Physics is concerned with the basic principles of the universe. It is the foundation on which engineering, technology, and other sciences are based. The science of physics has developed out of the efforts of men and women to explain our physical environment. These efforts have been so successful that the laws of physics now encompass a remarkable variety of phenomena. One of the exciting features of physics is its capacity for predicting how nature will behave in one situation on the basis of experimental data obtained in another situation.

This course is the third of a three-quarter comprehensive sequence in general physics. The course will involve a combination of lectures, discussions, and hands-on demonstrations involving the acquisition and analysis of experimental data to be compared with theoretical predictions.

We will learn about energy, models, and the process for constructing them. We will study some of Maxwell's development of the unified theory of magnetism, Einstein’s special relativity, and an introduction to particle and waves. This program will complete many of the traditional topics of first-year physics.