Norman Yao, Gregorio Ponti, & Anna Wang-Holtzen
PHYSICS 16 | Fall 2025 | Course Listing | Canvas Site
Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
Newtonian mechanics and special relativity for students with good preparation in physics and mathematics at the level of the advanced placement curriculum. Topics include oscillators damped and driven and resonance (how to rock your car out of a snow bank or use a swing), an introduction to Lagrangian mechanics and optimization, symmetries and Noether’s theorem, special relativity, collisions and scattering, rotational motion, angular momentum, torque, the inertia tensor (dynamic balance), gravitation, planetary motion and a little glimpse of quantum mechanics.
Recommended Prep: Score of 5 on the mechanics section of the Physics C Advanced Placement exam, or equivalent. Mathematics preparation at least at the level of Mathematics 21a taken concurrently is required. Thorough knowledge of calculus of one variable and vectors plus some mathematical sophistication. The mathematical level will be significantly higher than that of Physics 15a. If in doubt, check the Canvas site ahead of time, or email the professor at hgeorgi@fas.harvard.edu, or just shop.