Physics at OSSM

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"We are very lucky to live in an age in which we are still making discoveries. It is like the discovery of America - you can only discover it once. The age in which we live is the age in which we are discovering the fundamental laws of nature, and that day will never come again."

--- Richard Feynman, in The Character of Physical Law

Physics Faculty

Kurt Bachmann, Ph.D. - Columbia University
Shayne Johnston, Ph.D. - Princeton University
Xifan Liu, Ph.D. - University of Oklahoma
Jayanta Rudra, Ph.D. - Lehigh University
William Underwood, Ph.D. - University of Tulsa

Required Physics Courses

General Physics (F)

Mechanics (F or S)

Electricity & Magnetism (F or S)

All OSSM students are required to take 3 courses in Physics. The first of these, General Physics, is taught to all newly enrolled Juniors and is equivalent to a solid high school physics course using algebra. The second and third required courses for OSSM students are Calculus-based Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism. For all three courses, as well as for most of the elective Physics courses offered at OSSM, a 2-hour weekly laboratory is also part of the course. The Physics Faculty believes strongly in the value of hands-on experiments and consequently has developed excellently equipped modern laboratories, well supplied with both traditional high school and university-level physics apparatus. Students who complete these three courses successfully should be able to perform well on the both the Mechanics and E&M portions of the Advanced Placement Physics C Examination.

Elective Physics Courses

Thermal Physics, Waves & Optics (F or S)

Modern Physics I (F)

Modern Physics II (S)

Electronics (S)

Theoretical Physics (S)

Astronomy (S)

Directed Study (F and/or S)

Research Mentorship (F and/or S)

Typically, 50-60% of OSSM students take at least one elective Physics course. There is no required order for Physics electives and there are no additional prerequisites (except that Modern Physics II requires Modern Physics I). However, the preferred first elective is Thermal Physics, Waves & Optics which completes the calculus-based coverage of "introductory physics". Students should also realize that in order to be able to take Modern Physics (Fall-Spring sequence), they should take both Mechanics and E&M in the Spring semester of their Junior year.

Department Links

Course Descriptions

National Physics Competitions

Summer Workshops for Teachers

Physics Links

Physical Review Focus (current physics research summaries)

Physics Internet Resources (compiled by the American Physical Society)

Intuitor High School Physics Page (includes bad movie physics)

The Alternate View (Dr. John Cramer's cutting-edge-science columns)

Physics Humor (Enjoy!)