Courses Taught at Gettysburg College
PHY-103 Elementary Physics
General coverage of the fields of classical and modern physics. Course is for students in biology, environmental science, the health professions.
PHY-110 Introductory Physics II
Standard second semester calculus based Physics course designed to satisfy the major requirements for Chemistry, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology majors. The course explores a wide range of topics including vibrations and sound, light, optics, electricity and magnetism, and electric circuits.
PHY-111 Introductory Modern Physics I
An introduction to conservation laws and modern physics: the conservation of momentum, energy, and angular momentum as fundamental laws, vectors and the concept of velocity, superposition and the interference of waves, physical optics, introductory principles of quantum physics, and applications in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics.
PHY-112 Introductory Modern Physics II
An introduction to classical and relativistic mechanics: Newton’s dynamical laws of motion, orbital mechanics, the Newtonian synthesis of terrestrial and celestial mechanics, and the special theory of relativity.
PHY-246 The Physics of Life
The course is designed to provide a basic familiarity with the most common techniques used in structural biology and their applications to challenging biochemical, biotechnology and medical problems. Course focuses on current state-of-the-art biophysical methods that are being applied to study structure and function of biological macromolecules and biological systems with a focus on the most informative methods, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and single molecule techniques.
PHY-312 Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
Temperature, heat, first and second laws of thermodynamics, and introductory statistical mechanics of physical systems based on the principle of maximum entropy. Topics include the ideal gas, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein ‘gases,’ electrons in metals, blackbody radiation, low temperature physics, and elements of transport theory.
PHY-341 Quantum Mechanics
Introduction to the Schrodinger and Heisenberg formulations of quantum mechanics. Topics include free particles, harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, hydrogen atom, matrix mechanics, spin wave functions, helium atom, and perturbation theory.
PHY-358 X-LAB: Salty and Fatty
Combined upper-level chemistry and physics lab designed to emphasize the use of tools in these disciplines to answer questions in biology. This course concentrates on the role of lipids (fats) and ions (salt) in biology. Utilizing multiple biochemical and biophysical techniques, students perform multiple experiments to ultimately answer a complex biological problem.
PHY-420 Advanced Research Methods in Physics
Laboratory course with experiments drawn from various areas of physics, such as optics, electromagnetism, atomic physics, and nuclear physics, with particular emphasis on contemporary methods. Error analysis, experimental techniques, and written and oral communication are stressed.
Courses taught at Colgate University (2008-2009)
- Core 115: Science and Democracy
- Phys 111: Fundamental Physics I
- Phys 112: Fundamental Physics II (co-taught)
- Phys 120: General Physics I (co-taught)