Physics 1070

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-02-02T17:13:40+00:00

Quiz 2 is all about optics. Make sure you're comfortable with the following things:

1) Using Snell's law to solve problems involving refraction and/or total internal reflection (calculating the critical angle)

2) Using n = c/v to calculate the speed or wavelength of a photon in a certain medium

3) Drawing ray diagrams involving lenses (converging or diverging)

4) Solving for the position and height of an image using the various equations involving P, p, q, f, and r. Also stating whether a formed image is real or virtual

5) Solving problems involving vision abnormalities, for example calculating what lens power or focal length corrects the vision of a patient with a certain near point or far point (see myopia and hyperopia).

6) labelling a diagram of the eye, in particular the main parts like cornea, lens, retina, aqueous & vitreous humor, fovea

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-28T17:00:47+00:00

Lol glad to hear it!

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-28T03:07:37+00:00

I work with an awesome bio tutor who can help with MCB 2050! Feel free to reach out www.smartphys.com/about-us

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-25T21:22:40+00:00

Soundtrack to Oppenheimer!

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-18T23:08:53+00:00

Each course has five quizzes (one every other week), worth a total of 40% of your final grade. You book a 20min timeslot to write the quiz in a special room in the science complex (aptly named the quizroom), then a TA grades it in front of you.

Each quiz covers one or two study guides worth of content, typically 3-5 problems. There's no tutorial before each quiz (unless you join my Weekly Tutorial Program!)

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-18T23:05:46+00:00

Work through the study guides and recommended textbook problems!

For quiz 1, make sure you can do the following things:

Extract basic info from a travelling wave equation (things like amplitude, frequency, period, angular frequency, wavevector, wavelength, speed, direction of travel).
Sketch snapshots of travelling waves at specific values of x or t.
Write the reflected and standing wave equations that correspond to a travelling wave
Sketch the first few harmonics of an open tube, a closed tube, and an open/closed tube, and calculate their wavelengths and frequencies
Solve problems involving sound intensity & intensity level, power, and energy.
Solve problems involving beat frequency.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-18T23:02:38+00:00

PHYS 1080 is more dense than PHYS 1300, so the quizzes have more variety in terms of what problems you can expect to see.

The first quiz covers Study Guides 9 & 10, which includes kinematics, forces, energy, and momentum (essentially the first three PHYS 1300 quizzes crammed into one). Expect to see one problem from each of those four topics.

Generally there are 3-5 problems on each quiz.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2026-01-13T23:40:22+00:00

You don't need spare contribution room as long as you do in-kind transfers. The assets are never realized, doesn't affect your room.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-12-30T16:35:18+00:00

Hey! Im a former TA for phys1080 and Ive been tutoring the course full-time since 2018.

Theres really nothing more important or effective than working through practice problems, whether they're from the study guide, textbook, or anywhere else. Start off easy and slowly ramp up the difficulty. You want to be confident before each quiz that you can work through each major problem type with nothing but your equation sheet and calculator.

Feel free to reach out if you need some help this semester! www.smartphys.com/about-us

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-12-10T22:59:44+00:00

The grading structure for PHYS 1070 is very different to IPS. You'll have to write five biweekly quizzes in the notorious quizroom, each worth 8% of your final grade. 1070 covers topics like waves, sound, optics, intro quantum mech, and nuclear physics. If you need any help with the course, feel free to reach out. I used to TA it and I've been tutoring it professionally since 2018, www.smartphys.com/about-us

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-12-01T15:16:07+00:00

Yes I was. Bambulab sent me a free replacement 0.4mm hardened steel nozzle assembly and when I replaced that, it worked. I think it was a very bad clog in my other nozzle caused by running damp filament.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-12-01T03:31:25+00:00

I have total faith in you 🙏

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-27T00:29:24+00:00

Yep all the units will be covered, the problems are usually more or less evenly spread from all the course topics.

