PHYSICS 5C
Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Electricity, Magnetism, and Modern Physics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, two hours. Requisite: course 5A. Electrostatics in vacuum and in water. Electricity, circuits, magnetism, quantum, atomic and nuclear physics, radioactivity, with applications to biological and biochemical systems. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - Dr. Bauer is a pretty good, succinct lecturer that does a fantastic job of covering the 5C material on schedule. I almost always left the lecture hall with a very good understanding of what he was saying and as a result did not have to spend a significant amount of time studying the conceptual aspects of the course. The conceptual applications are definitely the source of difficulty in this course, but he points out the patterns that are prevalent throughout the quarter and is more than willing to explain it and show you how he interprets things. Which for once is useful because he thinks like a human and not some physics entity like some of the other faculty. I appreciate that we had frequent demos to reinforce the class material. Dr. Bauer's also very responsive over email and frequently active on Campuswire, which on top of his frequent office hours makes it very easy to get help outside of class. Discussion attendance is mandatory but only for ~6, so it's not awful and the TA knew what he was talking about pretty well. The exams in this class make up the bulk of the grade but they were honestly very fair; I felt like they were exactly like the old exams provided if not easier. It's also very clear what he puts on the exam because he emphasizes some of the focus concepts that he'll be testing. I'd like to put particular emphasis on the amount of accommodation that Dr. Bauer gives to his students; the first midterm had an average lower than expected (something in the mid 70s which I think is normal) so he adjusted the second midterm to be easier and ended up creating a test with an average of like 95 (which he didn't downcurve). The final was somewhere in between, but in recognition of stressful political situation with the ICE raids and whatnot he made a grade scheme that made it possible to REPLACE THE SCORE OF THE FINAL WITH THE AVERAGE OF ONE'S MIDTERM. This was enforced by the requirement that you "tried your best on the final" which is arbitrary and honestly so nice, especially when I feel the class wasn't particularly difficult.
Spring 2025 - Dr. Bauer is a pretty good, succinct lecturer that does a fantastic job of covering the 5C material on schedule. I almost always left the lecture hall with a very good understanding of what he was saying and as a result did not have to spend a significant amount of time studying the conceptual aspects of the course. The conceptual applications are definitely the source of difficulty in this course, but he points out the patterns that are prevalent throughout the quarter and is more than willing to explain it and show you how he interprets things. Which for once is useful because he thinks like a human and not some physics entity like some of the other faculty. I appreciate that we had frequent demos to reinforce the class material. Dr. Bauer's also very responsive over email and frequently active on Campuswire, which on top of his frequent office hours makes it very easy to get help outside of class. Discussion attendance is mandatory but only for ~6, so it's not awful and the TA knew what he was talking about pretty well. The exams in this class make up the bulk of the grade but they were honestly very fair; I felt like they were exactly like the old exams provided if not easier. It's also very clear what he puts on the exam because he emphasizes some of the focus concepts that he'll be testing. I'd like to put particular emphasis on the amount of accommodation that Dr. Bauer gives to his students; the first midterm had an average lower than expected (something in the mid 70s which I think is normal) so he adjusted the second midterm to be easier and ended up creating a test with an average of like 95 (which he didn't downcurve). The final was somewhere in between, but in recognition of stressful political situation with the ICE raids and whatnot he made a grade scheme that made it possible to REPLACE THE SCORE OF THE FINAL WITH THE AVERAGE OF ONE'S MIDTERM. This was enforced by the requirement that you "tried your best on the final" which is arbitrary and honestly so nice, especially when I feel the class wasn't particularly difficult.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Tl;dr: 5C is the best of the 5 series and Bauer is great I think Bauer got a bad rap when he first started teaching, or maybe 5C is just really where he shines. His lectures were very engaging and he offers a Zoom option, which is nice. His tests were also fair. Take my performance in the class with a grain of salt, because I never did the homework and skipped like, a third of classes during the fires. And even then I still passed! He also offers extra credit for correcting your midterms, which is nice. 5C is also so much more fun than the rest of the 5 series. You get to take your own EKG for three separate labs, and the other labs are things like playing with Legos (circuits) and arts and crafts (using electrical conducting tape to make an electric field). I had a great TA (shout out to Jack Isenhoff! or whatever his last name is), so discussions were very helpful and YOU SHOULD GO. Because the discussion worksheets are better practice than the HW. My only gripe with this class is that Bauer uses the Pearson website to assign HW problems from the textbook, and he really could just take the problems from there and make them a Canvas assignment instead, bc the Pearson website is clunky and very unforgiving with rounding, unlike Canvas. Also, that way, we could've pirated the textbook instead of having to pay for it.
