Physics Equivalency Exam

The Introductory Physics Equivalency Exam is for the following situations:

  • For a placement purpose. Students with AP credits who are unsure if a next level course is proper. If you need more information, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
  • To obtain transfer credit for PHY 53L and/or 54L for summer courses taken at other institutions while a student is a Duke matriculant.
For the second case, you must take and pass this exam if you want Duke equivalent course credit for PHY 53L and/or PHY 54L. See our description of these courses and the material we cover in the courses. During the preapproval process for summer courses at other institutions, we do our best to determine whether the course covers appropriate topics, but we cannot guarantee that the actual course will match the information available at the time of the course review.  

Many programs at Duke require that you have Duke equivalent credit for PHY 53L and/or PHY 54L. See the discussion here and consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies of the individual program to determine whether Duke equivalent credit is required.

The exams are only offered near the beginning of each fall semester. If you have to take the exam at other times, please contact the Assistant to the Physics Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Next Equivalency Exam:
 Students who are returning to Duke for the first time after taking a physics course at another institution and need to take a physics equivalency exam should send an email message to the Assistant to the Physics Director of Undergraduate Studies to inform him of your intentions at least two days before the exam.     The subject of the email message should be "Physics Equivalency Exams".  In the body of the message you should provide the following information:
  
    YOUR NAME (first, last):
                              MAJOR:
                    CLASS YEAR:
                            REASON:  study abroad, or out of synch with peers
                              EXAMS:   ______ PHY 53     and     _______ PHY 54

EXAM SCHEDULE:
    Mechanics (PHY53):
               DATE:  Tuesday, August 28, 2007
                 TIME:  7 - 10 PM
       LOCATION:  130 Physics

    E&M (PHY54):
               DATE:  Wednesday, August 29, 2007
                 TIME:  7 - 10 PM
       LOCATION:  130 Physics

If you take and PASS the Equivalency Exams, your transcript will indicate credit for PHY 53L and/or PHY 54L, but no grade will be recorded. (See the Undergraduate Bulletin for University rules regarding transfer credit.) These course credits will satisfy all course prerequistes and most major requirements at the University.

If you take and DO NOT PASS the Equivalency Exams, your transcript will indicate credit for PHY 888, but no grade will be recorded. (See the Undergraduate Bulletin for University rules regarding transfer credit.)

Exam details

There are two exams - one for Mechanics (for PHY 53L), and one for Electricity and Magnetism (for PHY 54L) - given on separate days and lasting two hours each. Note that more topics than just Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism are covered in our courses and on the exams. See a brief description of the introductory physics courses at Introductory Courses.

The exams are ONLY offered at the beginning of each fall semester. Each exam lasts two hours. No textbooks or notes are allowed in the exam. Calculators are provided for students. 
Formula sheets will be provided ( Mechanics formulae and E&M formulae). Students shold bring number two pencils and a good eraser.

The exam is usually held in Room 130 of the Physics Building during the evening starting at 7:00 PM and ending around 10:00 PM.


Examples

We have converted one version of the exams to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The fonts are embedded in the files so essentially any platform should be able to view the documents. The downside of embedding the fonts is that the files are big ... To view the files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe Web site. Also, other public-domain programs, such as a recent version of Ghostview, can be used to view PDF documents.

See the Mechanics Equivalency Exam in PDF format that was given in the fall of 2001 and the Mechanics formula sheet (in PDF format) that will be provided at the time of the exam. In addition, there will be several ESSAY TYPE problems. For additional problems, click here and here.

See the Electricity and Magnetism Equivalency Exam in PDF format that was given in the fall of 2001 and the E&M formula sheet (in PDF format) that will be provided at the time of the exam. In addition, there will be several ESSAY TYPE problems. For additional problems, click here.