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Physics Department

Learning physics by doing physics!

Our physics courses are based on the philosophy that you must construct your own understanding.

Probing nature with experiments, physicists try to find basic principles, usually stated as mathematical models that explain as economically as possible the phenomena they encounter. Anyone can gain an appreciation for physics at the descriptive level, but the field appeals most to people who enjoy solving problems, constructing models, and experimenting with nature.

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts, Physics

    To provide background in basic physics, emphasizing laboratory skills and knowledge which students will need in industrial or government employment or a science teaching career; to stress applications of analytical software and mathematical techniques.

  • Minor, Physics

    A student may minor in physics by completing five courses or 18 semester hours as follows: 201, 202, 311, and two additional courses, both of which must be at the 300 or 400 level.

  • Bachelor of Arts, Physics- Teacher Preparation- 6-12 Secondary

    To enable students to meet Virginia requirements for licensure to teach physics and, under certain circumstances, other related subjects.

  • Bachelor of Science, Physics- Teacher Preparation- 6-12 Secondary

    To enable students to meet Virginia requirements for licensure to teach physics and, under certain circumstances, other related subjects.

  • Bachelor of Science, Physics

    To provide background in basic physics preparing students for entry into graduate school or engineering programs; to stress applications of analytical software and mathematical techniques.

Student Research

  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title">Photo-Therapy Robot Project</h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p><picture class="lw_image lw_image2110 lw_align_left lw_block"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/500/height/282/2110_pastedImage.rev.1515864265.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/500/height/282/2110_pastedImage.rev.1515864265.png 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/600/height/338/2110_pastedImage.rev.1515864265.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/600/height/338/2110_pastedImage.rev.1515864265.png 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="600" height="338" alt="Photo-therapy for plants" src="/live/image/gid/32/width/600/height/338/2110_pastedImage.rev.1515864265.png" data-max-w="600" data-max-h="338" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></p><p> Physics and engineering students are currently involved in a project to design, build, and field-test an automated supplemental-light delivery system that could enable local farmers to productively grow crops not well adapted to the area. This project is being done in cooperation with Kelly Ridge Farms, in Meadowview, Virginia.</p></div>
  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title">E&H physics major Madison Jackson presents her work at the 2018 NIMBioS conference in Knoxville, TN</h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p><picture class="lw_image lw_image5684 lw_align_left"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/500/height/333/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/500/height/333/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/500/height/333/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/500/height/333/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="610" height="406" alt="E&H physics major Madison Jackson presents her poster at the 2018 NIMBioS undergraduate resea..." src="/live/image/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/406/5684_30680367827_fabaf127b5_o_2.rev.1543075467.jpg 3x" data-max-w="2048" data-max-h="1362" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></p></div>
  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title">E&H students attend the 2018 NIMBioS Conference in Knoxville, TN</h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p><picture class="lw_image lw_image5683 lw_align_left"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/500/height/281/5683_NIMBioS_students_photo_2.rev.1543075027.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/500/height/281/5683_NIMBioS_students_photo_2.rev.1543075027.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/610/height/343/5683_NIMBioS_students_photo_2.rev.1543075027.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/32/width/610/height/343/5683_NIMBioS_students_photo_2.rev.1543075027.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="610" height="343" alt="Students attend the 2018 Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and..." src="/live/image/gid/32/width/610/height/343/5683_NIMBioS_students_photo_2.rev.1543075027.jpg" data-max-w="960" data-max-h="540" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></p></div>
  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title">E&H physics major Joe Tolone presents his work at the 2019 SESAPS conference</h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p><picture class="lw_image lw_image7446 lw_align_left"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/500/height/375/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/500/height/375/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/500/height/375/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/500/height/375/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img width="610" height="458" alt="Physics major Joe Tolone presents his work at the 2019 Southeastern Section of the American Physi..." src="/live/image/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/32/width/610/height/458/7446_20191107_181453.rev.1581903506.jpg 3x" data-max-w="3200" data-max-h="2400" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture><span class="lw_image_caption lw_align_left" style="width: 610px">Physics major Joe Tolone presents his work at the 2019 Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society Conference at UNC Wilmington</span></p></div>

