PHYS 16
The Way Things Work
Winter 2024
This is not the current course catalog
Class Details
How does a motor run? What do chocolate and steel have in common? How does Williams heat and power the campus? Can paper be washed? What’s inside everyday appliances? How do you build a speaker? From simple machines to complex processes, in this course we’ll explore the way things work! Class will meet four afternoons a week for a mixture of lecture, discussion, build time, local field trips, and lots of hands-on exploration. Homework will primarily consist of readings and exercises relevant to the current class topics and extra tinkertime. Early in the course we’ll team-engineer and build a large project as a class. In the last part of the course, students will have a chance to explore the functioning of some process, object, or technology of their choice. These will culminate in either building a final project with a short writeup or writing a 6-page paper, and a presentation to the class.
The Class:
Format: seminar
Limit: 16
Expected: 16
Class#: 1247
Grading: pass/fail only
Limit: 16
Expected: 16
Class#: 1247
Grading: pass/fail only
Requirements/Evaluation:
class participation; midterm group project; final project with short writeup or a 6-page paper; presentation of final project/paper to the class
Prerequisites:
none
Enrollment Preferences:
by seniority, and by requesting an interest statement
Materials/Lab Fee:
$50 and approximately $35 for books
Attributes:
EXPE Experiential Education Courses
Class Grid
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HEADERS
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CLASSESColumn header 2DREQColumn header 3INSTRUCTORSColumn header 4TIMESColumn header 5CLASS#
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PHYS 16 - 01 (W) SEM The Way Things Work
PHYS 16 - 01 (W) SEM The Way Things WorkTBA Cancelled1247