PHYSICS 1B
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Oscillations, Waves, Electric and Magnetic Fields
Description: Lecture/demonstration, four hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: course 1A, Mathematics 31B, 32A. Enforced corequisite: Mathematics 32B. Fluid mechanics, oscillation, mechanical waves, and sound. Electric charge, field and potential, capacitors, and dielectrics. Currents and resistance, direct-current circuits. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
4 of 6
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Despite getting an A in this class, I feel very unprepared for future classes involving this subject matter. Being an electrical engineering major, I really needed to understand the material. However, Naoz mostly did derivations of physics theory which left me, along with the majority of the class, extremely confused. They were completely unnecessary and did little to help teach us. Because of all the time spent on derivations, she fell behind the other classes in terms of material covered. We only covered SHM, electric field, electric force, electric potential, and capacitance. The other classes covered that as well as resistors and thermodynamics to name a few. These are things we need to know. The tests were pretty easy though. They were basically what the problem sets she posted were. Honestly, you could probably do well by just reading the book and doing the homework. Going to lecture will not help.
Spring 2016 - Despite getting an A in this class, I feel very unprepared for future classes involving this subject matter. Being an electrical engineering major, I really needed to understand the material. However, Naoz mostly did derivations of physics theory which left me, along with the majority of the class, extremely confused. They were completely unnecessary and did little to help teach us. Because of all the time spent on derivations, she fell behind the other classes in terms of material covered. We only covered SHM, electric field, electric force, electric potential, and capacitance. The other classes covered that as well as resistors and thermodynamics to name a few. These are things we need to know. The tests were pretty easy though. They were basically what the problem sets she posted were. Honestly, you could probably do well by just reading the book and doing the homework. Going to lecture will not help.
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Spring 2023 - DO NOT TAKE - Probably the worst professor I've had in all of my time here at UCLA. Not only does Prof. Naranjo not record lectures, he writes sloppily and trails off mid sentence. His lectures are incoherent to the point where nobody even goes. I taught myself this class because his lectures are wholly inadequate. He takes weeks to post/grade anything and doesn't communicate with the TAs or write the tests until the morning of so there is no way to know what might end up on the tests. Additionally, he was extremely rude to me when I sought help and made me feel stupid for doing so. Overall, this class isn't bad material-wise but take another professor like your life depends on it.
Spring 2023 - DO NOT TAKE - Probably the worst professor I've had in all of my time here at UCLA. Not only does Prof. Naranjo not record lectures, he writes sloppily and trails off mid sentence. His lectures are incoherent to the point where nobody even goes. I taught myself this class because his lectures are wholly inadequate. He takes weeks to post/grade anything and doesn't communicate with the TAs or write the tests until the morning of so there is no way to know what might end up on the tests. Additionally, he was extremely rude to me when I sought help and made me feel stupid for doing so. Overall, this class isn't bad material-wise but take another professor like your life depends on it.
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Fall 2019 - Professor Ni is one of the most disorganized professors I have had at UCLA. On our midterm, she forgot to include the right answers on the multiple choice and stopped us every 5 minutes to say that there was a typo on her free response. When students say they are confused, she openly doesn't explain it and just moves on and sees no issue. She is a nice person, but a terrible teacher. The TAs often didnt know anything about the class because it wasn't communicated to them and what we did in discussions were completely different than lectures because our TAs said they weren't told what was going on in lecture. Professor Ni is the kind of professor who still gives a midterm even when classes are cancelled due to fire warnings (this happened). She also doesn't post the lecture notes until ~2 days before the exam for you to study. This class is basically "how well can you teach yourself physics". Take another physics professor if you can.
Fall 2019 - Professor Ni is one of the most disorganized professors I have had at UCLA. On our midterm, she forgot to include the right answers on the multiple choice and stopped us every 5 minutes to say that there was a typo on her free response. When students say they are confused, she openly doesn't explain it and just moves on and sees no issue. She is a nice person, but a terrible teacher. The TAs often didnt know anything about the class because it wasn't communicated to them and what we did in discussions were completely different than lectures because our TAs said they weren't told what was going on in lecture. Professor Ni is the kind of professor who still gives a midterm even when classes are cancelled due to fire warnings (this happened). She also doesn't post the lecture notes until ~2 days before the exam for you to study. This class is basically "how well can you teach yourself physics". Take another physics professor if you can.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Jessica Pilgram is a very kind person. However. She cannot teach very well. She tried really hard to teach because it was her first ever class, but she wasn't very good at explaining concepts and mostly read off her slides. She was aware of this and increased her office hours to answer questions, which I appreciated a lot. She is very nice and tries her best to help people. Exams and grading were extremely fair and she curved the final and midterms.
Winter 2024 - Jessica Pilgram is a very kind person. However. She cannot teach very well. She tried really hard to teach because it was her first ever class, but she wasn't very good at explaining concepts and mostly read off her slides. She was aware of this and increased her office hours to answer questions, which I appreciated a lot. She is very nice and tries her best to help people. Exams and grading were extremely fair and she curved the final and midterms.