Meet Our Alumni

  • <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/675-anne-driscoll"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,960,960/269_1912405_682582264006_8756799307793601402_n.rev.1496850332.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,960,960/269_1912405_682582264006_8756799307793601402_n.rev.1496850332.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,960,960/269_1912405_682582264006_8756799307793601402_n.rev.1496850332.jpg" alt="Anne Ryan Driscoll (right)." width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,960,960/269_1912405_682582264006_8756799307793601402_n.rev.1496850332.jpg 2x" data-max-w="960" data-max-h="960" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/675-anne-driscoll"><p> Anne Ryan Driscoll ’06 Honored for her Teaching and Research at Virginia Tech</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> A press release from Virginia Tech has announced the 2016 Dr. Carroll B. Shannon Excellence in Teaching Awards presented to faculty members in the College of Science and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.</p><p> Emory & Henry’s Anne Ryan Driscoll (’06) was among the honorees for her work in the Department of Statistics.</p><p> Anne majored in Mathematics and Physics at Emory & Henry and played basketball and tennis as a student athlete, and did all this while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Anne was a 3-time ODAC All-Academic selection and a 2-time ITA Scholar Athlete. She and her tennis teammates finished 2nd in both the ODAC regular season and in the ODAC Championship tournament in her junior year, where she played #5 singles and #3 doubles. Anne was also a member of Kappa Phi Alpha sorority and Sigma Mu Honor Society.</p><p> After graduation, Anne went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Statistics from Virginia Tech. She currently works as an Assistant Professor of Practice at Virginia Tech teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses in research and statistics. Anne has received other professional awards at Tech that honor her Outstanding Departmental Citizenship and twice was selected for an Excellence in Teaching award. She has published numerous scholarly articles related to research methodology and statistics. Additionally, Anne has collaborated on projects for the Department of Defense and with NASA.</p><p> An excerpt from the press release is listed below, and you may read the entire press release at the Virginia Tech webpage <a href="http://vtnews.vt.edu/content/vtnews_vt_edu/en/articles/2016/08/science-shannonteachingaward.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p><p> August 3, 2016 – Four Virginia Tech faculty with the <a href="http://liberalarts.vt.edu/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">College of Science and College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences</a> have received the 2016 Dr. Carroll B. Shannon Excellence in Teaching Award.</p><p> The awards were presented to: Anne Ryan Driscoll, an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Statistics; Michel Pleimling, a professor with the Department of Physics and director of the Academy of Integrated Science; and Gordon Yee, an associate professor with the Department of Chemistry, all in the College of Science; and Marian Mollin, an associate professor in the Department of History, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.</p><p><br/> The award is made possible by an endowment established by Peter and Carroll Shannon, of Wilmington, Delaware, and is given annually to College of Science and College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences faculty members who demonstrate outstanding teaching skills, innovative methods, and dedication to learning. The colleges once formed the College of Arts and Sciences, which split in 2002.</p><p><br/> “Virginia Tech gave me the opportunity to become someone who I would never have become if it had not been for the university,” said Peter Shannon, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 1969 with a general science degree and who named the award in honor of his wife, Carroll, an educator for her entire career.</p><p><br/> “Outstanding teachers have the opportunity to be change agents in the lives of students. They inspire a love of learning, encourage students to reach their potential and discover their career path,” said Carroll Shannon, who worked in education for the state of Delaware. “Most importantly, they guide students in becoming contributing members of society who will impact positively the lives of others.”</p><p><strong>Anne Driscoll</strong><br/> Since joining Virginia Tech’s faculty in 2011, Driscoll has taught eight courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the <a href="http://www.stat.vt.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Statistics</a>. She also has collaborated on projects for the U.S. Department of Defense and with NASA, and she chairs the department’s corporate partners program, which is a cooperative outreach venture that links the department with 11 different companies.</p><p> Of Driscoll’s nomination, the college committee said, “The committee was particularly impressed with the strength of your teaching’s impact on your students and their careers.” Her research focuses on statistical process control, health care surveillance, and industrial statistics.</p><p> She earned dual bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physics from Emory & Henry College in 2006, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in statistics from Virginia Tech in, respectively, 2007 and 2011. Her awards won at Virginia Tech include the Jesse C. Arnold Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2010-2011, and the Rose Costain Award for Outstanding Departmental Citizenship, 2010.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/675-anne-driscoll" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>