PHYSICS 1B
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Oscillations, Waves, Electric and Magnetic Fields
Description: Lecture/demonstration, four hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: course 1A, Mathematics 31B, 32A. Enforced corequisite: Mathematics 32B. Fluid mechanics, oscillation, mechanical waves, and sound. Electric charge, field and potential, capacitors, and dielectrics. Currents and resistance, direct-current circuits. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
I enjoyed taking a class with Professor Abachi. He usually explained the ideas in lecture very well, and his clear derivations of formulas usually expanded on the conceptual ideas rather than making the class dry or boring. Outside of class, this professor made himself available all the time--he was always helpful during office hours, on the discussion board of the class website, and on the extra afternoon review sessions that he himself held before exams. He is very knowledgable about the material he teaches and will find different ways to explain this material to make it understandable. I would recommend reading the book and going to his office hours because sometimes he goes a little too fast in lecture, though he does pause often to answer questions during lecture. His exams are straight-forward, and he offers "pretend-exams" that are extremely good to study before midterms and the final.
I enjoyed taking a class with Professor Abachi. He usually explained the ideas in lecture very well, and his clear derivations of formulas usually expanded on the conceptual ideas rather than making the class dry or boring. Outside of class, this professor made himself available all the time--he was always helpful during office hours, on the discussion board of the class website, and on the extra afternoon review sessions that he himself held before exams. He is very knowledgable about the material he teaches and will find different ways to explain this material to make it understandable. I would recommend reading the book and going to his office hours because sometimes he goes a little too fast in lecture, though he does pause often to answer questions during lecture. His exams are straight-forward, and he offers "pretend-exams" that are extremely good to study before midterms and the final.
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Prof Althouse was very concerned (he hosted his own separate review sessions before each of his two midterms as well as the sessions his TA's held) and kept on asking us after each new concept if we understood him (and took the time to answer). He also took 5 min. before each lecture to do a mini review of concepts/equations from the previous lecture, which I really appreciated. He's very clear most of the time about his lectures - they are very, very geared to making you understand what is going on. A little boring, but that was mostly due to the lecture material. He's very clear what will be on the tests, which were fair (and were very similar to problems he went over in class or were in the textbook). Grades: 4 units from 5, best grade given; (1) HW, (1) for each of 2 midterms, (2) final. I kept dozing off during lecture and slacked off majorly, but if you put in some effort and pay attention, an A will definitely be doable (haha not in my case). He also did a lot of cool demonstrations and really wanted us to like physics. Practice midterms/final were also provided. TAKE HIM!
Prof Althouse was very concerned (he hosted his own separate review sessions before each of his two midterms as well as the sessions his TA's held) and kept on asking us after each new concept if we understood him (and took the time to answer). He also took 5 min. before each lecture to do a mini review of concepts/equations from the previous lecture, which I really appreciated. He's very clear most of the time about his lectures - they are very, very geared to making you understand what is going on. A little boring, but that was mostly due to the lecture material. He's very clear what will be on the tests, which were fair (and were very similar to problems he went over in class or were in the textbook). Grades: 4 units from 5, best grade given; (1) HW, (1) for each of 2 midterms, (2) final. I kept dozing off during lecture and slacked off majorly, but if you put in some effort and pay attention, an A will definitely be doable (haha not in my case). He also did a lot of cool demonstrations and really wanted us to like physics. Practice midterms/final were also provided. TAKE HIM!