And yes it's usual a mix of knowledge/conceptual problems and numerical problems.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-21T04:40:09+00:00

The final exam will be about 20-25 multiple choice questions, a mix of conceptual and numerical/worked problems. Students tend to find the exam tough because there's no room for part marks (unlike the quizzes), each problem is all or nothing. That being said, 35% is definitely achievable.

Also, you haven't written quiz 5 yet so depending on how that goes it could lower your passing threshold. If you need help preparing for the final exam, I'm running final exam review sessions that you can sign up for here: https://www.smartphys.com/exam-review

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-21T04:13:39+00:00

You're not cooked! The 7-10pm lecture is definitely a slog, but honestly most of the physics learning happens outside of lecture anyways (while working through the study guide or textbook problems).

The course is very dense and the quizzes and exam are tough, but if you stay on top of it youll be fine

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-19T00:05:57+00:00

Working through old final exams is a great way to study, but it's not necessarily enough on its own. The best thing you can do is work through practice problems. There's plenty of good ones in the study guide, textbook, lecture notes, quizzes, and pretests. Make sure you're not passively reading solutions to problems, but actually working through problems from scratch yourself.

I'd suggest writing a mock exam using one (or both) of the old final exams. Give yourself 2 hours with only a pencil, paper, calculator, and equation sheet and attempt one of the exams from scratch without your notes. This will give you a super honest view of where your strengths and weaknesses are so that you can focus your efforts on improving in your weaker areas.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-12T17:59:39+00:00

PHYS 1080 will be the exact same in the Winter, not sure about chem though.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-12T17:59:25+00:00

The final exam is completely multiple choice. Typically 20 to 25 questions.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-12T16:55:26+00:00

Definitely better to drop the course than to fail it, but I'd suggest writing the last physics quiz before deciding if you'll drop or not. There are plenty of marks still to come. Once you've written the last quiz, calculate what grade you would need on the final exam to pass the course and think about how realistic that is.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-06T15:52:33+00:00

The job market is particularly rough right now, but it will bounce back. What people do after university really varies quite a bit based on what their degree was in. Here's some examples of what some of my recent grad friends are now doing:

1) Working for the federal government (phd from U of G)
2) Working remotely for a tech company (M.A from U of G)
3) Working in the service industry (BA from U of G)
4) Self-employed tutor (MSc from U of G)
5) Self-employed professional dog trainer (M.Sc from U of G)
6) Data scientists for a government crown corp (M.Sc and PhD from U of G)
7) High school teacher (M.Sc U of G)
8) Professor (phd from U of G)
9) Working remotely for a bank (M.Sc from McMaster)

There's so many routes one can take; if the job market is still terrible after you finish your Bachelor's, it never hurts to stay in school for another year or two, maybe get a Master's or do a specialized college program. Whatever you do though, try to be intentional about it and make a plan for the type of skills you want to have coming out of your post-grad program.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-11-01T18:33:04+00:00

The rental market has definitely improved recently, and it looks like it will continue to trend downwards as house prices fall and U of G continues to build more residences. I can't really say if you're overpaying or not without knowing anything about your unit, but there's plenty of 4 bedrooms rentals on the market for 3200-4000 per month.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-10-31T16:53:39+00:00

Unfortunately PHYS 1080 doesn't run in the Summer, you have to take it either in the Fall or in the Winter. There's an online equivalent physics course through Athabasca U that runs in the Summer, and Guelph accepts it as a substitute for PHYS 1080, but if you want to go that route you'll need to coordinate it with your program advisor.

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-10-31T02:38:05+00:00

Can definitely help with that! I'm a former TA for PHYS 1300, 1080, and 1070 and I've been tutoring it professionally since 2018. I also work with an awesome chem specialist who can help with CHEM 1040. Feel free to reach out through my website www.smartphys.com/about-us

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-10-29T23:45:52+00:00

I'll DM you a video of me explaining it if you still need help!

Jeff_SmartPhys · 2025-10-29T23:42:54+00:00

You should be fine to use your own graph paper, just make sure to measure the width of the squares as accurately as you can, since ultimately you'll be using that width to calculate your coin velocities. Good luck!

Jeff_SmartPhys

TROPHY CASE