Program Overview

Physics & Astronomy Program

The Physics & Astronomy program at Western Washington University offers a comprehensive education in the fields of physics and astronomy.

Program Details

Registering for Classes

• Advice for registration & waitlist problems
  • Override policies
  • Waitlist Policy

Advising / Course Planning

• For Incoming Students
• Declaring Major & Minors
• Plan of Study
• Schedule of Electives
• Applying to Graduate

Research Areas

The program covers various research areas, including:

• Physics Demonstrations
• Dept. Operating Procedures & Policies (DOPP)
• Dept. Travel Request Form

Course Topics

The program includes a range of topics, such as:

• Circular motion
• Conservation of momentum
• Energy
• Forces
• Freefall
• Mass and weight
• Oscillations
• Projectile motion

Specific Topics

• Conservation of Momentum - Happy and Sad Balls
• Astroblaster Seismic Accelerator
• Terminal Velocity of Coffee Filters
• Floor Scale
• Freefall Time of a Steel Ball
• Sum of Forces
• Spring
• Penny and Paper Free Fall in a Vacuum
• Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy
• Motorized Cart on Track - Constant Velocity
• Independence of Vertical and Horizontal Motion
• Loop-the-Loop
• Independence of Horizontal and Vertical Motion - Shooting and Catching a Ball
• Independence of Horizontal and Vertical Motion - Ball Drop
• Hooke's Law - Spring Constant
• Friction Force (Pulling a Block with a Force Sensor)
• Friction Block Pulled up a Ramp
• Free Fall of a Basketball with a Motion Sensor
• Forces in a Collision
• Force Table

Tribal Lands Statement

Western Washington University's main campus is situated on the ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish Peoples, who have lived in the Salish Sea basin, all throughout the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades watershed from time immemorial. We express our deepest respect and gratitude to our Indigenous neighbors, for their enduring care and protection of our shared lands and waterways.