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Spring 2020 - I took the class during the covid pandemic, so your experiences may vary from mine. An is a very good professor and was able to explain the material fairly well. It was his first time teaching this class, but I think he did a great job. In the first few lectures I felt that his explanations were very math heavy, and if you haven't taken 32B it might be hard to understand the math behind the explanations. He will only get better in the future. An was very lenient during the pandemic, an he was willing to make compromises for the well-being of the students which is good to know. He gave 24 hour midterms, but decided to go back to 3 hours for the final since the midterms got leaked on chegg, which I feel was an appropriate response, albeit a bit harsh to international students. My advice for the class is to do the discussion worksheets he gives out every week and make sure you understand them really well. Also pay attention and really internalize the concept test slides he puts on ccle, since his exams not only have problems with numerical or symbolic answers but also short answer questions which test your understanding of the big picture. And also do the challenge problems from the textbook. An is a great professor, and he will only get better. If you have the chance to take him, I suggest you do
Spring 2020 - I took the class during the covid pandemic, so your experiences may vary from mine. An is a very good professor and was able to explain the material fairly well. It was his first time teaching this class, but I think he did a great job. In the first few lectures I felt that his explanations were very math heavy, and if you haven't taken 32B it might be hard to understand the math behind the explanations. He will only get better in the future. An was very lenient during the pandemic, an he was willing to make compromises for the well-being of the students which is good to know. He gave 24 hour midterms, but decided to go back to 3 hours for the final since the midterms got leaked on chegg, which I feel was an appropriate response, albeit a bit harsh to international students. My advice for the class is to do the discussion worksheets he gives out every week and make sure you understand them really well. Also pay attention and really internalize the concept test slides he puts on ccle, since his exams not only have problems with numerical or symbolic answers but also short answer questions which test your understanding of the big picture. And also do the challenge problems from the textbook. An is a great professor, and he will only get better. If you have the chance to take him, I suggest you do
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - Dr. Bauer was a pretty good professor. I felt that his lectures and notes were pretty solid overall. Unlike other phyics professors who just scribble jargon down, Dr. Bauer's notes were actually pretty organized and easy to follow, albeit he wrote all of his notes using OneNote which made it a pain to go back to review his notes later. Class was on a straight scale, but the cutoffs were pretty lenient, 60% for a C- and 75% for a B- The class had no midterms but instead had a weekly quiz and a final, each timed, 40 minutes for the quizzes, and 3 hours for the final, so as we move back to in person classes, your experience will probably stay relatively the same. I felt that the quizzes were a bit on the difficult side, but Dr. Bauer seemed to account for this and made the final much easier. (He did mention that he had to do the opposite in another quarter: where he made the quizzes way too easy and had to adjust by making the final much harder, so if you feel that the quizzes are too hard or too easy, expect the final to be the opposite) My only gripe with the class was that Dr. Bauer barely gave any example problems in lecture, if at all. This made studying for the quizzes a pain because it truly felt impossible to know exactly what we would be tested on. All it felt like you can do to prepare was do all of the practice and challenge problems he assigned to get the overall idea and hope for the best. Overall I enjoyed the class and I managed to pull off a better grade than I expected thanks to the easier final. I didn't do very well in 1A and I was nervous moving on to 1B, but Dr. Bauer manages to teach the course in a very clear manner and I actually felt like I understood what was going on for the most part.
Summer 2021 - Dr. Bauer was a pretty good professor. I felt that his lectures and notes were pretty solid overall. Unlike other phyics professors who just scribble jargon down, Dr. Bauer's notes were actually pretty organized and easy to follow, albeit he wrote all of his notes using OneNote which made it a pain to go back to review his notes later. Class was on a straight scale, but the cutoffs were pretty lenient, 60% for a C- and 75% for a B- The class had no midterms but instead had a weekly quiz and a final, each timed, 40 minutes for the quizzes, and 3 hours for the final, so as we move back to in person classes, your experience will probably stay relatively the same. I felt that the quizzes were a bit on the difficult side, but Dr. Bauer seemed to account for this and made the final much easier. (He did mention that he had to do the opposite in another quarter: where he made the quizzes way too easy and had to adjust by making the final much harder, so if you feel that the quizzes are too hard or too easy, expect the final to be the opposite) My only gripe with the class was that Dr. Bauer barely gave any example problems in lecture, if at all. This made studying for the quizzes a pain because it truly felt impossible to know exactly what we would be tested on. All it felt like you can do to prepare was do all of the practice and challenge problems he assigned to get the overall idea and hope for the best. Overall I enjoyed the class and I managed to pull off a better grade than I expected thanks to the easier final. I didn't do very well in 1A and I was nervous moving on to 1B, but Dr. Bauer manages to teach the course in a very clear manner and I actually felt like I understood what was going on for the most part.
