General Information

Second course in the honors introductory physics sequence. Either this or PHYS 2213 is required for all physics majors.

Prerequisites

Strong performance in PHYS 1116 or very strong performance in PHYS 1112, and vector calculus at the level of MATH 1920, MATH 2220, or MATH 2240.

Topics Covered

  • Electrostatics
  • Behavior of matter in electric fields
  • Circuits
  • Magnetic fields
  • Faraday’s law and induction
  • AC circuits
  • Maxwell’s Equations and Special Relativity
  • Electromagnetic waves

Workload

Weekly problem sets and quizzes. 2 prelims and a final exam. This is generally considered the hardest class of the physics introductory sequence. There are three lectures and 1 discussion section per week. [Spring 2022]

One pset a week. [Fall 2022]

20 credits [Spring 2025]

Medium - 1 PSet per week, from the textbook (Purcell E&M), graded on effort mostly. Problems are generally extensions of what is covered in class and may require reading bits of the book to solve. [Spring 2025]

Psets are due Friday mornings and are five questions, not especially hard or time consuming. [Fall 2025]

General Advice

  • Don’t underestimate your abilities! This class is meant to be hard, but if you work at it, then it will start to become manageable [Fall 2022]
  • Don’t leave the problem sets until the last minute, you’ll make mistakes [Spring 2022]
  • Form a study group with students in class [Spring 2022]
  • It’s possible to make up for a poor background in Calc III, but it will be very useful to know how to perform basic vector calculus operations (divergence, curl, gradient) in multiple coordinate systems (no need to memorize formulas though), and to fully appreciate Divergence Theorem and Stokes Theorem going into the class. [Spring 2022]
  • This course rewards effort spent getting an intuitive understanding of how different fields behave under different conditions. Problems can be greatly simplified by first reasoning about symmetries and properties of fields before hammering out an equation. Try to develop this skill early and practice it throughout the semester [Spring 2022]
  • Practice early and often. As in any physics course, certain types of systems will keep rearing their heads over and over, like the gyroscope in 1116. For example, you will see different configurations of capacitors all the time. There are only so many different questions one can ask about a capacitor, so it is to your advantage to have practiced solving problems with capacitors before exam time [Spring 2022]
  • Don’t get scared away by the reputation. 2217 often has a lower median than 1116, and the content is sometimes less familiar depending on your background. That being said, 2217 is much more rewarding and rigorous than 2213, and so it is worth sticking it out even through a bumpy prelim or two [Spring 2022]
  • You don’t need to have taken 1116 to get a lot out of 2217. Advanced concepts in mechanics (besides Special Relativity) rarely appear, and when they do they are often re-introduced. That being said, while it may be possible to succeed with no advanced background in SR, it is better to have one. SR takes time to sink in and crystallize in your brain, so cramming it for an exam can be a stressful and unsuccessful experience. [Spring 2022]
  • Make sure you at least read the pset problems before your discussion section! Otherwise, it’s hard to gain much from the TA reviewing the problems. [Fall 2022]
  • Be careful to read the textbook carefully and pay close attention to the lectures. Professor Crites is an excellent professor, but she goes a little fast at times. So make sure you are doing hard problems and preparing for exams well in advance. I’d say two weeks if possible. [Spring 2025]
  • Read the book! It is usually more informative than just being in lectures. Expect it to be more challenging than say 1116, because e&m concepts are fairly unintuitive and abstract at times, and don’t be surprised if equations seem to pop up out of nowhere. Make sure to have a strong foundation in relativity! [Spring 2025]
  • Read other textbooks if Purcell is not for you! Attend lots of office hours if you can! [Fall 2025]

Testimonial

I took 2217 in Spring 2022 with Prof. Xu. By observing myself and other students in the class, I learned that there are many ways to succeed in 2217, and only a few ways to fail. Some people attended every single lecture while others rarely went at all. Some people entered the class with a great deal of exposure to E&M/Calc III, while others had significantly less. Some people solved PSets in groups, others alone. Most succeeded. While I am sure that certain behaviors are correlated with better performance in the course (particularly if you fall into the less-prepared camp), at the end of the day it is possible to do very well as long as you spend the requisite time-solving problems and building up a conceptual framework for how fields and potentials behave. People (myself most heartily included) often stress a lot about this course because of its reputation as “the hardest intro course” and so they think that the path to success is much more complicated than it is, but it really is as simple as spending the time to make the analysis of electromagnetic systems second nature. Getting through the course is a very rewarding milestone, so don’t sell yourself short. Give it a try, and put yourself in the best position you can! [Spring 2022]

Great class, definitely assumes some prior experience with E&M. [Fall 2022]

PHYS 2217 with Professor Crites has so far been a pretty good experience. The difficulty is reasonable and the lectures are engaging, having demos nearly every time. Professor Crites is a very passionate lecturer and is able to break concepts down into conceptual components in a digestible manner. Overall, 2217 was an excellent course! [Spring 2025]

2217 is a solid foundation to get into electromagnetism topics. I feel that this semester, while our professor was a bit disorganised , it was still nice to get familiarised with the basic concepts of electricity and magnetism, and have the fundamental equations one needs to get into more advanced physics. I know this course is controversial with some, mainly because of the chaotic way it was taught. However, in terms of the content itself, I definitely recommend taking this class! Plus, our professor showed us pretty cool demonstrations as well! [Spring 2025]

Professor Pollack was an excellent professor who truly cared about the success of her students and did not design problem sets or exams to be particularly hard or frustrating, exam averages were around 70 and the course is curved up. Regular reading is suggested but not required and there are occasional poll everywheres in class. The textbook is not well loved and some chapters of Griffiths E&M Textbook are a better substitute. [Fall 2025]

Past Offerings

Semester Professor Median Grade Syllabus  
Spring 2020 Michael Niemack N/A (Covid Policy) PHYS2217_SP20.pdf  
Fall 2021 Veit Elser — Course Page  
Spring 2022 Chris Xu B+ PHYS2217_SP22.pdf  
Fall 2022 Abigail Crites B+ PHYS2217_FA22.pdf  
Spring 2023 Lawrence Gibbons   PHYS2217_SP23.pdf  
Spring 2025 Abigail Crites N/A N/A  
Fall 2025 Lois Pollack B+