Compared to PHYS 110, this course is much more focused on a general topic. This is still first-year physics, so not a super specific topic, but everything was somewhat more related than in 110. This made the course easier in a way, since there was a fair amount of stuff later in the course that was directly related to what was covered earlier in the course, which helped me understand some of the topics better. I had to take this course a few times to get the grade I needed, and I absolutely preferred the format of the course for the summer term over that of the spring term. For the summer there were four midterms, one every three weeks, which I found to be somewhat lower pressure than having two bigger midterms six weeks apart because the content covered was fresher in my mind. The class ...read more

The course mainly covers waves. Harmonic motion, soundwaves, light waves, this waves, that waves. It was kind of cool to find things related to harmonic motion that also related to light waves, or light waves to soundwaves. The material isn't particularly easy, but staying on top of the homework and paying attention in lectures was enough for me to do well. The labs in this course generally lined up with the material covered in lectures fairly well, although the format of the course for the summer term sometimes meant that the lab covering what we were learning in lecture was a week or so later. The labs also weren't particularly easy, but my TA was pretty good and gave very helpful explanations to help us figure it all out. The lab manual was also usually very thorough, so between my TA ...read more

Laidlaw was phenomenal. His explanations were super thorough both while discussing theory and while doing examples. I really appreciated how he handled examples, giving any background knowledge necessary to complete the problems, then allowing students to try before walking through the problem himself. He was also super funny, sprinkling in jokes and stories or reenacting movie scenes to illustrate points. He was also easy to contact and responded quickly to any issues. I wish I had taken the course with Laidlaw in my previous attempt, because I truly think his teaching method is what got me through. I'm not really a fan of how he has the course organized, particularly in the spring term, with exams having so much more influence on the final grade than assignments and labs. It feels incre...read more

Do not slack off on the early topics. If you're doing well for the first few weeks you'll probably be fine, but if you don't understand what's happening you need to get help or just drop the course. It never really gets easier and there's not really time to play catch-up when you fall behind. Before exams, make sure you're really prepared. They're worth a lot of your mark, so doing well on them is essential. Your formula sheet can have notes, problems, and formulae, so while you're preparing that sheet don't be shy about adding what you need to do well.

Overall pretty good class; labs are pretty interesting.

Pretty heavy courseload, all new material not seen in previous classes.

Laidlaw's a pretty good prof; if you actually study enough things usually go ok.

Martin is a fantastic prof and makes this class very interesting, definitely a much better / captivating class than Intro PHYS 1. Martin uses a lot of class participation to drive home examples and is a very good all around.

Do all the homework and make sure you get down the core concepts.