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Let me start off by saying that Bertello is really not that great of a lecturer. I did't understand a lot of what he was talking about in class and it seemed like no one else did either. That being said, his homework assignments don't take much time (about 10 problems on Mastering Physics each week). He gives a decent overview of what is going to be on the midterm and final before he gives it so there aren't any surprises. It's not too hard to know what study for the test, as long as you give yourself enough time to teach it to yourself, because you won't learn much in lecture. A lot of the problems on the exams are similar to the homework problems or the other examples in the book. Also, he is a pretty nice grader and gives you a slightly better grade than other professors might.
Let me start off by saying that Bertello is really not that great of a lecturer. I did't understand a lot of what he was talking about in class and it seemed like no one else did either. That being said, his homework assignments don't take much time (about 10 problems on Mastering Physics each week). He gives a decent overview of what is going to be on the midterm and final before he gives it so there aren't any surprises. It's not too hard to know what study for the test, as long as you give yourself enough time to teach it to yourself, because you won't learn much in lecture. A lot of the problems on the exams are similar to the homework problems or the other examples in the book. Also, he is a pretty nice grader and gives you a slightly better grade than other professors might.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2018 - Anton Bondarenko is the biggest of homies at UCLA. He gave out at least 20 PTE's for 1B, so you wouldn't be stuck taking a different (and more difficult) professor. Not only is he super clear and thorough in his lectures, but he also HANDWRITES all of his lecture notes and posts them as well as the slides online. He does do clickers to incentivize you to go to class, but they are only after he finishes a chapter. When it came to exams, Anton sent us a study guide that went over exactly what you needed to know and what you don't need to know, and it really helps with your studying. He also hosts his own exam review sessions, and the questions he goes over during the review are almost identical to the test questions, which are completely fair. I had Bondarenko for both physics 1A and 1B and I'd definitely say his tests were harder for 1B, but by no means impossible. You think it can't get any better, but it does: THE MAN USES BRUINCAST. So literally anything he says or writes is on record, so you will have more than enough resources to help you succeed. Plus, he's super receptive during office hours, and he's probably one of the most patient individuals whom I've met in my life. Overall, I came into physics 1A hating physics and now I'm leaving 1B as a physics double major, thanks to this incredible enigma. Take him and watch the magic unfold.
Spring 2018 - Anton Bondarenko is the biggest of homies at UCLA. He gave out at least 20 PTE's for 1B, so you wouldn't be stuck taking a different (and more difficult) professor. Not only is he super clear and thorough in his lectures, but he also HANDWRITES all of his lecture notes and posts them as well as the slides online. He does do clickers to incentivize you to go to class, but they are only after he finishes a chapter. When it came to exams, Anton sent us a study guide that went over exactly what you needed to know and what you don't need to know, and it really helps with your studying. He also hosts his own exam review sessions, and the questions he goes over during the review are almost identical to the test questions, which are completely fair. I had Bondarenko for both physics 1A and 1B and I'd definitely say his tests were harder for 1B, but by no means impossible. You think it can't get any better, but it does: THE MAN USES BRUINCAST. So literally anything he says or writes is on record, so you will have more than enough resources to help you succeed. Plus, he's super receptive during office hours, and he's probably one of the most patient individuals whom I've met in my life. Overall, I came into physics 1A hating physics and now I'm leaving 1B as a physics double major, thanks to this incredible enigma. Take him and watch the magic unfold.
