PHYSICS 5B
Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Thermodynamics, Fluids, Waves, Light, and Optics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, two hours. Requisite: course 5A. Thermal properties of matter, free energy, fluids, ideal gas, diffusion, oscillations, waves, sounds, light, and optics, with applications to biological and biochemical systems. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
3 of 3
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - I thought this was a pretty fair class! Niemann very clearly cares about his students and how much you're learning, which I really appreciated and don't always see in my lower division courses. I thought he was pretty clear in his lectures, the hard part for me is staying engaged as the quarter goes on. Bruincast is helpful for that. He goes through a lot of examples in class, especially some that are nearly the same as what you see on the homework and exams, so definitely try to take them! He used an interesting grading scheme where the two midterms were worth one "unit" each and the final was worth two "units." Your score on the best 3 out of 4 made up of 75% of your total grade. So he's pretty forgiving if you have to miss a midterm or bomb it. You have a chance at making it up later. I thought the midterms were pretty doable, but other folks have told me they're on the more challenging side. The first midterm was a little bit too long (I scribbled out an answer on the last question in the last two minutes of class), and he shortened the second midterm after hearing feedback from students. He's super understanding! Homework and lab are the rest of your grade. They're pretty par for the course if you've taken other physics 5 classes. He uses Kudu instead of Mastering Physics, which I liked a lot better. He's able to write his own questions or something? It's a lot less infuriating than Mastering Physics homework. Overall, a pretty fair class! The class feels disjointed because there are so many disparate topics in one course, but that's more a problem with the curriculum than this individual class itself. Not my favorite but also not my least favorite. I had a really heavy fall quarter and left this class on the backburner only to do weekly homework and study right before tests and did perfectly well!
Fall 2019 - I thought this was a pretty fair class! Niemann very clearly cares about his students and how much you're learning, which I really appreciated and don't always see in my lower division courses. I thought he was pretty clear in his lectures, the hard part for me is staying engaged as the quarter goes on. Bruincast is helpful for that. He goes through a lot of examples in class, especially some that are nearly the same as what you see on the homework and exams, so definitely try to take them! He used an interesting grading scheme where the two midterms were worth one "unit" each and the final was worth two "units." Your score on the best 3 out of 4 made up of 75% of your total grade. So he's pretty forgiving if you have to miss a midterm or bomb it. You have a chance at making it up later. I thought the midterms were pretty doable, but other folks have told me they're on the more challenging side. The first midterm was a little bit too long (I scribbled out an answer on the last question in the last two minutes of class), and he shortened the second midterm after hearing feedback from students. He's super understanding! Homework and lab are the rest of your grade. They're pretty par for the course if you've taken other physics 5 classes. He uses Kudu instead of Mastering Physics, which I liked a lot better. He's able to write his own questions or something? It's a lot less infuriating than Mastering Physics homework. Overall, a pretty fair class! The class feels disjointed because there are so many disparate topics in one course, but that's more a problem with the curriculum than this individual class itself. Not my favorite but also not my least favorite. I had a really heavy fall quarter and left this class on the backburner only to do weekly homework and study right before tests and did perfectly well!
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - This is one of the worst professors I have had at UCLA. I really don't understand what the other reviewers are talking about; we must have sat through different classes. Her lectures were incredibly unclear and included several instances of her talking in circles and saying things wrong, only to say "actually like this" and move on without explaining properly. When I asked a question at a review session about something she didn't even explain in class, but was on the homework, she refused to explain even the basic math principles of the issue, which turned out to be very simple once I asked the TA. She was very condescending in the way she said "I'm not gonna teach you math," in a literal physics class that is all about applying equations. She also gives a ton of homework, usually over 30 problems per assignment, and gives quizzes worth 15% of the grade, but are only 5 questions, so it is really easy to miss 20% or 40% with just one or two questions wrong. Very unfair timing as well, as the quizzes are only 15 minutes, and the midterm also had very little time because we had to upload each part of each problem individually, all while trying to complete the test. If there is another professor teaching this class, I would definitely recommend taking the other professor instead.
