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Fields are the real language of the course
Forces still matter, but 227 becomes easier when students think in terms of fields and potentials rather than isolated force formulas.
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01:750:227 · Physics · School 01 — New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
Analytical Physics IIA is Rutgers' calculus-based introductory electromagnetism course for engineering, physics, and astrophysics students. Official department materials describe a sequence built around electrostatics, particles in electric and magnetic fields, circuits, Maxwell's equations, and electromagnetic radiation, taught through lectures, workshop recitations, weekly homework, and a strongly recommended companion lab.
How hard?
Students rate teaching
SIRS · 4,567 responses · 2014–2025
Spring 2027
8 open in snapshot · 1 instructor
When it meets
Busch
Checked-in sections · current seat counts are unavailable.
MTh 10:35 AM · Busch · 8 sections · 8 open
AI-generated overview
Higher means more demanding · AI summary
6 units · topic sequence may vary by instructor
The course begins by turning charge from a memorized idea into a field-based framework. Students work through Coulomb force, superposition, and the meaning of electric field so that later topics feel like extensions of one coherent picture instead of separate formulas.
Once the field idea is in place, the course moves toward flux and Gauss's law. This is where many students first feel the calculus-and-physics blend directly, because symmetry arguments determine whether a problem is elegant or messy.
The next block reframes electrostatics in energy language. Potential, potential difference, and capacitance connect fields to stored energy and make later circuit work feel much more natural.
With electrostatics established, the course turns toward moving charge. Current, resistance, power, Kirchhoff's rules, and capacitor charging/discharging show how local field ideas become whole-circuit behavior.
The middle-to-late semester shifts into magnetism. Students study forces on charges and currents, then organize that material through Biot-Savart and Ampere's law, with solenoids and magnetic matter appearing as structured applications.
The final stretch brings the course together. Faraday induction, inductance, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves, and AC/RLC circuits show how changing electric and magnetic fields stop being separate topics and become one dynamical system.
Recent and older r/rutgers threads consistently treat 227 as a demanding lower-division physics course. The common advice is that weekly homework, recitation engagement, and genuine conceptual understanding matter much more than trying to memorize formulas at the last minute, and students also note that the course structure is heavier than a simple lecture-only class because it layers lectures, recitations, homework, lecture polling, and usually the separate 229 lab.
Forces still matter, but 227 becomes easier when students think in terms of fields and potentials rather than isolated force formulas.
Many electrostatics and magnetostatics problems simplify only when students recognize geometric structure before writing equations.
Current, voltage, capacitance, and inductance are not a separate subject pasted onto the course; they are practical consequences of the same electric and magnetic principles.
Induction, waves, and AC circuits make more sense once students see that changing electric and magnetic fields continually generate and constrain one another.
Common pitfall
Instead
Sketch the geometry and name the source of the field before choosing an equation.
Common pitfall
Instead
Treat the official lecture-recitation-homework cycle as the main study engine, because exam prep is much harder when those layers are skipped.
Common pitfall
Instead
Ask what the integral, derivative, sign, or vector direction means in the actual field configuration.
Common pitfall
Instead
Keep linking induction, Maxwell's equations, and AC circuits back to the earlier electric-field and magnetic-field ideas.
8 open · Busch
| Section | Status | Instructor | Meeting | Campus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0116309 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Wednesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SEC 204PHY 001SEC 204 | Busch |
| 0216310 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Wednesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at SEC 204PHY 001SEC 204 | Busch |
| 0316311 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Tuesday 7:30 PM-8:50 PM at SEC 204PHY 001SEC 204 | Busch |
| 0416312 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Tuesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at SEC 204PHY 001SEC 204 | Busch |
| 0516313 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Tuesday 3:50 PM-5:10 PM at SEC 218PHY 001SEC 218 | Busch |
| 0616314 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Tuesday 5:40 PM-7:00 PM at SEC 204PHY 001SEC 204 | Busch |
| 0716315 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SEC 218PHY 001SEC 218 | Busch |
| 0816316 | Open | Sang-Hyuk Lee | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at PHY 001; Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SEC 211PHY 001SEC 211 | Busch |
Historical student surveys
Teaching
3.88
Course quality
3.69
Response rate
49.2%
Coverage
80 offerings · 2014–2025
| Instructor | Offerings | Teaching | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Podzorov V. | 6 | 4.05 | 3.87 |
| Jak Chakhalian | 6 | 3.87 | 3.55 |
| Robert Bartynski | 6 | 3.67 | 3.40 |
| Karin Rabe | 5 | 4.52 | 4.34 |
| Gershenson M. | 5 | 3.54 | 3.54 |
| Mejias D. | 4 | 4.63 | 4.33 |
Catalog and planning context
Credits
3
Current campuses
Busch
Current availability
8 open of 8
Catalog terms
Fall, Spring, Summer
Core codes
NS
Loaded terms
5
((01:750:116 or 01:750:124 or 01:750:271) and (01:640:152))
No direct degree-list membership appears in the checked-in requirement index.