Winter 2025 - Tl;dr: 5C is the best of the 5 series and Bauer is great I think Bauer got a bad rap when he first started teaching, or maybe 5C is just really where he shines. His lectures were very engaging and he offers a Zoom option, which is nice. His tests were also fair. Take my performance in the class with a grain of salt, because I never did the homework and skipped like, a third of classes during the fires. And even then I still passed! He also offers extra credit for correcting your midterms, which is nice. 5C is also so much more fun than the rest of the 5 series. You get to take your own EKG for three separate labs, and the other labs are things like playing with Legos (circuits) and arts and crafts (using electrical conducting tape to make an electric field). I had a great TA (shout out to Jack Isenhoff! or whatever his last name is), so discussions were very helpful and YOU SHOULD GO. Because the discussion worksheets are better practice than the HW. My only gripe with this class is that Bauer uses the Pearson website to assign HW problems from the textbook, and he really could just take the problems from there and make them a Canvas assignment instead, bc the Pearson website is clunky and very unforgiving with rounding, unlike Canvas. Also, that way, we could've pirated the textbook instead of having to pay for it.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Just like for Physics 5B, Bauer was a very straightforward professor. The quizzes seemed a bit harder but maybe that's because he made them open note this quarter. He ended up giving us a free 100% on a quiz and also dropped our lowest quiz. The midterm, at least personally, I felt was a lot easier than the 5B midterm. The final was meh, definitely did not understand 2 of the 7 questions, but his generous partial credit pulled through and I still got an 85% on that final. Honestly, the class content is a lot easier than 5B and I think that reflects in his grades of this class as I put a lot less effort in this class. Bauer is a pretty decent professor and I don't have any big complaints on this class.
Winter 2022 - Just like for Physics 5B, Bauer was a very straightforward professor. The quizzes seemed a bit harder but maybe that's because he made them open note this quarter. He ended up giving us a free 100% on a quiz and also dropped our lowest quiz. The midterm, at least personally, I felt was a lot easier than the 5B midterm. The final was meh, definitely did not understand 2 of the 7 questions, but his generous partial credit pulled through and I still got an 85% on that final. Honestly, the class content is a lot easier than 5B and I think that reflects in his grades of this class as I put a lot less effort in this class. Bauer is a pretty decent professor and I don't have any big complaints on this class.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - I took Bauer for both 5B and 5C, and although the structures of the class did change between both of them, the class was still fair in many aspects. The only issue that arose was that MT1 the test was too long for it to fit in the 50 min provide,d so the class overall had a low avera.e, this however was addresed by Bauer who made sure that MT2 was 100% doable in the 50 min and provided a curve for the midterm. The Midterm 2 and the final were fair, the homework could be difficult at times, and he does grade for accuracy; however, 1% was for accuracy, and 4% was for completion. Discussion was mandatory, but you can miss up to 3 discussions and still get full credit, the same with discussion worksheets, you can miss 3. If you miss a discussion, you are still allowed to submit the discussion worksheet for credit. There are weekly study guides that you can do for extra credit. The amount you can get seems low, but it does make a difference when you need a small boost. There is also a "Midterm analysis", this is an assignment, but if you do it well, then you can get extra points, I believe up to 2% increase in your midterm score. The lectures are recorded; however, the slides might not be posted until the class starts, so if you like to take notes before class, this might not be an option.