Summer 2020 - This is one of the worst professors I have had at UCLA. I really don't understand what the other reviewers are talking about; we must have sat through different classes. Her lectures were incredibly unclear and included several instances of her talking in circles and saying things wrong, only to say "actually like this" and move on without explaining properly. When I asked a question at a review session about something she didn't even explain in class, but was on the homework, she refused to explain even the basic math principles of the issue, which turned out to be very simple once I asked the TA. She was very condescending in the way she said "I'm not gonna teach you math," in a literal physics class that is all about applying equations. She also gives a ton of homework, usually over 30 problems per assignment, and gives quizzes worth 15% of the grade, but are only 5 questions, so it is really easy to miss 20% or 40% with just one or two questions wrong. Very unfair timing as well, as the quizzes are only 15 minutes, and the midterm also had very little time because we had to upload each part of each problem individually, all while trying to complete the test. If there is another professor teaching this class, I would definitely recommend taking the other professor instead.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Professor Samani is by far the best physics professor I have EVER had. There are a ton of recent negative comments about him on here, but these are just some of the reasons why people might have left them: 1. The final was in-person and people didn't want to study for it as they should. It's just funny how people kept getting angry at Samani for holding his final in-person, claiming to be extremely afraid of COVID, yet had no issues showing up in-person for their other finals and other social events. This is because Samani is an extremely accommodating professor and a majority of students expected him to move the final online in response to their backlash. Unfortunately, the line has to be drawn somewhere and these students weren't content with that. 2. The final was closed note and had no equation sheet. Now we were informed of this in like Week 5, so people had PLENTY of time to memorize their equations, make flashcards, etc. This isn't even taking into account how weekly quizzes were supposed to be closed note, so people should have had their equations memorized anyways as long as they weren't cheating. However many people chose to ignore these steps and continued to cheat on weekly quizzes by using their notes, therefore not learning any of the equations for 10 weeks and freaking out before the final. This is not Samani's fault, this is the students' fault. Also, Samani literally made us an equation sheet to memorize so we wouldn't have to comb through 10 weeks worth of lectures to find all the equations. All we had to do was memorize it (it's really not that bad). 3. People claimed that having an in-person final after the entire quarter being online was unfair. This was just false. Yes, the class was online until Week 5 (just like every single other class at UCLA due to the COVID surge). However Samani had in-person lectures for the rest of the quarter after campus opened up (people just chose not to show up) and you were allowed to take the quizzes in-person in the lecture hall during lecture time (people just didn't use that option, probably because a lot of them cheated during online quizzes). So it's not like there wasn't anything in-person during the quarter -- literally everything about the class was in-person if you made the effort to attend. Now that that's out of the way, here are some reasons why Samani was absolutely amazing and a gem of a professor: 1. He listened to ALL of our concerns and made changes wherever appropriate. Our weekly quizzes were initially open for 24 hours (but an hour timed) and Week 3 he switched the system so we had to take the quiz during lecture time (still online however). This stressed a lot of students out and Samani heard these concerns. Week 5, he switched quizzes BACK to being open for 24 hours. How many professors do we know of who would do that? Also, quizzes were initially 60 minutes long. This time was too short for some students, so Samani increased quiz durations to 80 minutes while keeping the length the same. Again, he made accommodations when he had no obligation to do so. It was out of the kindness of his own heart. 2. He had a weekly quiz + final format instead of midterm(s) + final. This is up to personal preference, but I personally LOVED this format. Each quiz was wayyy lower stakes than any midterm would be so I was naturally much less stressed for this class since one bad day wouldn't ruin my grade. Also, the lowest quiz grade was dropped! Another reason why the quizzes were not stressful at all. Additionally, quizzes always incorporated some content from previous weeks. This actually helped me to retain the content way better and gave some bonus extra practice with old concepts. When the final came around, since I had actually been learning and applying the concepts all the way back to Week 1 every week, studying for the final was way more doable and took less time than it normally would. 3. His lectures were incredibly engaging and funny. He always made up some entertaining example problems to work on during lectures which incorporated all of that week's concepts plus old concepts for review. He's also very high energy during lectures which makes them much more engaging especially if you attend in-person. 4. He gives plenty of practice material so you always know what to expect on quizzes and the final. Practice packets can be quite long, but honestly they're just for your own good. Some people complained about how we don't get points for completing them, but not everything you do for a class should be for points, some should just be for genuine learning. The questions on quizzes were very doable if you put in meaningful effort to the practice packets and asked questions wherever you needed help (Campuswire was great for this!). 5. He gives ample extra credit. We got extra credit for Campuswire based on our level (0.1% - 0.3%) and for completing LA feedback forms and course evals. If you are borderline, EC should hopefully push you over the boundary. I know this is a long review, but I honestly really wanted to highlight how amazing a professor Samani is. Especially for a class like physics which many students struggle with, it was extremely evident how hard he tries to make it engaging, applicable to our lives, and not too challenging. The negative reviews on here are the same students who were complaining on GroupMe about the in-person final and lack of equation sheet, but let's be real, when we go on to take the MCAT or other standardized tests they will also be in-person with no equation sheet. So to conclude, please take Samani. As long as you're proactive and willing to put in the work, you will learn a lot while having a great time :)
