33-122 Physics II for Biological Sciences and Chemistry Students

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This course studies electromagnetism, waves, and optics. The first portion explores topics in electrostatics, including Coulomb's law, Gauss's law, electric potentials, and circuits, before continuing with magnetism, including the Biot-Savart law and Ampere's law. Time-dependent systems are considered through Faraday's law and inductors. The course then treats basic wave phenomena, such as travelling waves and standing waves, interference and beats, as well as how waves behave at boundaries. The final stages are devoted to optics - light in media, reflection, refraction, and diffraction, and the properties of lenses. The course is intended primarily for biology and chemistry students, with some of the examples applied to these disciplines.

Prerequisites: (33-121 and 21-120) or (21-120 and 33-151) or (21-120 and 33-141)

Offered: Spring 2027, Fall 2026, Spring 2026, Fall 2025

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