University of Utah Department of Physics

Common Exam Preparation

Summer 2008


Announcements | Common Exam | Committee Members | Schedule | Problems | Additional Review Materials

Announcements

The Common Exam


All entering graduate students are required to take the Common Exam. This exam will be administered Saturday, August 23rd 2008 . The exam will consist of two sessions, each lasting three hours. The first session begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 12:00 noon. The second session begins at 2:00 p.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. The exam is held in the Library of the James Fletcher Building (JFB). Students are to bring only pens or pencils to the exam, all other allowed materials will be provided. There will be NO oral component to the Common Exam. Past Common Exams and their solutions are available at www.physics.utah.edu/academics.html .

Below are the general topics for the Common Exam. The books listed are NOT required but are good representatives of the material.


Common Exam Committee Members

These are the people responsible for writing the the questions for the Common Exam. Knowing the courses they teach and their areas of expertise can be helpful in anticipating the kinds of questions that may come up on the Exam.

Common Exam Student Preparation Committee Members

These people are not responsible for the questions on the Common Exam, but are responsible for helping graduate students prepare for the Exam. These will be the people that run the weekly preparation sessions.

Course Schedule

The weekly preparation meetings will be held Tuesdays 2:30-5 p.m. in Room 219 of the James Fletcher Building (JFB). Upon arrival there will be a problem available that you have hopefully never seen before. After you have had a chance to work on it for a half an hour, a Professor will review the problem and the physics associated with it.

Professors leading the discussion are responsible for providing students with a problem to attempt and a review of the days subject. Secondary Professors are responsible for the class should the leading Professor become unavailable.

Any changes in the weekly schedule will be posted under "Announcements".
Date
Tuesday May 27:
Tuesday June 3:
Tuesday June 10:
Tuesday June 17:
Tuesday June 24:
Tuesday July 1:
Tuesday July 8:
Tuesday July 15:
Tuesday July 22:
Tuesday July 29:
Tuesday August 5:
Tuesday August 12:
Tuesday August 19:
Saturday August 23:
Topic
Classical Mechanics
Classical Mechanics
Classical Mechanics
E&M
E&M
E&M
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Statistical Mechanics
Statistical Mechanics
Statistical Mechanics
Question and Answer
Common Exam 		Professor Leading
Raikh
Raikh
Raikh
Jui
Jui
Jui
Saam
Saam
Jui
Saam
Saam
Raikh
Jui
 Professor Second
NONE
Saam
Saam
NONE
Saam
Raikh
Jui
Jui
Raikh
Raikh
Raikh
Jui
Saam

Practice Problems

This is where problems will be posted. The links will become active once the question is posted.

Additional Review Materials

Mechanics
Electricity and Magnetism