PHYS 2419

Generally a very tedious class, very rarely will you feel like your labs are really helping you understand physics principles. None of the work is all that difficult, and most of it can be completed within the lab itself. The lab TAs are all over the place when it comes to how helpful they are. Some do really try their best to get to understand things, others seem they they would rather be anywhere else. Also if you finish early the TAs will not let you leave and instead make you sit there until the actual scheduled lab time ends.

This class is honestly a lot easier in terms of workload than Physics 1 Lab, just because the labs don't require as much data to be taken during class time and a lot of the report can be written in class. Lowkey I think they were kinda stretched for ideas because some of the labs were literally just measuring two values and then calling it a day. The structure is also a lot less tiring than Physics 1 workshop because they alternate the PDFs with actual lab reports. While the concepts are sort of hard because E&M is confusing (especially on the prelabs), the TAs are extremely helpful at office hours and will help you with anything that you need to know. I found the labs to get the most confusing at the end, but that was also because I started getting lost in the concepts of magnetism (also I didn't take the lecture). If you haven't taken the lecture, I would recommend asking someone for the textbook so that you can get a gist of what equations you'll need to use for that week.

I took this class alongside Physics I Lab and it was honestly so much better than Physics I. Make sure you follow the rubric exactly because you don't want to get points off for the smallest things. The course was structured the exact same as Physics I lab, so you don't have to worry about any changes if you've taken PHYS1429 already. The grading of the post labs and assignments, in general, was very fair. I struggled with the class initially because one of my lab group members dropped the lab section and I ended up writing the first lab report in its entirety, but despite getting an unfortunate lab group situation, it's doable to get an A. Although, be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort if getting an A in the class is important to you, and GO TO OFFICE HOURS. It also helps to know people in the class so you can struggle together with them.

Not gonna lie I hate physics and that's just the way it is. The labs for this class weren't particularly difficult (because the actual experiment was already done and we just had to analyze data, thanks COVID), but high key your success really depends on your lab group and TAs. My group was awesome this semester so we were able to do pretty well on the reports, but you might just be unlucky. Each lab has a prelab but those are usually pretty straightforward. The reports differ depending on the lab, some of them are filling in answers and drawing diagrams onto a PDF while others are a full page report with overview, predictions, measurements, and conclusion. My group was almost always able to finish the PDF reports during the lab section and the full reports aren't that hard either if everyone in the group does a fair share. The grading in physics labs can be frustrating though because just missing a few things can really bring your grade down and you have to go to office hours to get a good explanation of what you did wrong. There is also a post lab for some labs and they aren't too hard to figure out but if you get stuck go to office hours and they will usually walk you through it. The labs themselves are pretty interesting but without doing them ourselves I don't think they are as beneficial for understanding concepts. Overall the class isn't particularly difficult, but office hours are pretty much required to do well and you need a good group to not lose your mind. Good Luck!

I didn't like Physics lab too much, but I enjoyed my lab group and my TA was really nice. I liked the labs better than Physics 1, but I don't really like the material.