Physics 102 Honors

Spring 2026

Classes:

Small Hall, room 111
     Mon, Wed, Fri   11:00-11:50 am
     Thurs   3:30-4:20 pm

Description:

This course is the second semester of the calculus-based introductory physics sequence, intended for students who have a good preparation for and a strong interest in physics. PHYS 102H offers a more in-depth treatment of topics covered in PHYS 102, and includes more sophisticated examples. Topics include Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, Electricity Field, Electrostatic Potential, Magnetic Fields, Electric circuits (DC and AC), Electromagnetic waves, Geometric Optics, and Wave Optics.

Prerequisites:

PHYS 101 or 101H is a prerequisite, as well as calculus II (MATH 112 or MATH 132). Basic knowledge of calculus will be assumed. You should be able to calculate derivatives and integrals of simple functions of one variable, including trigonometric and logarithmic functions, and do a Taylor series expansion of a function.

Text:

Our textbook will be the (free) OpenStax "University Physics" text, Volume 2 and Volume 3. They are available at openstax.org.

A list of some good alternate textbooks is available here.

Laboratory:

The laboratory course (PHYS 102L) is a separate one-credit course, and is required for the physics major, and some other majors. It is possible to take PHYS 102H without taking the lab, although it is highly recommended to take both concurrently. PHYS102 (regular or honors) is co-/prerequisite for the lab course.

Grading Scheme:

Numerical grades will be calculated based on EITHER: 
    Homework            : 20% 
    Quizzes             :  5%  
    In-class Tests      : 45%
    Final Exam          : 30%
OR 
    Homework            : 20% 
    Quizzes             :  5% 
    Final Exam          : 75%
whichever is higher for each student. This way, poor performance on one or more of the in-class tests can be made up with better performance on the exam... after all, what matters is what you know by the end of the course.

Letter grades will be determined from the numerical grades using: 

               A  92-100%    A-  88-92
   B+  84-88   B  80-84      B-  76-80
   C+  72-76   C  68-72      C-  64-68
   D+  60-64   D  55-60      D-  50-55
   F  < 50

Lectures:

A complete (but tentative) class schedule is at the end of this syllabus. Slides will be posted after each lecture on Blackboard, but the lectures will not be recorded.

Homework:

There will be eleven homework assignments during the semester; the planned due dates are listed in the class schedule; the homework will be due on Wednesdays at 11:59 PM. Late homework without an excuse will be graded with a 20% penalty for each day late.

The homework assignment will include problems using the online service Expert TA available at theexpertta.com. You will need to purchase a subscription; the registration link is https://reg.theexpertta.com/USA48VA-8B6578-407. In addition to the online problems, I will assign a few additional problems that will be posted on Gradescope (www.gradescope.com). You will need to add yourself to the course on Gradesecope; the Add Code is 7KBGXV.

Complete and legibly written solutions are to be submitted on Gradescope as a PDF file. Our grader is a graduate student, Aleksandre Merabishvili; his contact information is posted on Blackboard. You should contact him first with any homework grading questions.

You will get the most out of the course if you make a serious effort to do the assignments completely on your own. While you may discuss the homework problems with other students, the final write-up must be your own work. Submissions based on generative AI will be considered an Honor Code violation. I am well aware that it is possible (and actually not even hard) to find solutions for almost any assigned problem online. However, be strong and avoid the temptation. The main goal of the homework is to train you to solve problems, and you cannot improve without practice ... and the tests and final exam will be problem-based.

Tests:

There will be three 50-minute long in-class tests (see the schedule for the dates).

Quizzes:

Most lectures will have an in-class quiz, based on the reading, which you will take using your cell phone, laptop or tablet device. They will be multiple-choice, and you will get 50% credit simply for answering the quiz. We will use Poll Everywhere ("PollEV") to answer each quiz. If you have not done so already for another course, please go to https://polleverywhere.com/login to create a PollEv account using your W&M credentials.

Final Exam:

The final exam will be cumulative, i.e., it will include material from the entire course, but will be similar in format to the midterm tests.

Important Dates:

  Last day of Add/Drop:  Tuesday Feb. 2
  Last day for Withdrawal: Monday March 23 
  Last class: Friday May 1
  Final Exam:  Tuesday May 5, 9:00 am to noon

Electronic Access:

This syllabus, supplemental materials, and homework assignments and their solutions will be posted on BlackBoard, accessible via myWM. I will try to answer any email promptly, but please don't expect a reply after 9:00 pm.

Daily Schedule:

Schedule of readings and topics

Accessibility:

William & Mary accommodates students with disabilities in accordance with federal laws and university policy. Any student who feels that they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a learning, psychiatric, physical, or chronic health diagnosis should contact Student Accessibility Services staff at 757-221-2512 or at sas@wm.edu to determine if accommodations are warranted and to obtain an official letter of accommodation. For more information, please see sas@wm.edu.

http://physics.wm.edu/~armd/P102H.html
Dept. of Physics
William & Mary
dsarms@wm.edu
last updated: January 27 2026