PHYS 325 Spring 2026
PHYS 325 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Course Schedule
Lectures will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30am - 12:50pm 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 US and they have to be submitted online via gradescope, entry code 2DDD87.
For details on semester dates, registration deadlines, etc. please check the Academic Calendar.
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| Week | Date | Lectures | Homework | Discussions | Text suggestions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Monday
01/19/2026 |
Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- no classes | |||
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Tuesday
01/20/2026 |
Course policies L1: Newton's laws |
Taylor Ch. 1 | |||
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Thursday
01/22/2026 |
L2: 1-dimensional particle dynamics | HW 1 out |
Taylor Ch. 1 | ||
| 2 |
Monday
01/26/2026 |
FIRST DISCUSSION | |||
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Tuesday
01/27/2026 |
L3: Position and time dependent forces Simple harmonic oscillator |
Taylor Ch. 2 | |||
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Thursday
01/29/2026 |
L4: drag and velocity dependent forces | HW 1 due HW 2 out |
Taylor Ch 2 | ||
| 3 |
Monday
02/02/2026 |
Discussion 2 | |||
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Tuesday
02/03/2026 |
L5: 1D rocket motion 2D particle dynamics |
Taylor Ch 2 |
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Thursday
02/05/2026 |
L6: 2D particle dynamics | HW 2 due HW 3 out |
K&K Ch. 4 (Taylor Ch 4 & 8) | ||
| 4 |
Monday
02/09/2026 |
Discussion 3 | |||
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Tuesday
02/10/2026 |
L7: 2D particle dynamics Conservative forces |
K&K Ch. 10 (Taylor Ch 8) |
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Thursday
02/12/2026 |
L8: Conservative forces & energy conservation Central force motion, angular momentum conservation |
HW 3 due HW 4 out |
Taylor Ch 8 | ||
| 5 |
Monday
02/16/2026 |
Discussion 4 | |||
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Tuesday
02/17/2026 |
L9: Gravitational force and gravitational potential | K&K Ch. 10 (Taylor Ch 8) |
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Thursday
02/19/2026 |
L10: Orbital motion I | HW 4 due HW 5 out |
K&K Ch. 10 (Taylor Ch 8) |
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| 6 |
Monday
02/23/2026 |
Discussion 5 | |||
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Tuesday
02/24/2026 |
L11: Orbital motion II Kepler's laws |
K&K Ch. 10 (Taylor Ch 8) |
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Thursday
02/26/2026 |
L12: Simple harmonic oscillators | HW 5 due No new HW |
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| 7 |
Monday
03/02/2026 |
Discussion 6 | |||
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Tuesday
03/03/2026 |
L13: Damped oscillators | Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) | |||
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Thursday
03/05/2026 |
Midterm Exam 1 Practice exam 1 |
No HW due HW 6 out |
Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) |
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| 8 |
Monday
03/09/2026 |
Discussion 7 | |||
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Tuesday
03/10/2026 |
L14: Forced vibrations | Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) | |||
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Thursday
03/12/2026 |
L15: Harmonic driving and resonance | HW 6 due HW 7 out |
Taylor Ch. 5 (K&K Ch. 11) |
||
| 03/14/2026 - 03/22/2026 | Spring Break | ||||
| 9 |
Monday
03/23/2026 |
Discussion 8 | |||
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Tuesday
03/24/2026 |
L16: Periodic driving | ||||
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Thursday
03/26/2026 |
L17: Impulse response function and Greens function | HW 7 due HW 8 out |
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| 10 |
Monday
03/30/2026 |
Discussion 9 | |||
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Tuesday
03/31/2026 |
L18: Fourier transformation | Taylor Chapter 9 (K&K Ch 9) | |||
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Thursday
04/02/2026 |
L19: Non-inertial reference frames | HW 8 due HW 9 out |
Taylor Chapter 9 (K&K Ch 9) | ||
| 11 |
Monday
04/06/2026 |
Discussion 10 | |||
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Tuesday
04/07/2026 |
L20: Dynamics in non-inertial reference frames | ||||
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Thursday
04/09/2026 |
L21: Coriolis forces | HW 9 due No new HW |
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| 12 |
Monday
04/13/2026 |
Discussion 11 | |||
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Tuesday
04/14/2026 |
L22: Calculus of variations | Taylor Ch. 6 | |||
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Thursday
04/16/2026 |
Midterm Exam 2 Practice exam 2 |
No HW due HW 10 out |
Taylor Ch. 6 | ||
| 13 |
Monday
04/20/2026 |
Discussion 12 | |||
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Tuesday
04/21/2026 |
L23: Calculus of variations | Taylor Ch. 7 | |||
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Thursday
04/23/2026 |
L24: Lagrangian mechanics | HW 10 due HW 11 out |
Taylor Ch. 7 | ||
|
14 |
Monday
04/27/2026 |
Discussion 13 | |||
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Tuesday
04/28/2026 |
L25: Lagrangian mechanics | Taylor Ch. 7 | |||
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Thursday
04/30/2026 |
L26: Lagrangian mechanics | HW 11 due | Taylor Ch. 7 | ||
| 15 |
Monday
05/04/2026 |
Discussion 14 | |||
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Tuesday
05/05/2026 |
L27: Noether's theorem | Taylor Ch. 7 | |||
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Thursday
05/07/2026 |
Reading Day | ||||
| FINALs' week 05/08/2026 - 05/14/2026 |
Final exam: TBA Practice final exam |
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