Professor
Marcus Rueter
1 of 1
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - This was the least deserved A of my life. Reuter is a sweet middle aged European man. He's friendly, typically is in a good mood, and is usually on time. Lectures are borderline unintelligible, especially as he switches to slides instead of chalk boarding once the content becomes harder in 3D. Class is structured to be ridiculously easy. Grading is generous with 6 quizzes each worth 5%, homework totaling 20%, and two exams each worth 25%. Homework is always taken directly from the textbook. Textbook has answer keys in the back, and a worked out solution manual is easily pirateable off libgen or annas archive. It is very feasible to go into the final with a near 100%. Exams have some extra credit too, and quiz grades rarely dip below 90 due to generous grading. The tradeoff is that discussion attendance is borderline mandatory. The crux of this class is in the name - Dynamics of Particles pre-midterm, and Dynamics of Rigid Bodies post-midterm. Dynamics of Particles is Physics 1A, but again. There are legitimately next to no differences compared to 1A. Kinematics, Kinetics, Work-Energy Theorem, Rotation, Inertia, Momentum. Same stuff as AP Physics. You very well may take this content for the 3rd time in a row. There's a tiny amount of calculus, and a fair amount of cross products, but there's really no difficulty in this half. The shit hits the fan around week 5/6. Rigid bodies are a nightmare, and the the calculations required to expand from particles become so hairy so fast. I highly recommend purchasing a TI Nspire or another calculator that performs cross products, because you have to do so many. This is new content, and it doesn't make sense. I had no intuition for it, so I made up basically everything I did. Go to office hours, make sure you understand every single lecture, and don't let your grades deceive you into thinking you're prepared for the final. You have to know everything. Final was graded extremely generously, and I got a C+ despite putting forth a D- effort. Ended the class with an unsatisfying A and a sour taste in my mouth, plus I feel boned for 162A. Rigid Body Dynamics are a bitch, and while they may seem easier than the other 10X level classes, this content needs your attention. Don't make my mistakes, and you should bag the easiest A of your life.
Fall 2024 - This was the least deserved A of my life. Reuter is a sweet middle aged European man. He's friendly, typically is in a good mood, and is usually on time. Lectures are borderline unintelligible, especially as he switches to slides instead of chalk boarding once the content becomes harder in 3D. Class is structured to be ridiculously easy. Grading is generous with 6 quizzes each worth 5%, homework totaling 20%, and two exams each worth 25%. Homework is always taken directly from the textbook. Textbook has answer keys in the back, and a worked out solution manual is easily pirateable off libgen or annas archive. It is very feasible to go into the final with a near 100%. Exams have some extra credit too, and quiz grades rarely dip below 90 due to generous grading. The tradeoff is that discussion attendance is borderline mandatory. The crux of this class is in the name - Dynamics of Particles pre-midterm, and Dynamics of Rigid Bodies post-midterm. Dynamics of Particles is Physics 1A, but again. There are legitimately next to no differences compared to 1A. Kinematics, Kinetics, Work-Energy Theorem, Rotation, Inertia, Momentum. Same stuff as AP Physics. You very well may take this content for the 3rd time in a row. There's a tiny amount of calculus, and a fair amount of cross products, but there's really no difficulty in this half. The shit hits the fan around week 5/6. Rigid bodies are a nightmare, and the the calculations required to expand from particles become so hairy so fast. I highly recommend purchasing a TI Nspire or another calculator that performs cross products, because you have to do so many. This is new content, and it doesn't make sense. I had no intuition for it, so I made up basically everything I did. Go to office hours, make sure you understand every single lecture, and don't let your grades deceive you into thinking you're prepared for the final. You have to know everything. Final was graded extremely generously, and I got a C+ despite putting forth a D- effort. Ended the class with an unsatisfying A and a sour taste in my mouth, plus I feel boned for 162A. Rigid Body Dynamics are a bitch, and while they may seem easier than the other 10X level classes, this content needs your attention. Don't make my mistakes, and you should bag the easiest A of your life.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Mandatory to go to lecture since he doesn't upload notes. One midterm and around 8 homework assignments. Homework is tougher than midterm and discussion problems although it sets you up for the exams. No TA. Final exam had like 4 extra credit points. This class is very MATLAB intensive! I would advise to work with classmates. He grades pretty leniently. The content itself is pretty intensive and it can get pretty convoluted. Focus on the practice problems during lecture and the discussion problems during discussion hours. His lectures can get really, really confusing and it's unfortunate that he doesn't at least demonstrate some of the written lecture content on MATLAB, although a lot of it is just for and if loops. If you had experience with Rueter before, it's the same lecture style as it is in this class. Very fast talker and pretty theory-based. This class isn't too bad really and in retrospect, can be helpful in polishing up your MATLAB knowledge. I would recommend this class to someone who isn't too new to MATLAB.
Fall 2024 - Mandatory to go to lecture since he doesn't upload notes. One midterm and around 8 homework assignments. Homework is tougher than midterm and discussion problems although it sets you up for the exams. No TA. Final exam had like 4 extra credit points. This class is very MATLAB intensive! I would advise to work with classmates. He grades pretty leniently. The content itself is pretty intensive and it can get pretty convoluted. Focus on the practice problems during lecture and the discussion problems during discussion hours. His lectures can get really, really confusing and it's unfortunate that he doesn't at least demonstrate some of the written lecture content on MATLAB, although a lot of it is just for and if loops. If you had experience with Rueter before, it's the same lecture style as it is in this class. Very fast talker and pretty theory-based. This class isn't too bad really and in retrospect, can be helpful in polishing up your MATLAB knowledge. I would recommend this class to someone who isn't too new to MATLAB.
1 of 1
