Physics 1180

Physics of the Modern Era: From Quarks to Cosmos

The goal of this course is for students to enhance their view of the physical world by allowing them to acquire a basic understanding of the physical concepts involved with special relativity, quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, elementary particles and cosmology.  Classical foundations of kinematics, dynamics, conservation laws, and wave properties will be presented.

This course will focus on conceptual understanding rather than mathematical manipulation. However, as mathematics is the language of science, it is expected that you can perform basic algebraic calculations and recognize basic geometric relations throughout the course.

Class Announcements

Welcome to Physics 1180 (Spring 2025)

Please continue to monitor this space for important information and course and updates. This page will be updated on a regular basis. (Last update: May 15th, 2025.)

  • Lecture notes are available for specified sections.  Scroll down and click on the topic of interest.
  • The MyOpenMath Homework 12: Elementary Particles will be due on Friday, May 16th by 12:30 PM.  Note that there are TWO parts to the homework: (Part 1: Multiple-choice & Part 2: Numeric Exercises.). After the cut-off time you will no longer be any to make changes to Part 1.  However, you can still get 50% credit for correctly answering any part of any part of Part 2 within 24-hours after the cut-off time.
  • Extra Credit opportunity: The MyOpenMath Homework 13: Cosmology will be due on Tuesday, May 20th by 12:30 PM.  Note that there are TWO parts to the homework: (Part 1: Multiple-choice & Part 2: Numeric Exercises.). After the cut-off time you will no longer be any to make changes to Part 1.  However, you can still get 50% credit for correctly answering any part of any part of Part 2 within 24-hours after the cut-off time.
  • Extra Credit opportunity: The MyOpenMath Homework 14: Frontiers will be due on Wednesday, May 21st by 12:30 PM.  Note that there are TWO parts to the homework: (Part 1: Multiple-choice & Part 2: Numeric Exercises.). After the cut-off time you will no longer be any to make changes to Part 1.  However, you can still get 50% credit for correctly answering any part of any part of Part 2 within 24-hours after the cut-off time.
  • The Final Exam Thursday, May 22nd starting promptly at 1:00 PM is BIC-3E07.  The exam will cover Sections 1.1-4.4 of Griffith's text.  Extra credit material will include topics of Chapter 5.  You will be provided with useful information including constants, conversion, equation, a Periodic Table of Elements, charts listeing the properties of select baryons, meson, leptons,and quarks.  A sample equation sheet and study guide have be provided.  Scroll down to the three "Exam Resources" section and click on the desired links to access.

Class Resources

Lecture Notes

Exam 1 Resources

Exam 2 Resources

Exam 3 Resources

General Resources