Winter 2022 - Professor Samani is by far the best physics professor I have EVER had. There are a ton of recent negative comments about him on here, but these are just some of the reasons why people might have left them: 1. The final was in-person and people didn't want to study for it as they should. It's just funny how people kept getting angry at Samani for holding his final in-person, claiming to be extremely afraid of COVID, yet had no issues showing up in-person for their other finals and other social events. This is because Samani is an extremely accommodating professor and a majority of students expected him to move the final online in response to their backlash. Unfortunately, the line has to be drawn somewhere and these students weren't content with that. 2. The final was closed note and had no equation sheet. Now we were informed of this in like Week 5, so people had PLENTY of time to memorize their equations, make flashcards, etc. This isn't even taking into account how weekly quizzes were supposed to be closed note, so people should have had their equations memorized anyways as long as they weren't cheating. However many people chose to ignore these steps and continued to cheat on weekly quizzes by using their notes, therefore not learning any of the equations for 10 weeks and freaking out before the final. This is not Samani's fault, this is the students' fault. Also, Samani literally made us an equation sheet to memorize so we wouldn't have to comb through 10 weeks worth of lectures to find all the equations. All we had to do was memorize it (it's really not that bad). 3. People claimed that having an in-person final after the entire quarter being online was unfair. This was just false. Yes, the class was online until Week 5 (just like every single other class at UCLA due to the COVID surge). However Samani had in-person lectures for the rest of the quarter after campus opened up (people just chose not to show up) and you were allowed to take the quizzes in-person in the lecture hall during lecture time (people just didn't use that option, probably because a lot of them cheated during online quizzes). So it's not like there wasn't anything in-person during the quarter -- literally everything about the class was in-person if you made the effort to attend. Now that that's out of the way, here are some reasons why Samani was absolutely amazing and a gem of a professor: 1. He listened to ALL of our concerns and made changes wherever appropriate. Our weekly quizzes were initially open for 24 hours (but an hour timed) and Week 3 he switched the system so we had to take the quiz during lecture time (still online however). This stressed a lot of students out and Samani heard these concerns. Week 5, he switched quizzes BACK to being open for 24 hours. How many professors do we know of who would do that? Also, quizzes were initially 60 minutes long. This time was too short for some students, so Samani increased quiz durations to 80 minutes while keeping the length the same. Again, he made accommodations when he had no obligation to do so. It was out of the kindness of his own heart. 2. He had a weekly quiz + final format instead of midterm(s) + final. This is up to personal preference, but I personally LOVED this format. Each quiz was wayyy lower stakes than any midterm would be so I was naturally much less stressed for this class since one bad day wouldn't ruin my grade. Also, the lowest quiz grade was dropped! Another reason why the quizzes were not stressful at all. Additionally, quizzes always incorporated some content from previous weeks. This actually helped me to retain the content way better and gave some bonus extra practice with old concepts. When the final came around, since I had actually been learning and applying the concepts all the way back to Week 1 every week, studying for the final was way more doable and took less time than it normally would. 3. His lectures were incredibly engaging and funny. He always made up some entertaining example problems to work on during lectures which incorporated all of that week's concepts plus old concepts for review. He's also very high energy during lectures which makes them much more engaging especially if you attend in-person. 4. He gives plenty of practice material so you always know what to expect on quizzes and the final. Practice packets can be quite long, but honestly they're just for your own good. Some people complained about how we don't get points for completing them, but not everything you do for a class should be for points, some should just be for genuine learning. The questions on quizzes were very doable if you put in meaningful effort to the practice packets and asked questions wherever you needed help (Campuswire was great for this!). 5. He gives ample extra credit. We got extra credit for Campuswire based on our level (0.1% - 0.3%) and for completing LA feedback forms and course evals. If you are borderline, EC should hopefully push you over the boundary. I know this is a long review, but I honestly really wanted to highlight how amazing a professor Samani is. Especially for a class like physics which many students struggle with, it was extremely evident how hard he tries to make it engaging, applicable to our lives, and not too challenging. The negative reviews on here are the same students who were complaining on GroupMe about the in-person final and lack of equation sheet, but let's be real, when we go on to take the MCAT or other standardized tests they will also be in-person with no equation sheet. So to conclude, please take Samani. As long as you're proactive and willing to put in the work, you will learn a lot while having a great time :)
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Dr Schriver is amazing. He is such a sweet heart and you can tell he cares about his students. His voice can be boring sometimes but he really does teach the material in a way that non physicists can comprehend. What I recommend doing is taking notes on his commentary in class, rather than trying to copy down the slides. Then after class when he posts his power points back track and connect his talking points with each slide. Many of his slides don't have much detail so this is what I found to be the best method for gathering all of the information. He handled the COVID-19 craze and transition to online with grace despite the fact that he was very clearly immensely stressed about the last minute cancellation of our final. He really listened to our concerns and made a decision based on actually helping us. Try to hit up the test bank for his physics 6 series exams when you are prepping for the midterms. Discussions are a waste of time, don't bother going. He is very helpful in office hours and it's a great way to get one on one time, as many students don't go until the week of the midterm. I wish I could finish the physics series with him. Don't pass on the opportunity to take him!
Winter 2020 - Dr Schriver is amazing. He is such a sweet heart and you can tell he cares about his students. His voice can be boring sometimes but he really does teach the material in a way that non physicists can comprehend. What I recommend doing is taking notes on his commentary in class, rather than trying to copy down the slides. Then after class when he posts his power points back track and connect his talking points with each slide. Many of his slides don't have much detail so this is what I found to be the best method for gathering all of the information. He handled the COVID-19 craze and transition to online with grace despite the fact that he was very clearly immensely stressed about the last minute cancellation of our final. He really listened to our concerns and made a decision based on actually helping us. Try to hit up the test bank for his physics 6 series exams when you are prepping for the midterms. Discussions are a waste of time, don't bother going. He is very helpful in office hours and it's a great way to get one on one time, as many students don't go until the week of the midterm. I wish I could finish the physics series with him. Don't pass on the opportunity to take him!
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