Spring 2027

Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering

Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering covering properties of nuclei, structure, radioactivity, reactions, fission, resonance reactions, and neutron moderation.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 7

Past student reviews · Douglass Henderson

Homework assignments involved a significant amount of math, while exams were more conceptual and typically included one large math problem.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Solve steady wave mechanics problems beginning from the appropriate form of Schrodinger’s equation

  • Describe the Semi Empirical Mass Formula as well as the features of the “binding energy/nucleon” curve

  • Explain why the “magic numbers” of nuclear physics differ from those of atomic physics

  • Explain the correlation between the half-lives for alpha-decay and the Q-value

  • Describe the energy spectrum of beta-decay

  • List the different absorption mechanism of gamma-rays

  • Compare the kinematics of elastic scattering with that of charged particle scattering

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS 205, 241, or 249, or graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

NE 305 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DOUGLASS LARRY HENDERSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2012. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Douglass Henderson

The course featured small class sizes and an instructor who was interested in students, creating an engaging learning environment.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 2.89 GPA, 40.7% A/AB (n=27 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.29 GPA, 51.4% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.17 GPA, 51.9% A/AB (n=27 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Douglass Henderson

Homework assignments involved a significant amount of math, while exams were more conceptual and typically included one large math problem.

Past student reviews · Douglass Henderson

Students described the instructor as interesting and the class as cool, noting a positive overall experience.

Topics

  • Nuclear properties, structure, and radioactivity.
  • Nuclear reactions, fission, and resonance reactions.
  • Neutron moderation.
  • Wave mechanics and Schrodinger's equation applications.
  • Semi Empirical Mass Formula and binding energy.
  • Nuclear magic numbers.
  • Alpha-decay half-lives and Q-values.
  • Beta-decay energy spectra.

Skills

  • Solving steady wave mechanics problems using Schrodinger's equation.
  • Describing the Semi Empirical Mass Formula and binding energy curves.
  • Explaining differences between nuclear and atomic magic numbers.
  • Correlating alpha-decay half-lives with Q-values.
  • Describing beta-decay energy spectra.
  • Identifying gamma-ray absorption mechanisms.
  • Comparing elastic and charged particle scattering kinematics.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "5783850ec3145a5f6a27bb1db8bcaa59f72ec94cea3a0a130a2f6ea824950363",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}