PHYS UN2601

I have not learnt anything in this course.

Not a lot, and yet way too much. You'll spend a very large amount of time being frustrated and confused, not so much time learning physics.

(see above) Weekly problem sets(20%). 2 Midterm (20% ea), Final (40%). Curve: exists, data unknown. Attend the problem session and work in groups.

Fundamentals of classical waves, such as simple harmonic motion, resonance, driven and damped oscillations, coupled oscillations, standing and traveling waves. Also, some basics of quantum waves.

I did not learn much; although the course syllabus covers a lot of material, the teaching mostly consists of exciting - but only tangentially related - topics, and certainly no derivations or explanations related to the actual theories covered. The actual material of the course is somewhat reflected in the exams for which one can only prepare through the homeworks and the textbook.

Chuck Hailey is not a good teacher. He struggles with teaching. Worse, however, is his struggle with interpersonal interaction. He is by far the rudest professor I have ever had, and he frequently discourages students. Taking a class with him was a highly unpleasant experience and in the future I would refrain from taking a class just to avoid having him as a professor. He was also a complete mess, organizationally, and a nightmare as a lecturer. Nobody ever knew what he was talking about except for two kids who had taken more advanced classes than everyone else and would always ask questions, and he would frequently get in some sort of childish rage and start to be really combative with them instead of just answering their questions, to which he often - even admittedly - didn't know the answers. I learned very little in the class, because I spent all my time pouring over poorly organized notes (for lack of a course textbook) to figure out what his pointlessly ambiguous problems were asking for. Chuck Hailey seems like the kind of person who has made a lot of people cry with his words over the years.

Let me preface this whole ordeal with the fact that the man is brilliant. He is also extremely cheerful and willing to communicate if you care to do so. That being said this class is one of the most demanding I have taken, nearly requiring most of the class to attend the problem session in order to have a manageable amount of work. When Professor Kim is addressing physical insights and discussing concepts the class moves very smoothly. Former complaints about the man's accent are greatly exaggerated. He is thorough with his material and address every correction of the math in his derivations with a thank you. However, when Professor Kim has to explain advanced math concepts (please note that Math 1202 is, in my opinion an inadequate corequisite) the class was left wanting. Such examples include the use of the Eigen vectors and numbers and the use of Fourier Series. Professor Kim himself expressed that he was disappointed with the class' ability to utilize the latter on exams. Exams: they take a very long time to grade and get back to the students. In both midterm waves I had 5 exams. His was the first I took, and the last I got back by a lag of no less than 2 weeks compared to the others. They are very long, time will be a factor. Remember this. Assignments: These are the striking point of the class. These assignments will take much longer than those for 1601 & 1602. The secon…

Waves, waves, and more waves. Every kind of wave.

I learned a lot this semester about classical waves and optics - I learned about the ways in which waves propagate the types of waves that exist and the applications of this knowledge in our daily life.

20% Homework Assigments: There were a total of 8 homework assignments. They were generally poorly written. 20% Each Midterm: The great majority of what was covered was not tested. The averages were all in the high 70s or low 80s. Any "conceptual" (non-calculation) problem involves regurgitating something he said in class. 40% Cumulative Final: He decided to make the final non-cumulative at the last minute and only cover the basic quantum we had covered.