Spring 2025 - I took Bauer for both 5B and 5C, and although the structures of the class did change between both of them, the class was still fair in many aspects. The only issue that arose was that MT1 the test was too long for it to fit in the 50 min provide,d so the class overall had a low avera.e, this however was addresed by Bauer who made sure that MT2 was 100% doable in the 50 min and provided a curve for the midterm. The Midterm 2 and the final were fair, the homework could be difficult at times, and he does grade for accuracy; however, 1% was for accuracy, and 4% was for completion. Discussion was mandatory, but you can miss up to 3 discussions and still get full credit, the same with discussion worksheets, you can miss 3. If you miss a discussion, you are still allowed to submit the discussion worksheet for credit. There are weekly study guides that you can do for extra credit. The amount you can get seems low, but it does make a difference when you need a small boost. There is also a "Midterm analysis", this is an assignment, but if you do it well, then you can get extra points, I believe up to 2% increase in your midterm score. The lectures are recorded; however, the slides might not be posted until the class starts, so if you like to take notes before class, this might not be an option.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Dr. Bozovic is a super sweet professor who genuinely seemed to care about students learning. She's definitely approachable if you need help or need reassurance in your performance in the class. However, I'd say she's not the best teacher as her lectures were quite fast-paced and challenging to follow. On paper, her exams were honestly challenging––and I remember her telling a student that she designed the exams with the goal that we would get around 2/3 of it correct and mainly for us to have the learning experience. The problems were quite advanced and didn't completely reflect the homework problems at all. HOWEVER, she did employ a SUPER GENEROUS curve for exams where the average was set as an A- and the grade that was 20% lower than the average was a B+. The averages for the exams were always within the 50-56% mark, so the curve made sure that nobody had a failing grade. She allowed us to bring a cheat sheet with a front and back page of notes, and usually hosted a review session during class where she would basically tell us the types of problems we need to know for the exam (and occasionally basically gave the solution on how to approach it). A good portion of our grade was determined by the exams (three midterms, where your lowest grade was dropped) and the final. We also had Mastering Physics homework assignments which were pretty straightforward and do-able as well as the lab component counted for our grade. Overall, my time in this course was a bit of a rollercoaster but Dr. Bozovic is a really nice professor with challenging exams yet a generous curve that rewards students for putting in the effort.
Spring 2022 - Dr. Bozovic is a super sweet professor who genuinely seemed to care about students learning. She's definitely approachable if you need help or need reassurance in your performance in the class. However, I'd say she's not the best teacher as her lectures were quite fast-paced and challenging to follow. On paper, her exams were honestly challenging––and I remember her telling a student that she designed the exams with the goal that we would get around 2/3 of it correct and mainly for us to have the learning experience. The problems were quite advanced and didn't completely reflect the homework problems at all. HOWEVER, she did employ a SUPER GENEROUS curve for exams where the average was set as an A- and the grade that was 20% lower than the average was a B+. The averages for the exams were always within the 50-56% mark, so the curve made sure that nobody had a failing grade. She allowed us to bring a cheat sheet with a front and back page of notes, and usually hosted a review session during class where she would basically tell us the types of problems we need to know for the exam (and occasionally basically gave the solution on how to approach it). A good portion of our grade was determined by the exams (three midterms, where your lowest grade was dropped) and the final. We also had Mastering Physics homework assignments which were pretty straightforward and do-able as well as the lab component counted for our grade. Overall, my time in this course was a bit of a rollercoaster but Dr. Bozovic is a really nice professor with challenging exams yet a generous curve that rewards students for putting in the effort.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - I learned the most in this physics class than I did in 5A and 5B. The homework is worth 10% and she gives quite a bit of extra credit on it as well. Labs are worth 15% and they're really easy (its a worksheet). The two midterms are worth 40% and the final is worth 30%. She does prelecture questions on mastering which are worth 5%. Honestly, get a Chegg account and you'll get over a 100% on the assignments. The exams are extremely easy and the questions come directly from her slides. Do the quickcheck questions because she copies and pastes those on the mc of the exam. Overall a super sweet and easy professor!
Spring 2019 - I learned the most in this physics class than I did in 5A and 5B. The homework is worth 10% and she gives quite a bit of extra credit on it as well. Labs are worth 15% and they're really easy (its a worksheet). The two midterms are worth 40% and the final is worth 30%. She does prelecture questions on mastering which are worth 5%. Honestly, get a Chegg account and you'll get over a 100% on the assignments. The exams are extremely easy and the questions come directly from her slides. Do the quickcheck questions because she copies and pastes those on the mc of the exam. Overall a super sweet and easy professor!
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