<p>I have not been on CC in a while. Right now I am abroad doing research. I am taking Physics 140 and 240 next year during the fall and winter. Does anyone have advice for taking these classes. I have heard that they are somewhat difficult and extremely time consuming. Any thoughts? I am also taking the bio sequence along with the labs for all of these classes. Thanks.</p>
<p>they’re both very difficult to grasp if you have not taken any physics in HS. I had no knowledge of physics coming in(crappy HS), and to be honest, the materials covered were pretty darn ridiculous since they were all new to me. The online hw is really hard, so I end up not trying most of it, and needless to say, it didn’t go so well in my favor.
I did study very hard for the exams, but still only end up getting B’s in both.
One time on the bus, i heard a dude saying that physics 140 is a joke, he got like an A+, but he ended up with like 3.3 when he took engin classes. He probably didn’t learn anything in physics cuz he knew most of it from HS.
Now that the playing field is equal for all engineering students, I actually find my engineering classes easier cuz they build on some the material at a slower rate.
anyway, physics labs are easy, and no HWs or after class stuff like chem 125 does. Grading is also pretty lenient.</p>
<p>The secret to getting good grades in 140/240 is exposure. The more practice you have in doing the problems, the more you are ready to answer the similar test questions. I recommend trying those annoying online homeworks early. If you need help with some of those questions, go to office hours and learn from a GSI or professor. Also, I’d recommend signing up for a study group through the SLC. I thought it was really helpful being forced to answer extra questions every week and getting practice exams to finish. I’m a ME student and the hark work that I took to build a strong Physics foundation definitely helped me succeed as an engineering student.</p>
<p>Note: I got A/A+ in both 140 and 240.</p>
<p>I has physics in high school and took 140. It was one of the least time consuming classes I took and not difficult. It helped to know calculus. I didn’t take 240 because I wasn’t in engineering.</p>
<p>j89, are you going to be a senior? what do you think of ME tech electives? let me know if you have take any cuz i’m ME major as well</p>
<p>Don’t cheat on the homeworks. The homework is online and many people cheat by using yahoo answers or cramster. The exams are extremely similar to the homework so if you know how to work out the homework by yourself with no help, you’ll do well on the exams.</p>
<p>I maybe cheated a little bit…</p>
<p>but I took Honors Physics in 11th grade and AP Physics in 12th. Then for some god damn reason I got a 4 on my AP test.</p>
<p>After a while those HWs were just getting so ****ing annoying. I mean, I made sure I knew how to do them, and maybe I’d do a couple, but then I just went over to Craster or something.</p>
<p>It all worked out, I still got an A+, but you have to know what you are doing.</p>
<p>I got an A in both 140 and 240.</p>
<p>As for what I did, I did not do any of the homeworks without the use of cramster (they took too much time, i didnt have enough time. IF YOU have enough time, I HIGHLY recommend keeping up with the hw and doing them on your own). Approx 1 week before every test, I always made sure to first skim all the chapters to get a basic understanding of the material. Next, you want to “retake” all of the homeworks. This will go a lot faster because if you are ultimately stuck, then just show the answer/solutions and be sure to learn from what you didn’t understand initially. Finally, you want to take the practice exams they give you atleast 2 days before the final. Your actual exam will be very representative of the practice exams.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. So basically do all the homeworks if you have time, Take practice exams before the test and expose yourself to as many types of problems there are. Thanks! Is the class curved?</p>
<p>Yeah, the classes are curved, but the curve changes per class (or so they said). I think 85+ was an A- in 240, and 88+ was an A- in 140.</p>
<p>Ugh, the homeworks were so tedious - I must have used cramster for every single one, haha.</p>
<p>They actually reuse questions from the practice exams (sometimes without even changing the numbers), so if you do them and nothing else, you’re pretty much guaranteed a decent grade. The rest, like people said earlier, depends on time.</p>
<p>an 83 was an A- I believe for my class last semester</p>
<p>we musta been ■■■■■■■ haha</p>
<p>if you had winn, the cutoff was an 85%. 83% if you dont include the mechanics survey EC.</p>
<p>actually the A-/B+ cutoff was an 82%. A-/A cutoff was an 85%.</p>
<p>oh, it started at 85% for an A-, it dropped to 83% at the end. 90%+ was an A+</p>
<p>Really it was kids got like 80s on the HW. You chould be getting 98+ on all of them. Then show up to class to do the i<clickers and thats 10% of your grade. Do these two things and you could have like a 99% on 30% of your final grade</p>
<p>Of course, our exam averages were like 65%, 50%, 70%</p>
<p>So is cramster like a program. I’m kind of a completionis. I don’t feel like I have tried my nest if I don’t complete every single homework correctly. Thanks for all ofthe responses though. I might take 135/235 combo or 140/240 with Uher. I am still scoring on whethe taking one Over the other matters. Any opinions? I am a neuroscience major/pre-med</p>
<p>MLDWoody, what teacher did you have for Physics 140? I did go through most of the topics listed on the summary of the course, but I only took Honors Physics… kind of worried I won’t be able to handle the work. </p>
<p>I have Keith Riles and the reviews aren’t exactly great on him…</p>
<p>I had this foreign guy, not the guy you had. They are all pretty similar though, and identical material.</p>
<p>Just do the HW (if you can’t get something use Cramster) and make sure you understand the topics. </p>
<p>Also get a really good grade on the first exam (easy) because the second one is the toughest (rotation, idk why, it just always is)</p>
<p>oh I mean… that’s what MLD Woody told me…</p>
<p>most of the people who struggle in 140 just don’t do the hw or rely on cramster too much. try to actually understand the material and figure out the problems instead of quickly giving up.</p>
<p>alright sounds good. thanks for the advice</p>
<p>Try your very best to get Uher… he gives answers/methods on how to complete some of the exam problems during his exam reviews… gives you a 5-20 point boost easily</p>