Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Mechanics and Energy

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, two hours. Requisites: Life Sciences 30A, 30B, or Mathematics 3A, 3B, 3C (3C may be taken concurrently). Statics and dynamics of forces, motion, energy, including thermal energy, with applications to biological and biochemical systems. P/NP or letter grading.

Review Summary

Clarity
8.3 / 10
Organization
6.7 / 10
Time
0-5 hrs/week
Overall
8.3 / 10

Reviews

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Bauer is a decent lecturer. He moves a little too fast during lecture and you're supposed to not down everything he's writing so it can sometimes get difficult to really grasp the material during lecture since you're just trying to write notes. But since lectures are recoded and attendance it not mandatory, you can just watch them on your own time. Labs are annoying and waste time since they don't help prepare for the exam much but it's basically free points (effort is needed but no stress) so not gonna complain too much.
    As for the tests: the questions are based off the material but they sometimes bring different concepts together in a way that you're not told to practice so that can make some things difficult; however, since it's an intro class, there's a lot of simpler questions too, so it balances things out (you also get a cheat sheet which helps relief a lot of stress). Overall nothing to really complain about and would recommend.

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A-

    Everything you need for the final is given, just need time to work through material. Practice, practice, practice!

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: B-

    tests were not reflective of practice midterms

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A+

    I'd taken 1A prior to this but decided to go the life sci route (yeayea) so I was familiar with most of the 5A material already. Bauer explained the basics pretty well in lecture, but I think he did have to rush to cover all the material in the end (I'm not too sure since I stopped attending lecture after like week 2, he talked too slow and lecture notes were enough to jog my memory). My advice is definitely do the homework and review the homework/dis assignments, as those concepts are what will appear on the exam.

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Professor wasn't that great at explaining material and was explaining it in a way that made sense only to him. Wasn't too helpful during office hours or lecture because he would write students off and be extremely condescending. The content that was taught in lecture was MUCH easier than the homework problems and the midterm problems and it felt like I learned all of this class by myself. Youtube will be your best friend in this class.

    Quarter Taken: Summer 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Professor was more than generous during our midterm exams and was very responsive to student feedback. Interacting with peers on campuswise is a great way to learn and get extra credit in this course.

    Quarter Taken: Summer 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A-

    Class was pretty organized and easy to follow. However, I was surprised at how the final was significantly more difficult than either of the midterms.

Course

Instructor
David Bauer
Previously taught
24W 23F 23Su 23S 22S 20Su 19Su

Grading Information

  • No group projects

  • Attendance required

  • 2 midterms

  • Finals week final

  • 57% recommend the textbook

Previous Grades

Grade distributions not available.