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
8.3 / 10
Time
5-10 hrs/week
Overall
8.3 / 10

Reviews

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: P

    Prof gives clear explanations and slides, but more practice problems would be helpful

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A+

    Nico is good. The class is pretty straightforward and all resrouces necessary to succeed are provided. Just not all that interesting in my opinion.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A+

    This class was very easy; anyone who has taken AP Physics, or any physics in high school would agree IMO. He starts off with the assumption that you know absolutely nothing, which is great for beginners but can be a bit frustrating if you already know any physics. For this reason, I stopped attending lecture or even looking at the slides after week 3 and only referenced his lecture slides if I ran into trouble on the homework.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A+

    Rombes is a very clear and thorough lecturer. He makes sure that you have all your foundational physics skills in place and is extremely patient. He is easy to approach and overall a great guy! The class moves a little slow at first, but this makes it very accessible to students of all physics backgrounds.

    Quarter Taken: Summer 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A

    I really liked his lectures. The instructor makes the exams quite straightforward.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: B+

    Rombes is a decent professor who mainly
    just reads off slides that exactly mirror the textbook. His tests are pretty hard and do not have plug and chug questions.

    Quarter Taken: Winter 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    The homework’s are long but not too difficult. Extra credit offered is 0.7 of a point. He’s a great lecturer the class is just so easy.

    Quarter Taken: Winter 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    super clear lecturer who really cares about his students, exams are super fair and very aligned with the practice exams; doing mastering problems and practice exams was enough for me!

    Quarter Taken: Winter 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Professor did a pretty good job teaching concepts and midterms were fair

    Quarter Taken: Winter 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    The class was pretty well structured and the exams were pretty fair. Studying past exams, learning how to use the equations given, and going to office hours were all pretty helpful.

Course

Instructor
Nicholas Rombes III
Previously taught
23Su 23W 22F 22Su 22W

Grading Information

  • No group projects

  • Attendance not required

  • 2 midterms

  • Finals week final

  • 50% recommend the textbook

Previous Grades

Grade distributions not available.