PHYS 325 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Course Schedule
Important information:
- Lectures will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 pm - 13:20 pm Central US in 151 Loomis.
- Discussion sessions will take place on Mondays as assigned in the section information.
- Homework sets will become available on Thursdays after class, starting in week 1. They are due on the following Thursday before 11:55pm Central and must be submitted online via gradescope.
For details on semester dates, registration deadlines, etc. please check the Academic Calendar.
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| Week | Date | Lectures | Homework | Discussions | Text suggestions and supplemental material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Monday
8/24/2026 |
No discussions | |||
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Tuesday
8/25/2026 |
Course policies L1: Newton's laws |
Taylor Ch. 1 Newton's biography (text) Short biography of Newton by Simon Schaffer (video) |
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Thursday
8/27/2026 |
L2: 1-dimensional particle dynamics |
HW 1 out HW1 solutions |
Taylor Ch. 1 | ||
| 2 |
Monday
8/31/2026 |
FIRST DISCUSSION |
Discussion 1 Solution |
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|
Tuesday
9/1/2026 |
L3: Position and time dependent forces Simple harmonic oscillator |
Taylor Ch. 2 Galileo's biography (text) |
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Thursday
9/3/2026 |
L4: drag and velocity dependent forces |
HW 1 due HW2 solutions |
Taylor Ch 2 | ||
| 3 |
Monday
9/7/2026 |
Labor Day - No classes | |||
|
Tuesday
9/8/2026 |
L5: 1D rocket motion 2D particle dynamics |
Taylor Ch 2 Stokes' biography (text) |
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|
Thursday
9/10/2026 |
L6: 2D particle dynamics |
HW 2 due HW3 solutions |
K&K Ch. 4 (Taylor Ch 4 & 8) | ||
| 4 |
Monday
9/14/2026 |
Discussion 2 Solution |
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Tuesday
9/15/2026 |
L7: 2D particle dynamics Conservative forces |
K&K Ch. 10 (Taylor Ch 8) |
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Thursday
9/17/2026 |
L8: Conservative forces Central force motion, angular momentum conservation |
HW 3 due HW4 solutions |
Taylor Ch 8 | ||
| 5 |
Monday
9/21/2026 |
Discussion 3 Solution |
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Tuesday
9/22/2026 |
L9: Gravitational force and potential |
K&K Ch. 10 |
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Thursday
9/24/2026 |
L10: Orbital motion I |
HW 5 out HW5 solutions |
K&K Ch. 10 |
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| 6 |
Monday
9/28/2026 |
HW 4 due |
Discussion 4 Solution |
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|
Tuesday
9/29/2026 |
L11: Orbital motion II |
K&K Ch. 10 |
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|
Thursday
10/1/2026 |
L12: Kepler's laws | No new HW |
Black hole cluster, Bamber et al. (2025) | ||
| 7 |
Monday
10/5/2026 |
HW 5 due | |||
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Tuesday
10/6/2026 |
L13: Simple harmonic oscillators | Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) | |||
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Thursday
10/8/2026 |
Midterm Exam 1 Practice exam 1 [Solutions] |
No HW due HW6 solutions |
Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) |
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| 8 |
Monday
10/12/2026 |
Discussion 6 Solution Mathematica Notebook |
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|
Tuesday
10/13/2026 |
L14: Damped oscillators | Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) | |||
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Thursday
10/15/2026 |
L15: Forced vibrations |
HW 7 out HW7 solutions |
Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) |
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| 9 |
Monday
10/26/2026 |
HW 6 due |
Discussion 7 Solution |
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|
Tuesday
10/27/2026 |
L16: Harmonic driving and resonance | ||||
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Thursday
10/29/2026 |
L17: Periodic driving | ||||
| 10 |
Monday
11/2/2026 |
HW 7 due HW8 solutions |
Discussion 8 Solution |
Harmonic driven harmonic oscillator (video) |
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|
Tuesday
11/3/2026 |
L18: Impulse response function and Greens function | Taylor Chapter 9 (K&K Ch 9) | |||
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Thursday
11/5/2026 |
L19: Fourier transformation | Taylor Chapter 9 (K&K Ch 9) | |||
| 11 |
Monday
11/9/2026 |
HW 9 out HW9 solutions |
Discussion 9 Solution |
Green's Functions (video) George Green (biography) |
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Tuesday
11/10/2026 |
L20: Non-inertial reference frames | HW 8 due | |||
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Thursday
11/12/2026 |
No new HW |
Mathematica notebook | |||
| 12 |
Monday
11/16/2026 |
Discussion 10 Solution |
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|
Tuesday
11/17/2026 |
[Notes] |
HW 9 due | Taylor Ch. 6 | ||
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Thursday
11/19/2026 |
Midterm Exam 2 Practice exam 2 [Solutions] |
No HW due | Taylor Ch. 6 | ||
| 13 |
Monday
11/23/2026 |
Discussion 11 Solution |
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|
Tuesday
11/24/2026 |
L23: Calculus of variations | Taylor Ch. 6 | |||
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Thursday
11/26/2026 |
L24: Calculus of variations |
HW 10 out HW 10 solutions |
Taylor Ch. 6 |
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| 11/21/2026 - 11/29/2026 | Fall Break | ||||
|
14 |
Monday
11/30/2026 |
Discussion 12 Solutions |
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|
Tuesday
12/1/2026 |
[see also] |
Taylor Ch. 7 | |||
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Thursday
12/3/2026 |
L26: Lagrangian mechanics | HW 10 due |
Taylor Ch. 7 Lagrange's biography (text) Hamilton's biography (text) |
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| 15 |
Monday
12/7/2026 |
Discussion 13 Solutions |
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Tuesday
12/8/2026 |
[Notes] |
Taylor Ch. 7 Noether's biography (text) |
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|
Thursday
12/10/2026 |
Reading Day | ||||
| FINALs' week 12/12/2025 - 12/18/2025 |
Final exam: Date and time to be defined |
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