question form

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Phy 231

Your 'question form' report has been received. Scroll down through the document to see any comments I might have inserted, and my final comment at the end.

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I am currently registered for Physics 231. I am taking the course for the purpose of satisfying an educational requirement to sit for the Patent Bar.

Originally, when we corresponded, you stated that the Physics 231-232 sequence is the standard course for majors in mathematics-intensive areas like engineering, mathematics, computer science, physics, etc. Based on that description, I signed up for the 231 course. However, I see that there is also a Physics 241-242 sequence.

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Could you please provide a little information about how that sequence differs from 231-232? I want to be sure that I am taking the right sequence for my prerequisites.

Thanks.

For the schools to which our students transfer (mostly Virginia schools) the Physics 231-232 transfers more universally than the Physics 241-242.

There is very little difference in the topics covered. The 241-242 sequence is 3 credits of lecture and 1 of lab (3 hrs lecture, 3 hrs lab per week). The 231-232 sequence is 4 credits of lecture and 1 of lab (4 hours lecture, 2 hours lab per week). The main difference in grading is that the lab counts more heavily in the 241-242, while the test problems are graded a little more strictly in the 231-232 (difference of maybe 2-3 points on a 100-point test).

These are just two slightly different versions of the standard University Physics course. There is more deviation among courses taught at various universities than between these two courses.

Lacking more specific information about what the patent bar requires, I would expect that the 231-232, having the greater number of credit hours, would be considered the stronger course. If you do have more specific information and want to share it, I'll be glad to take a look.