Ph1
- Ph1 is an Institute requirement, so you must either take Ph1abc or have the requirement
waived.
The Physics Placement Exam
The summer before coming to Caltech, you received a physics placement
exam. Your score on the exam was used to place you in one of the ten recitation
sections of Ph1a. There are three different types of Ph1a sections:
Sections 1 & 2: These sections are designed for students who were exposed to less
physics in high school than is the norm. These sections provide extra review of
basic physics, in order to bring everyone up to speed by the end of the term.
Sections 3 - 8: These are typical sections.
Sections 9 & 10: These are advanced sections for students who have already seen a
lot of physics. They cover the material in more depth, and may include some
additional special topics.
The Physics Advanced Placement Exam:
Students placed in sections 9 & 10 will receive a copy of the Advanced Placement Exam in their Freshman packet. The exam covers basic Newtonian mechanics like that done in Ph1a. You do not have to take the exam if you don't want to. If you qualified to take the exam and do well enough, you will not have to take Ph1a.
If you place out of Ph1a with one of the top scores, there may be a possibility of placing out of Ph1bc as well. To do this you should consult with
Professor Newman, his office is located in Lauritsen room 247. Ph1bc covers
electromagnetism and special relativity, the former using differential calculus. You
will need to know about div, grad, curl, and a bit about the differential form of
Maxwell's equations to place out of Ph1bc. Only a few students place out of Ph1bc
each year.
First-year courses other than Ph1:
Ph3 - This is a freshman
physics lab that includes mechanics and E&M, along with statistical analysis of
data. It is open to freshmen 2nd and 3rd terms, except by permission of the
instructor. Ph3 is often taken by students who do not intend on majoring in physics.
Ph20-22 - These are three parts of a computational physics lab. The lab is not about how to program, but rather how to use computers to solve problems in physics. Check the Caltech course catalog for more details.
Ph10 - This is a seminar course designed to introduce 1st-year students to physics research that is happening at Caltech. It mostly requires attendance and a bit of reading.
Ph11 - This course has 1st-year students doing real physics research. It's fun and interesting, but also time-consuming. The course is limited to six eager 1st-year students, and there is a competition to get in. Interested students can pick up the first "hurdle" from Kate Finnigan at 200 Sloan Annex. You have four weeks to work on the hurdle, and then you get a second hurdle for another four weeks. Students are selected for the course at the end of first term. The actual course runs second and third terms freshman year and first term sophomore year. The course also includes a SURF project during the summer.