Physics C21

Physics C21 is about physics and music. It is a three unit course.

Overview

The Physics of Music is a class which applies principles such as physics and the fundamentals of sound to the study of music. The course exhibits numerous insightful demos and explores the nature of music with only basic algebra and geometry. It is geared towards students who are studying subjects other than physics, and is certainly quite friendly to non-majors of all kinds.

Prerequisites

Physics 10 recommended

Student Comments

“Of course, I do think the course was designed for students who have little to no knowledge on physics. That they shouldn’t be afraid of any crazy mathematical equations of any of kind. I definitely was able to learn concepts that surrounded music, as someone who sang and plays an instrument, it definitely taught me to view music from a different perspective, but now I see music from a better understanding. Of course the student doesn’t need musical training either. The projects were the definitely the most fun for me. It gave me the opportunity to be creative and explore themes that I was curious about, like I researched different kinds of bird singing, and my second one was why some people, when they sing, can sound nasal-ish. The quizzes were reasonable and were definitely given ample time to study, a student is given the tools and enough office hours (I visited many times) and the professor along with his GSIs were very approachable and helped expand my ideas on the projects.” – Cynthia Garcia, undergraduate social welfare