Tom Reynolds
Physics 175
Dr. Mueller MWF 8:00
This week I had two students come to my office hours. The first was asking about a Helmholtz coil. I was able to solve for the magnetic field starting with the Biot-Savart law and show him how to do the integration. We also discussed solenoids in general and the qualities that make one "ideal." Another student came in asking about para and diamagnetism. I am always surprised by how disparate the material is between professors. We are not at that point yet and I doubt we ever will be. I don't think either of the past two professors discussed that in their lectures but when I took the class we did. I was able to answer the questions and then teach it to the student. Finally on Friday no one came so I helped the other ta in the room who had a lot of students. I was surprised by that material as well. They were in algebra based physics but they were studying stress and strain in materials. This is mostly what I do in my classes now so I was more than prepared to help.
This semester has been fun so far because students are constantly throwing new topics at me. Sometimes I'll have to do stress/strain while others I'll have to do heat engines in thermodynamics and still other times I get questions on quantum mechanics. It keeps it interesting.
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