HMC
Courses
HMC Course Catalog • Physics Program • Study Abroad
Physics in the HMC Core
All students at Harvey Mudd take the following physics courses in the Core:
- Physics 22, Physics Laboratory, a weekly two-hour laboratory course taken in either the fall or spring semester of the first year
- Physics 23, Special Relativity, a half course taken in the first semester
- Physics 24, Mechanics and Wave Motion, an introduction to Newtonian mechanics taken in the spring semester of the first year
- Physics 51, Electromagnetic Theory & Optics, taken in the third semester
- Choice Lab 57, What Makes Things Tick?, an optional laboratory course focusing on the physics of oscillating systems, offered in the fall semester for sophomores
Ways of satisfying Core physics requirements
Fall
- Astronomy 101 - Observational Astronomy
- Astronomy 121 - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
- Choice Lab 57 - What Makes Things Tick?
- Physics 22 - Physics Laboratory
- Physics 23 - Special Relativity
- Physics 51 - Electromagnetic Theory & Optics
- Physics 111 - Theoretical Mechanics
- Physics 117 - Statistical Mechanics
- Physics 133 - Electronics Laboratory
- Physics 151 - Electromagnetic Fields
- Physics 161 - Topics in Quantum Theory
- Physics 181 - Advanced Laboratory
- Physics 183 - Teaching Internship
- Physics 191 - Physics Research
- Physics 193 - Physics Clinic
- Physics 195 - Physics Colloquium
- Physics 197 - Readings in Physics
Spring
- Astronomy 62 - Introduction to Astrophysics
- Astronomy 120 - Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium
- Astronomy 122 - High Energy Astrophysics
- Astronomy 123 - Stellar Structure and Evolution
- Physics 18 - Fundamentals of Mechanics
- Physics 22 - Physics Laboratory
- Physics 24 - Mechanics and Wave Motion
- Physics 24A - Mechanics and Wave Motion
- Physics 28 - Physics Laboratory
- Physics 52 - Quantum Physics
- Physics 54 - Modern Physics Lab
- Physics 80 - Energy and the Environment
- Physics 116 - Quantum Mechanics
- Physics 134 - Optics Laboratory
- Physics 154 - Fields and Waves
- Physics 162 - Solid State Physics
- Physics 164 - Particle Physics
- Physics 166 - Geophysics
- Physics 168 - Electrodynamics
- Physics 170 - Computational Methods in Physics
- Physics 172 - General Relativity and Cosmology
- Physics 174 - Biophysics
- Physics 178 - Continuum and Fluid Mechanics
- Physics 184 - Teaching Internship
- Physics 192 - Physics Research
- Physics 194 - Physics Clinic
- Physics 196 - Physics Colloquium
- Physics 198 - Readings in Physics
Completing the HMC Physics Core
Some students seek to satisfy their Core Physics requirements either by challenging courses by examination or by making up a Harvey Mudd College course that has been dropped or failed by taking a suitable course at another institution. To assist in advising these students, our policies are spelled out here in detail.
- A well-prepared student who wishes to place out of a core physics course may pass the course by examination. The student then earns full credit for the course and a grade of EX appears on the transcript.
- A student who drops a core physics course must enroll in the same course at the next available offering of the course.
- A student who fails a core physics course may take a department-approved course at another institution. To satisfy the HMC course requirement, the student must earn a grade of B- or better in that course. The student’s transcript will then show the transfer credit from the other institution, but the grade does not count towards the student’s HMC grade point average.
- A student who drops or fails Physics 24 may not enroll in Physics 51 the following semester unless he or she takes an approved calculus-based mechanics course over the summer and passes with a grade of B or better.
- A student must earn a passing letter grade (not P) in at least one of Physics 24 and Physics 51.










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