| Category | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| HW | 4 |
| Exams | 4 |
This course is essentially a physics class devoted to electromagnetism. You may think that it will go deeper into concepts covered in physics II but it mainly rehashes the same topics at a slower pace and with more mathematical rigor (e.g. we use divergence, curl, and gradient of vector/ scalar fields to understand electromagnetic concepts whereas in physics II we barely touch those tools). We do also cover some new and interesting topics.
You might like this course if you're interested in physics and are eager to learn about how it can be applied in a useful way. The current professor (as of F23) is Maysam Chamanzar who leads CMU's brain-computer interface lab so we has a pretty good idea of what electromagnetic concepts are useful.
- Vector calculus
- Electrostatics
- Magnetostatics
- Electromagnetism
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HW: Generally medium level of difficulty. As long as you read the lecture notes/watch the recordings you should be good. Going to lecture is also nice though since Prof. Chamanzar does like to talk about life in general. Sometimes there is a really hard problem in the homework so I would recommend TA or Professor OH.
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Exams: There are 2 midterms and one final. The exam problems are similar to the homework and recitation problems but they can include a difficult twist so make sure you understand the fundamentals well.
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Final presentation: A final presentation on a electromagnetics concept done in a group and presented to the class on the final week of school
- go to lecture
- go to recitation
- take your time with the homeworks, they are often not super hard but do require concentration. So, do try to understand why each step in the solution to a problem is justified.
- Midterm problems can be a bit tricky so be sure to understand how to apply concepts to a variety of problem types
- physics libre text has some good material that parallels what we cover in class