Physics / Bachelor of Science

Total Credit Hours: 128

Major Credit Hours: 73

The B.S. Degree gives students an excellent grounding in the fundamentals of physics with training in theoretical, computational, and experimental treatments of physics principles, phenomena, and applications.   Students are also encouraged to get involved in research activities within the department.  This program  prepares students for entry into graduate programs in physics and other scientific or engineering fields. It also opens the door to a broad range of employment options in the both the public and private sectors, including employment in industry and at national labs.

Degree Requirements

Program: BS-PHYS-A

The following courses must be completed in order to earn a B.S. in Physics.

A grade of "C-" or better must be earned in a prerequisite course in order to advance to the next course in the sequence. An overall GPA of 2.0 must be earned in the major in order for a student to graduate with a B.S. in Physics.

Physics majors and minors may take a Physics class only two times. If a student has not achieved a minimum of a "C-" after the second attempt, the student may not repeat the class. Physics majors may not double major in Chemical Physics.

I. Core Courses (58)

CHEM-11000General Chemistry 1

4

CHEM-11100General Chemistry 1 Lab

1

MATH-20000Calculus 1

4

MATH-20100Calculus 2

4

MATH-25000Calculus 3

4

MATH-30000Differential Equations

3

PHYS-21000General Physics 1

3

PHYS-21100General Physics 1 Lab

1

PHYS-21500General Physics 2

3

PHYS-21600General Physics 2 Lab

1

PHYS-21800General Physics 3

3

PHYS-21900General Physics 3 Lab

1

PHYS-29600Research Methods Seminar

1

PHYS-30000Mechanics

4

PHYS-31000Electricity and Magnetism

4

PHYS-33100Thermodynamics

3

PHYS-34100Modern Physics

3

PHYS-36500Intermediate Physics Laboratory

3

PHYS-44100Quantum Mechanics

3

PHYS-46500Capstone Project

1

PHYS-49600Physics Seminar

1

CPSC-31500Scientific Computing

3

II. Choose one of the following Lab/Lecture courses: (4)

PHYS-31100Analog and Digital Electronics

4

PHYS-31800Optics

4

III. Choose one of the following Computational Physics courses: (2)

PHYS-40100Computational Mechanics

2

PHYS-41100Computational Electrodynamics

2

IV. Select 9 credit hours of Electives: (9)

Select at least 9 additional hours of electives from the following list, up to 6 of which may be taken in Chemistry, Computer Science, or Mathematics. Mathematics minors cannot use any 30000 or 40000 level Mathematics course to satisfy both this requirement and a Mathematics minor requirement

CHEM-11500General Chemistry 2

4

MATH-30500Linear Algebra

3

MATH-31500Probability and Statistics 1

3

MATH-31600Probability and Statistics 2

3

MATH-35000Numerical Analysis

3

MATH-36000Real Analysis 1

3

MATH-43000Complex Analysis

3

PHYS-30600Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences

2

PHYS-31100Analog and Digital Electronics

4

PHYS-31800Optics

4

PHYS-34200Applied Modern Physics: Atoms, Molecules, and Condensed Matter

2

PHYS-34300Applied Modern Physics: Nuclear and Particle Physics

2

PHYS-40100Computational Mechanics

2

PHYS-41100Computational Electrodynamics

2

PHYS-44200Solid State Physics

3

PHYS-44300Nuclear and Particle Physics

3

CPSC-20000Introduction to Computer Science

3

CPSC-21000Programming Fundamentals

3

CPSC-22000Introduction to Unix

3

PHYS 37100 Workshop in Physics may be taken multiple times for credit if different topics are offered. Up to 2 credit hours may be applied toward completion of these elective credits.

PHYS 47000 Undergraduate Research may be taken multiple times for credit.  Up to 6 credit hours may be applied toward completion of these elective credits.

PHYS 49800 Topics in Physics may be taken multiple times for credit if different topics are offered.  Up to 9 credit hours may be applied toward completion of these elective credits.

PHYS 49900 Independent Study may be taken multiple times for credit.  Up to 4 credit hours may be applied toward completion of these elective credits.

V. Advanced Writing Requirement

The advanced writing requirement of the General Education curriculum is satisfied by successful completion of:
PHYS-29600Research Methods Seminar

1

PHYS-36500Intermediate Physics Laboratory

3

PHYS-46500Capstone Project

1