. It introduces students to special relativity, quantum mechanics, classical and quantum statistics, emphasizing scientific inquiry and critical thinking. Labs are a required course component. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking. -
CAS PY 352: Modern Physics II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 351.
Continuation of CAS PY 351. An introduction to modern physics including quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and elementary particle physics. Labs are a required course component. -
CAS PY 355: Methods of Theoretical Physics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 251 ; CAS PY 252 ; CAS MA 225 or CAS PY 211 ; CAS PY 212 ; CAS MA 225; or consent of instructor.
Survey of mathematical and computational methods used in modern theoretical physics. Vectors, fields, differential and integral vector calculus. Matrices, matrix transformations, rotations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Function spaces, orthonormal functions, Fourier analysis, bras and kets. Basics of ordinary and partial differential equations with solutions by series and numerical methods. Complex variables and analytic functions. Scientific programming in python, computational visualization and numerical methods complementing each of the analytic topics. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Digital/Multimedia Expression. -
CAS PY 371: Electronics for Scientists
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 124 and CAS PY 212 or CAS PY 252; or consent of instructor.
A survey of practical electronics for all College of Arts and Sciences science students wishing to gain a working knowledge of electronic instrumentation, and in particular, its construction. Two four-hour laboratory-lecture sessions per week. Effective Spring 2020 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS PY 401: Senior Independent Work
Undergraduate Prerequisites: approval of CAS Honors Committee.
-
CAS PY 402: Senior Independent Work
Undergraduate Prerequisites: approval of CAS Honors Committee.
-
CAS PY 405: Electromagnetic Fields and Waves I
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PY 355; or consent of instructor.
Electrostatics; electric fields in matter; magnetostatics; Laplace's equation; magnetic fields in matter; electrodynamics; conservation laws.