Most Helpful Review
I took Physics 1B and 1C with Richard basically because i knew him from my summer 1B class. first of all, he is not the most eloquent lecturer, for that, go see Corbin. Richard's strength lies in his concern for his students and his desire in helping them succeed. he often tries to tell jokes and some students don't consider him very funny because his jokes are rather nerdy, but even if nerdy, it shows his desire in keeping things interesting. but make no mistake, his greatest strength is in working with the "less than stellar" students like me who weren't born with a natural physics aptitude. before i took him, i had repeated my first physics class multiple time, so i needed a professor who was like a "Physics for dummies" type of professor. I took Brent Corbin, and was mesmerized by his lectures and how funny he was. some students compare all other physics teachers to Corbin because, hey, he's a great lecturer... and i won't deny him that, but i don't care for his requirements that you memorize the formulas and his frequent divergence from the book. each of those assessments is NOT value based, some folks prefer a teacher who diverges from the book and who makes you memorize, and to them i suggest Corbin, to the rest who prefer to focus on problem solving because in real life you have formulas at your disposal all the time and adherence to the book (because those of us who read the book benefit by having difficult passages clarified), i would recommend you seriously consider Richard. since Richard often let us bring in formulas, some students believed tests would be easier, but Richard always put in a humdinger of a problem that reminds you never to underestimate the difficulty of a test. I was not good in math nor physics, so i often went to see Richard, and in the fall when i took 1C, i also went to PDP workshops (a MUST for non-geniuses) where i got my fill of Professor Corbin's chalk throwing anecdotes... for me, this was the perfect combination because i got to interface with both of them... Corbin's engaging style without being tested, and Richard's "down to business" style. testing, as i said, is not easy, but its not hard either. its usually 4-6 problems, but you rarely finish them all given the fact they rely on a fundamental understanding of the concepts... so formulas were allowed... which gave a false, sense of security to many who bombed the first midterm... DON'T make that mistake! having formulas doesn't make your test easier, it merely allows the professor to focus on more complex problems since he knows you brought formulas. I got by with doing tons of homework, more than what he assigned by about 50%. in the end, i got a B in both classes, which was better than i thought i would do given my previous negative experience in physics. in other words, a physics dummy like me did quite well because Richard was there to insure i understood the principles, because his tests were no-nonsense and had no surprises and because i took the PDP. in short, you can't go wrong with Richard because he's fair and cares. his jokes might miss the target, but who cares? as long as he is there to help you succeed, succeed you will.
I took Physics 1B and 1C with Richard basically because i knew him from my summer 1B class. first of all, he is not the most eloquent lecturer, for that, go see Corbin. Richard's strength lies in his concern for his students and his desire in helping them succeed. he often tries to tell jokes and some students don't consider him very funny because his jokes are rather nerdy, but even if nerdy, it shows his desire in keeping things interesting. but make no mistake, his greatest strength is in working with the "less than stellar" students like me who weren't born with a natural physics aptitude. before i took him, i had repeated my first physics class multiple time, so i needed a professor who was like a "Physics for dummies" type of professor. I took Brent Corbin, and was mesmerized by his lectures and how funny he was. some students compare all other physics teachers to Corbin because, hey, he's a great lecturer... and i won't deny him that, but i don't care for his requirements that you memorize the formulas and his frequent divergence from the book. each of those assessments is NOT value based, some folks prefer a teacher who diverges from the book and who makes you memorize, and to them i suggest Corbin, to the rest who prefer to focus on problem solving because in real life you have formulas at your disposal all the time and adherence to the book (because those of us who read the book benefit by having difficult passages clarified), i would recommend you seriously consider Richard. since Richard often let us bring in formulas, some students believed tests would be easier, but Richard always put in a humdinger of a problem that reminds you never to underestimate the difficulty of a test. I was not good in math nor physics, so i often went to see Richard, and in the fall when i took 1C, i also went to PDP workshops (a MUST for non-geniuses) where i got my fill of Professor Corbin's chalk throwing anecdotes... for me, this was the perfect combination because i got to interface with both of them... Corbin's engaging style without being tested, and Richard's "down to business" style. testing, as i said, is not easy, but its not hard either. its usually 4-6 problems, but you rarely finish them all given the fact they rely on a fundamental understanding of the concepts... so formulas were allowed... which gave a false, sense of security to many who bombed the first midterm... DON'T make that mistake! having formulas doesn't make your test easier, it merely allows the professor to focus on more complex problems since he knows you brought formulas. I got by with doing tons of homework, more than what he assigned by about 50%. in the end, i got a B in both classes, which was better than i thought i would do given my previous negative experience in physics. in other words, a physics dummy like me did quite well because Richard was there to insure i understood the principles, because his tests were no-nonsense and had no surprises and because i took the PDP. in short, you can't go wrong with Richard because he's fair and cares. his jokes might miss the target, but who cares? as long as he is there to help you succeed, succeed you will.