PY105/6 Physics is a two-semester course sequence covering fundamental physics. PY105, the first semester, this course, covers classical mechanics and thermodynamics. PY106, the second semester, covers electricity, magnetism and modern physics. Both courses are intended primarily for science majors and pre-medical/pre-health students. Most students take PY105/6 in the same academic year, on sequence; PY105 during the fall semester and PY106 during the spring semester.
PY105 studio is the on-sequence course, implemented in a studio format. There are 6 studio sections, each with maximum 83 students (498 students total) integrating lecture, discussion, and labs. All studio sections cover the same material using the same curriculum. Our studio course is an engaged experience for students, minimizing explaining concepts to you in "lecture" and maximizing student collaboration and hands-on problem solving at smart- and white-boards as well as labs. There are two main goals in this course: one is to become familiar with a range of physics concepts, and the other is to learn, through training, to apply these concepts to solving problems.
Each section is supported by a professor, two teaching fellows and two undergraduate learning assistants. We hold office hours for the entire course, across all sections, offering times throughout every day of the week (a combined approximately 40 hours of availability) as well as other resources such as weekly content/problem solving sessions, content reviews, quiz reviews, and 1:1 meeting availability.
For Fall 2025, we will have 4 exams throughout the semester, all held during our Tuesday exam block. The dates have been set: 9/23, 10/7, 11/4 and 12/9. There will be a cumulative final quiz during the final exam block (date TBD). While cumulative, it will be based on key concepts/problems. The lowest scoring quiz will be weighted least, and all others will be equally weighted (see syllabus draft).
To give you an overall sense of the course, check out the PY105 Draft Fall 2025 Syllabus & Schedule and related links above.
Here are some common questions regarding registration:
Exam block conflicts: Our exams will again be on Tuesday nights. The newest myBU updates will not allow you to register for PY105 if you have a conflict with another course. This includes the exam block.
myBU Auto Waitlist feature: MyBU has an auto-enroll waitlist. In other words, the old loophole where your friend could hold a seat and then drop it for you at 3 a.m. will not work. If someone drops a section, myBU will auto-enroll the next person on its internal waitlist. For now, the instructors have no control over the waitlist, so even if you ask us to add you, we physically cannot. You should only add yourself to a waitlist for a section if you are not enrolled in any other PY105 section. The waitlist will automatically add you to the section you selected if a spot opens up in that section on a first-come-first-served basis.
Swapping PY105 Sections: It will be almost impossible to swap PY105 sections. All students should enroll or get on a wait list ONLY for section(s) you are able to attend; instead of enrolling in any section and hope to swap out at a later date.
Section Instructors: We do not know which instructors are teaching which section(s). So, every section is TBD. That is not because we are trying to prevent you from making decisions based on preferences; but it is because we actually do not know at this point.
Religious Holidays: For some of you, religious observances may prevent you from working later in the day/post-sundown (a common example is Ramadan). If this applies to you, please try to register for S1 through S4 so you do not miss many classes! We will work out the exam times that overlap with any religious holidays.
Paul Trunfio's Teaching Page