Fall 2026

Physics in the Arts

PHYSICS IN THE ARTS covers the physics of sound, musical fundamentals, and optics including photography and color.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Pupa Gilbert4.6/5Victor Brar3.5/5Hannah Erpenbeck +2 more

Summary

1 / 7

Homework is usually due weekly and relevant to exams, with TAs cited as helpful resources. Attending class is considered important, and using the textbook and labs aids understanding, though labs can be confusing.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A or special student standing. Not open to students with credit forPHYSICS 371.

      • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A
      • special student standing
      take one
    • not eligible with
    take all
PHYSICS 109

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • All of
    • Any of
      • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A
      • special student standing
    • Not eligible with

Professors

Fall 2026

Pupa Gilbert

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

Raw average: 4.68/5 from 150 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: 4.7/5 raw quality · 2.1/5 difficulty · 31 reviews

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

Pupa Gilbert is described as sweet, passionate, and clear, with reviewers noting her engaging lectures and helpful example problems. Some students found her hands-on approach and fun energy made the material accessible and interesting.

One reviewer found her self-invented terms annoying, while another criticized her condescending praise during lectures. A separate concern raised is that her TAs rarely respond to student emails.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 86.6% A/AB (n=186 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 84.5% A/AB (n=207 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 84.0% A/AB (n=169 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Victor Brar

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

Raw average: 3.27/5 from 11 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: 2.3/5 raw quality · 3.3/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

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

Victor Brar receives criticism for unclear expectations and confusing problem-solving demonstrations, with one reviewer finding his lectures rushed and lacking care. Another review notes that while he split-teached with Pupa Gilbert, his performance fell short of her quality.

In a different term, Brar split-teached with Professor Balantekin, where lecture slides were helpful and attendance was deemed critical. Homework was relevant to exams, and TAs were praised as the best resource, though labs were described as confusing.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.50 GPA, 74.7% A/AB (n=229 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.53 GPA, 79.0% A/AB (n=243 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 86.6% A/AB (n=186 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Carrie Francis: Carrie Francis receives mixed reviews; one student found her helpful and midterms easy, while others criticized her lectures as boring, confusing, and poorly aligned with labs. Multiple reviewers noted she fails to explain concepts well, forcing students to learn independently.

BRIAN REBEL is recorded teaching in Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CARRIE FRANCIS is recorded teaching in Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PUPA GILBERT is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SUSAN COPPERSMITH is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

VICTOR BRAR is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025. 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 Instruction113 / 1600
LEC 002Classroom Instruction49 / 1601
LAB 305Classroom Instruction19 / 240
LAB 306Classroom Instruction22 / 240
LAB 307Classroom Instruction24 / 241
LAB 308Classroom Instruction12 / 240
LAB 309Classroom Instruction12 / 240
LAB 310Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 311Classroom Instruction22 / 240
LAB 314Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 316Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 317Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 315Classroom Instruction16 / 240
LAB 301Classroom Instruction21 / 240
LAB 312Classroom Instruction14 / 240

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

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Reviewers describe Pupa Gilbert as sweet, passionate, and clear, noting her engaging lectures and helpfulness. One reviewer contrasts her positively with Victor Brar, stating he was not great while Gilbert was amazing.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 86.6% A/AB (n=186 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 84.5% A/AB (n=207 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 84.0% A/AB (n=169 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Homework is usually due weekly and relevant to exams, with TAs cited as helpful resources. Attending class is considered important, and using the textbook and labs aids understanding, though labs can be confusing.

Some students find Gilbert's invented terms or condescending praise annoying, and her TAs may be unresponsive. Brar's lectures are described as rushed and unclear, leading one student to skip class and self-study instead.

Topics

  • Sound and sound perception
  • Harmony, musical scales, and instruments
  • Light, lenses, photography, and color

Skills

  • Understanding sound perception
  • Understanding musical fundamentals
  • Understanding optics and color

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 · 0.12 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.

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Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 109 · Fall 2026

Physics in the Arts

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": "1272:754:015594",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 109",
    "course_uid": "course_36d9c27edb0bc1bf4e9c79a2",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015594",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Physics in the Arts",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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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": "7efe4631611e68907e17c6e38aa7df198c184bf54935f07e7c9f208bc7cf105c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}