Boston University PY105 - Physics I

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• PY105 Draft Fall 2025 Syllabus & Schedule

• PhET Simulations

• BU Physics Simulations

• College Physics Textbook (OpenStax)

• Essential Physics Textbook (Duffy)

• Self-Guided Conceptual Videos & Additional Resources

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.

Want to get a head start? 2-3+ weeks before first class...

• Obtain a scientific calculator (NOT a mobile phone app) which has sine, cosine, exponential and their inverse functions. Any will do, but preferrably one with a multi-line display so you can double check and redo your calculations step by step. For example: TI-30XIIS, TI-30XS Multiview, TI-36X Pro, Casio fx-115ES, Casio fx-991CW.

• Math/Physics Prep Packet

• Chapter 1 of College Physics: The Nature of Science and Physics

• A survey of physics via animation, a must watch: Animation vs. Physics (16 min by Alan Becker, 2023)

• Context for college physics, another must watch: Fun to Imagine with Richard Feynman (7:30 clip on "Why?")

• Scale: Powers of Ten with Morgan Freeman (10 minute clip)

Announcements and Frequently Asked Questions

• 06.18.2025 - Fall 2025 Update 4 - The class seats have been updated with each section set at 84 students. That created space in only one section, S6. So students should be automatically moved off that section's wait list in myBU. The remaining sections are at or over that 84 seat cap. In order for students to me moved off the wait list of swap into other sections, there will need to be students who drop the course (which is likely) during the remainder of the summer. At this point, all enrollments will be done automatically depending on the wait list. If you are a Junior/Sophomore/Freshman and are currently on a wait list and do not have a very low position, then you should plan to take the course another time (either Spring 2026 when it's offered off-sequence lecture format of Fall 2026 when it's offered as studio again, and we will accommodate all Seniors).

• 06.06.2025 - Fall 2025 Update 3 - I went through the class rosters (those enrolled) and those on wait lists. We identified all students on a wait list (or multiple wait lists) who are not enrolled in a section. Based on that, we were able to enroll all Seniors. There will not be enough available seats for most Juniors or Sophomores unfortunately. What we will do is increase seats and allow the wait lists to do their jobs automatically. If you've signed up to a wait list as a swap, and you're high up on the wait list, you could be swapped. If you are unenrolled, you could be added. It's too early to know how this will go. Expect another update next week.

• 04.26.2025 - Fall 2025 Update 2 - PY105 has significant wait lists. I think this is mainly due to the fact that we have students registered for a section and also on multiple wait lists to get into other sections. I will check in with CAS Registar to find out how to handle this. Give me some time to look into it, until after the current academic semester ends, and then I will update here. We should have enough seats to get all Juniors/Seniors into the course -- at least we have in past years. Expect an update by late-May.

• 03.20.2025 - Fall 2025 Update 1 - PY105 registration begins this Saturday, April 5 for graduate students, Sunday, April 6 for Seniors, Sunday, April 13 for Juniors, and Sunday, April 27 for Sophomores. Note that the PY105/106 physics sequence is typically taken during Junior/Senior year.

  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.

• How can I manage the pace of the course and do you have suggestions for how to be successful and minimize stress? This is a very good question! This course is fast-paced because we are covering so many concepts and we are expecting a lot from you. Of course, how much really depends on prior experience learning physics. The best advice is to carve out time for daily practice and study (work on problems) until you're fairly confident in what you are learning. There's really no way around this. The way to not get overwhelmed by the pace is to work towards a routine for yourself and try to follow it. We will certainly help you achieve this, partly because we will be doing our best to build a "we're all in this" community atmosphere, so you won't feel alone. We will provide real-world applications (particularly in health and medicine) so that you can see physics in action. Finally, we will build into the schedule a full slate of office hours and review sessions. Our goal in teaching, and hopefully your goal in learning, is that the course and all the structures we are building in support you so that nobody is left behind.

• If you have any questions, please e-mail to: trunfio@bu.edu and please put PY105 in the subject heading. I will provide updates here with any FAQ's.

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 Paul Trunfio's Teaching Page