Fall 2026

General Physics

PHYSICS 104 is a general physics course covering electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics as a continuation of PHYSICS 103.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Benjamin Spike3.6/5Aarav MandeHassan Elsayed +6 more

Summary

1 / 7

Exams are high-stakes with no notes and minimal partial credit, while labs and homeworks involve significant busy work.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS 103, 201, 207, 247,E M A 201 or special student standing. Not open to students with credit forPHYSICS 202, 208, or 248.

PHYSICS 104 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

Fall 2026

Benjamin Spike

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.59/5 from 29 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.0/5 raw quality · 3.3/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Benjamin Spike knows the material well and lectures clearly, though he offers limited partial credit and maintains strict exams. His slower pace emphasizes key concepts, but the course setup encourages significant independent learning outside of class.

Benjamin Spike is knowledgeable but delivers dry, monotone lectures in large classes with minimal interaction. He provides limited accommodations for emergencies and offers little support beyond office hours, creating a frustrating experience despite his content expertise.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.08 GPA, 45.8% A/AB (n=336 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.25 GPA, 53.9% A/AB (n=347 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.16 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=366 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical instructor Daniel Thurs is praised for clear lectures and helpful office hours, though he requires significant weekly preparation. Historical instructor Ke Fang receives mixed reviews, with one student finding her explanations excellent while another found her lectures boring and confusing.

BENJAMIN SPIKE is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CARRIE FRANCIS is recorded teaching in Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DANIEL THURS is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DON REEDER is recorded teaching in Fall 2009. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KE FANG is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL TERRY is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Spring 2010. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PETER TIMBIE is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

WESLEY SMITH is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018. 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction224 / 2301
DIS 305Classroom Instruction21 / 240
DIS 307Classroom Instruction23 / 241
DIS 308Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 309Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 310Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 605Classroom Instruction21 / 240
LAB 607Classroom Instruction23 / 241
LAB 608Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 609Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 610Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 311Classroom Instruction20 / 240
LAB 611Classroom Instruction20 / 240
LEC 002Classroom Instruction162 / 2201
DIS 316Classroom Instruction23 / 240
LAB 616Classroom Instruction23 / 240
DIS 315Classroom Instruction22 / 240
LAB 615Classroom Instruction22 / 240
DIS 304Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 604Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 317Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 617Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 318Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 618Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 319Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 619Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 320Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 620Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 321Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 621Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 322Classroom Instruction13 / 240
LAB 622Classroom Instruction13 / 240
DIS 312Classroom Instruction24 / 240
DIS 313Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 612Classroom Instruction24 / 240
LAB 613Classroom Instruction24 / 240

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Benjamin Spike is knowledgeable and lectures at a manageable pace, but the course is difficult with strict grading and limited accommodations.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.07 GPA, 43.3% A/AB (n=577 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.16 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=366 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.10 GPA, 44.2% A/AB (n=566 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Exams are high-stakes with no notes and minimal partial credit, while labs and homeworks involve significant busy work.

Lectures emphasize key concepts but can be dry and monotone, and instructor accessibility outside of office hours is very limited.

Topics

  • Electricity and magnetism
  • Light and optics
  • Modern physics

Skills

  • Understanding principles of electricity, magnetism, light, optics, and modern physics

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.07 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 104 · Fall 2026

General Physics

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:754:015590",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 104",
    "course_uid": "course_0a6dafcdaeb7c047d94f694f",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015590",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "General Physics",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "39a8fc6670194542a45fa87d14cb6713cd00b64352794ba65d76a54100c8849a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}