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Taking 1B with Rombes was all right. Although to be fair, this class is excellent in every aspect except for one - the exams. Rombes is a good-looking young man who is very passionate about physics and the student's comprehension of the material. Ask for help and you will ALWAYS receive it in this class. He gives out pretty solid lectures, and I think that the lectures are interactive enough so that you could ask any questions you have on the spot without fear. Regarding the workload of the class, there are two types of homework that you have to turn in: Mastering Physics homework on the Pearson website (the textbook website) and his handwritten PSets (problem sets) each week. The M.P. (Mastering physics) problems were supposed to be easier than the PSets, but throughout the quarter, it is often the MP problems that gave me the most trouble (and my tendency of starting these problems last minute). The MP problems are graded on accuracy, but you get a limitless number of attempts. On the other hand, it is evident that prof. Rombes puts in a lot of effort writing the PSets each week. They are exploratory questions that are often fun to solve. If you can't figure out the solution, no worries, just show that you tried your best. The PSets are graded on completion. Discussion sessions often have a worksheet that you have to turn in a day after or so. But the TA should go over the answers in class. At least, my TA did that. Jonah Hyman was my TA and he was literally the best TA that you can get (actually idk I didn't have the other TA). He is knowledgeable, has good communication skills, and is just so good overall. Also, the worksheets are graded on completion as well. The only thing that makes this class sometimes a stressful experience is its exams. The first midterm whatever, it's handwritten by Rombes (again, he really cares about teaching). It wasn't short, but he gave us 24 hours for all exams. Although I am not sure will that be the case once in-person instruction resumes. The second midterm was the bane of humanity. It was 11 pages. All of them are free-response. Many took more than 10 hours to complete this exam and there were a few questions on it that either required extensive thinking or just was too difficult. Professor did acknowledge the length issue of the exam though. The final was 14 pages, but it was not that bad after an 11-page midterm. HOWEVER, don't be discouraged b/c of the length of the exam or their difficulty. They are often a spinoff of the PSets. Plus, they are VERY generous on partial credits. Do make sure to get the extra credit from your campuswire standing, and also fill out the course eval. That being said, he did say (in his 1C course) that he is going to change the way that exams are written and the difficulty of the MP problem sets. So mayhaps this class is going to be more enjoyable than it was for me. Oh, also he showed us his cats so that's very pog.
Spring 2021 - Taking 1B with Rombes was all right. Although to be fair, this class is excellent in every aspect except for one - the exams. Rombes is a good-looking young man who is very passionate about physics and the student's comprehension of the material. Ask for help and you will ALWAYS receive it in this class. He gives out pretty solid lectures, and I think that the lectures are interactive enough so that you could ask any questions you have on the spot without fear. Regarding the workload of the class, there are two types of homework that you have to turn in: Mastering Physics homework on the Pearson website (the textbook website) and his handwritten PSets (problem sets) each week. The M.P. (Mastering physics) problems were supposed to be easier than the PSets, but throughout the quarter, it is often the MP problems that gave me the most trouble (and my tendency of starting these problems last minute). The MP problems are graded on accuracy, but you get a limitless number of attempts. On the other hand, it is evident that prof. Rombes puts in a lot of effort writing the PSets each week. They are exploratory questions that are often fun to solve. If you can't figure out the solution, no worries, just show that you tried your best. The PSets are graded on completion. Discussion sessions often have a worksheet that you have to turn in a day after or so. But the TA should go over the answers in class. At least, my TA did that. Jonah Hyman was my TA and he was literally the best TA that you can get (actually idk I didn't have the other TA). He is knowledgeable, has good communication skills, and is just so good overall. Also, the worksheets are graded on completion as well. The only thing that makes this class sometimes a stressful experience is its exams. The first midterm whatever, it's handwritten by Rombes (again, he really cares about teaching). It wasn't short, but he gave us 24 hours for all exams. Although I am not sure will that be the case once in-person instruction resumes. The second midterm was the bane of humanity. It was 11 pages. All of them are free-response. Many took more than 10 hours to complete this exam and there were a few questions on it that either required extensive thinking or just was too difficult. Professor did acknowledge the length issue of the exam though. The final was 14 pages, but it was not that bad after an 11-page midterm. HOWEVER, don't be discouraged b/c of the length of the exam or their difficulty. They are often a spinoff of the PSets. Plus, they are VERY generous on partial credits. Do make sure to get the extra credit from your campuswire standing, and also fill out the course eval. That being said, he did say (in his 1C course) that he is going to change the way that exams are written and the difficulty of the MP problem sets. So mayhaps this class is going to be more enjoyable than it was for me. Oh, also he showed us his cats so that's very pog.
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