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Physics becomes concrete through data
This lab exists to make lecture ideas measurable. Instead of only manipulating formulas, students see how motion, force, energy, and waves show up in experimental records.
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01:750:205 · Physics · School 01 — New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
General Physics Lab 205 is the first laboratory half of Rutgers' general physics sequence. It complements 01:750:203 by having students collect, graph, and analyze experimental data in mechanics, fluids, thermodynamics, and waves, using experiments to test physical laws rather than only read about them.
How hard?
Students rate teaching
SIRS · 1,278 responses · 2014–2025
Spring 2027
18 open in snapshot · 1 instructor
When it meets
C/D
Checked-in sections · current seat counts are unavailable.
M 12:10 PM · C/D · 18 sections · 18 open
AI-generated overview
Higher means more demanding · AI summary
5 units · topic sequence may vary by instructor
The lab sequence opens by teaching students how the course works as an experimental environment: reading the procedure, using the apparatus correctly, organizing data, and turning observations into a report during the lab period itself.
Early labs focus on kinematics and Newton's laws. The point is not just solving lecture problems again, but seeing how displacement, velocity, force, and acceleration appear in recorded measurements and how experimental evidence supports or complicates simple models.
The middle of the term shifts from force laws to conservation ideas. Students typically work through how work and energy connect to motion, how circular motion changes force reasoning, and how momentum-based experiments reveal interactions more clearly than position data alone.
Later mechanics labs broaden the picture by moving from straight-line motion into rotational dynamics and then into fluid behavior. These units usually ask students to connect torque, balance, pressure, and flow ideas to real apparatus rather than idealized diagrams.
The closing labs show that the same experimental habits still matter when the variables become less visual. Thermodynamics emphasizes relationships among heat, energy, and state, while waves push students to reason about periodic behavior and physical interpretation from patterns in the data.
Public discussion specifically about 205 is thin, but one r/rutgers thread about 205 and 206 together describes the labs as manageable when you stay engaged in the room: students say the work is group-based, usually finished during the scheduled lab block, and often feels more sensitive to quiz prep and TA style than to heavy outside homework.
This lab exists to make lecture ideas measurable. Instead of only manipulating formulas, students see how motion, force, energy, and waves show up in experimental records.
A graph is not decoration here. It is often the clearest way to see proportionality, curvature, experimental noise, or whether a physical model really fits.
The sequence starts with familiar motion topics, but it expands into momentum, rotation, fluids, thermodynamics, and waves, so students need to keep adapting the same measurement habits to new settings.
Because reports are written during the session, students are also practicing scientific communication: stating the setup, showing calculations clearly, and explaining what the data means.
Common pitfall
Instead
Pause long enough to understand what physical relationship the apparatus is meant to test before filling in calculations.
Common pitfall
Instead
Review the matching 203 topic before lab so the measurements, quiz questions, and report prompts do not feel disconnected.
Common pitfall
Instead
The syllabus makes the report collaborative and visible through shared editing history, so everyone should handle both analysis and writing.
Common pitfall
Instead
Keep units attached at every step and make graphs readable enough that the conclusion follows from the evidence.
18 open · C/D
| Section | Status | Instructor | Meeting | Campus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0116259 | Open | Hao Wang | Monday 12:10 PM-3:10 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0216260 | Open | Hao Wang | Monday 3:50 PM-6:50 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0316261 | Open | Hao Wang | Monday 7:30 PM-10:30 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0416262 | Open | Hao Wang | Tuesday 8:30 AM-11:30 AM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0516263 | Open | Hao Wang | Tuesday 12:10 PM-3:10 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0616264 | Open | Hao Wang | Tuesday 3:50 PM-6:50 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0716265 | Open | Hao Wang | Tuesday 7:30 PM-10:30 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0816266 | Open | Hao Wang | Wednesday 8:30 AM-11:30 AM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 0916267 | Open | Hao Wang | Wednesday 12:10 PM-3:10 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1016268 | Open | Hao Wang | Wednesday 3:50 PM-6:50 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1116269 | Open | Hao Wang | Wednesday 7:30 PM-10:30 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1216270 | Open | Hao Wang | Thursday 8:30 AM-11:30 AM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1316271 | Open | Hao Wang | Thursday 12:10 PM-3:10 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1416272 | Open | Hao Wang | Thursday 3:50 PM-6:50 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1516273 | Open | Hao Wang | Thursday 7:30 PM-10:30 PM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
| 1616274 | Open | Hao Wang | Friday 8:30 AM-11:30 AM at HSB 210HSB 210 | C/D |
Historical student surveys
Teaching
4.36
Course quality
4.13
Response rate
35.5%
Coverage
135 offerings · 2014–2025
| Instructor | Offerings | Teaching | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rajabi S. | 18 | 4.53 | 4.40 |
| Hao Wang | 16 | 4.36 | 4.09 |
| Eric Mendelsohn | 13 | 3.82 | 3.45 |
| Lee B. | 10 | 4.87 | 4.70 |
| Brian Lee | 8 | 4.69 | 4.26 |
| Samira Rajabi | 7 | 4.21 | 4.01 |
Catalog and planning context
Credits
1
Current campuses
C/D
Current availability
18 open of 18
Catalog terms
Fall, Spring, Summer
Core codes
None listed
Loaded terms
5
Any Course EQUAL or GREATER Than: (01:640:112)
No direct degree-list membership appears in the checked-in requirement index.