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Professor Carter was awsome! He is by far one of the best professors I've taken. He clearly explained concepts, step by step, ensuring that the students understood what was going on. Lecture details: He hands out flash cards to all the students, because he does concept tests where he posts a question on the overhead and you hold up your answer. These tests are in no way counted toward your grade. These are just to see if a majority or a minority of the class understands the concept he's trying to convey. He does really exciting and fun demonstrations in class. He even cooked a hot dog using it as a resistor in one of the demonstrations, and one of the students actually ate it...eeww. Midterms: His first midterm was weighted on the more difficult side, but graded fairly. His exams are heavily weighted on concepts so study these most. The second midterm was a bit easier due to easier material, once again heavily weighted on concepts. The final exam was hard but definately do-able. He focus'es mainly on concepts as opposed to the mathematics, because what he wants you to get from the class is to be able to understand how and why it works as opposed to just being able to solve a problem. He allows one 3x5 index card with equations on it for each midterm and three for the final. Online reading quizes: He started out where we did these online reading quizes twice a week, Monday and Thursday by 10:00pm, but then realized it was a bit much. So he changed it to Sunday by 10pm which made time management soooooo much easier. These are counted towards your grade but not by much, once again these quizes are for him to see how the students are grasping the concepts from the reading material. At the end of the quiz there is a slot so that you can write in the parts of the chapter that were confusing to you so that he can expand on them in lecture. Availability: Professor Carter always had an open door and was always willing to help, regardless of time or as an unscheduled office hour. He is an extremely nice guy and very friendly which makes him approachable. TA: Brian eh......not so good, I went to see a tutor because he didn't seem to care to much about helping out, it always seemed like he couldn't wait until his office hours and discussion were over like he didn't want to be there. Overall: Professor Carter is a great proffessor he obviously cares about the students, which is rare in classes of this size. He had to put a lot of work himself with all the reading he had to do with our discussion board and the online reading quizes so that he was prepared to teach. All in all, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND him for Physics.
Professor Carter was awsome! He is by far one of the best professors I've taken. He clearly explained concepts, step by step, ensuring that the students understood what was going on. Lecture details: He hands out flash cards to all the students, because he does concept tests where he posts a question on the overhead and you hold up your answer. These tests are in no way counted toward your grade. These are just to see if a majority or a minority of the class understands the concept he's trying to convey. He does really exciting and fun demonstrations in class. He even cooked a hot dog using it as a resistor in one of the demonstrations, and one of the students actually ate it...eeww. Midterms: His first midterm was weighted on the more difficult side, but graded fairly. His exams are heavily weighted on concepts so study these most. The second midterm was a bit easier due to easier material, once again heavily weighted on concepts. The final exam was hard but definately do-able. He focus'es mainly on concepts as opposed to the mathematics, because what he wants you to get from the class is to be able to understand how and why it works as opposed to just being able to solve a problem. He allows one 3x5 index card with equations on it for each midterm and three for the final. Online reading quizes: He started out where we did these online reading quizes twice a week, Monday and Thursday by 10:00pm, but then realized it was a bit much. So he changed it to Sunday by 10pm which made time management soooooo much easier. These are counted towards your grade but not by much, once again these quizes are for him to see how the students are grasping the concepts from the reading material. At the end of the quiz there is a slot so that you can write in the parts of the chapter that were confusing to you so that he can expand on them in lecture. Availability: Professor Carter always had an open door and was always willing to help, regardless of time or as an unscheduled office hour. He is an extremely nice guy and very friendly which makes him approachable. TA: Brian eh......not so good, I went to see a tutor because he didn't seem to care to much about helping out, it always seemed like he couldn't wait until his office hours and discussion were over like he didn't want to be there. Overall: Professor Carter is a great proffessor he obviously cares about the students, which is rare in classes of this size. He had to put a lot of work himself with all the reading he had to do with our discussion board and the online reading quizes so that he was prepared to teach. All in all, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND him for Physics.
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Spring 2019 - Overall, the class was okay. Chaney is not the best lecturer in the world, but she is clear enough such that the class material is communicated effectively. The tests for this class are pretty tough, but you should be fine as she adjusts the grading boundaries to help the class grades (she also offers test corrections sometimes).
Spring 2019 - Overall, the class was okay. Chaney is not the best lecturer in the world, but she is clear enough such that the class material is communicated effectively. The tests for this class are pretty tough, but you should be fine as she adjusts the grading boundaries to help the class grades (she also offers test corrections sometimes).
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Spring 2015 - If you are not a genius at physics, be prepared to get your mind continuously shafted day, after day, after day. You walk out of every lecture dazed and confused, and pondering your place on this Earth after feeling like you have been beaten over the head with a concrete cinder block multiple times. His tests and final are like being burned with a skewer after spending so many hours studying just to see yourself fail. He has a good rep most likely because the top 10% get some sick thrill from being challenged. Even by going to his office hours twice a week and taking notes like a madman every lecture, you still feel like you have no clue what you are doing on his tests. Unless you are a physics major with some sort of deranged need for complex problems, avoid him and avoid suffering.
