Physics Major in Applied Physics / Bachelor of Science

Total Credit Hours: 128

Major Credit Hours: 73 

In the Applied Physics concentration, students have three options. In option one they take a core set of Physics courses and labs; after consulting with an advisor and getting the approval of the chair, they choose electives from any technical area at Lewis (for example, Aviation, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics). The flexibility in this curriculum is advantageous to students who wish to create individual programs of study to suit their interests and career goals with approval of their advisors. The Applied Physics concentration is also an excellent option for students who want to pursue careers in interdisciplinary fields like computational physics or medical physics or who intend to enter graduate programs in Applied Physics or related fields.

Students in the Dual Degree Program administered jointly by Lewis University and The Illinois Institute of Technology may choose to pursue a B.S. degree in either Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering at IIT while earning at the same time a B.S. in Physics (Applied Physics concentration) from Lewis University.

Degree Requirements

Program: BS-PHYS-A
Concentration: APHY

Students in the Lewis University / Illinois Institute of Technology Dual Degree Program complete those requirements listed for Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering. See the individual catalog entries for these dual degree programs.

The degree requirements for the B.S. in Physics (Applied Physics concentration) may be satisfied by completing the set of courses below.

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 (Applied Physics Concentration).

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.

Students in the Applied Physics concentration may not use their technical electives to fulfill the requirements for both this concentration and the requirements for a minor or major in another technical field.

I. Core Courses (45)

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-34100Modern Physics

3

PHYS-36500Intermediate Physics Laboratory

3

PHYS-46500Capstone Project

1

PHYS-49600Physics Seminar

1

II. Select one of the following courses: (4)

PHYS-31000Electricity and Magnetism

4

PHYS-31100Analog and Digital Electronics

4

III. Select one of the following Computation courses: (3)

CPSC-20000Introduction to Computer Science

3

CPSC-23500Programming for Data Analysis

3

CPSC-31500Scientific Computing

3

MATH-42500Mathematical Modeling

3

IV. Technical Electives (21)

The student chooses 21 additional credit hours of approved electives from Aviation, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Engineering, Computer Science (CPSC 20000 or higher), Mathematics, and/or Physics. At least 6 elective credit hours must be at the 30000-40000 level. All course prerequisites must be satisfied. Students interested in a particular applied area (for example, Computational Physics) can obtain a list of recommended courses from the Physics Department and take electives from that list. Or students may create an individualized set of technical electives approved by the student’s advisor and the Physics Department chair.

VI. 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