Spring 2015 - If you are not a genius at physics, be prepared to get your mind continuously shafted day, after day, after day. You walk out of every lecture dazed and confused, and pondering your place on this Earth after feeling like you have been beaten over the head with a concrete cinder block multiple times. His tests and final are like being burned with a skewer after spending so many hours studying just to see yourself fail. He has a good rep most likely because the top 10% get some sick thrill from being challenged. Even by going to his office hours twice a week and taking notes like a madman every lecture, you still feel like you have no clue what you are doing on his tests. Unless you are a physics major with some sort of deranged need for complex problems, avoid him and avoid suffering.
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So..for about the first 2-3 weeks, I had no idea what was going on in the class! For some reason Coroniti thought it would be fun to give us proofs out of our ass..that after 15 minutes, he would tell us we would not even have to know! However, after a fear of failing..I studied my ass off for the first midterm and surprisingly did really good! The average was 48/100 and I got a 59..Despite his rampant proofs, Coroniti is really nice, and begs (literally) for questions during lecture. He also tells you exactly what types of problems are going to be on the tests and he really guides your studying so that you can study efficiently. He did not recommend us to do random practice problems, like we did in 1A..so I didn't! The lectures get SO much better after the first midterm once you get into Electric fields and Gauss's Law and Electric Potential. They really helped, especially with example problems. The second midterm was fair as well, however I underestimated the difficulty of Taylor series expansions which were a significant part of the grade. The test was also way to long for a 50min class! The average was a 55/100 and I got a 51 (& the graders are GREAT with partial credit). The last stretch of material, circuits and magnetic fields are surprisingly really interesting (despite having to use torque again). He once again told us all the types of problems that were going to be on the final. And for all of his tests he recommends doing all the homework problems as practice problems (which i think helped)..The final was hard as shit though (but doable), he somehow made a vertical mass on a spring hard as hell! But in general, if you studied well, one could literally get more than half credit on each problem. And some of them were so reminiscent of previous midterm problems but with a slight twist they were still okay. Some of the problems were daunting at first, but after sitting and thinking about them, you could definitely have a couple of epiphanies during the final. I ended up with a B in the class (and i hate physics with allll of my heart & soul)..Even though i think I should have got a B+!
So..for about the first 2-3 weeks, I had no idea what was going on in the class! For some reason Coroniti thought it would be fun to give us proofs out of our ass..that after 15 minutes, he would tell us we would not even have to know! However, after a fear of failing..I studied my ass off for the first midterm and surprisingly did really good! The average was 48/100 and I got a 59..Despite his rampant proofs, Coroniti is really nice, and begs (literally) for questions during lecture. He also tells you exactly what types of problems are going to be on the tests and he really guides your studying so that you can study efficiently. He did not recommend us to do random practice problems, like we did in 1A..so I didn't! The lectures get SO much better after the first midterm once you get into Electric fields and Gauss's Law and Electric Potential. They really helped, especially with example problems. The second midterm was fair as well, however I underestimated the difficulty of Taylor series expansions which were a significant part of the grade. The test was also way to long for a 50min class! The average was a 55/100 and I got a 51 (& the graders are GREAT with partial credit). The last stretch of material, circuits and magnetic fields are surprisingly really interesting (despite having to use torque again). He once again told us all the types of problems that were going to be on the final. And for all of his tests he recommends doing all the homework problems as practice problems (which i think helped)..The final was hard as shit though (but doable), he somehow made a vertical mass on a spring hard as hell! But in general, if you studied well, one could literally get more than half credit on each problem. And some of them were so reminiscent of previous midterm problems but with a slight twist they were still okay. Some of the problems were daunting at first, but after sitting and thinking about them, you could definitely have a couple of epiphanies during the final. I ended up with a B in the class (and i hate physics with allll of my heart & soul)..Even though i think I should have got a B+!
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