Spring 2027

Energy and Climate

Introduction to energy sources and environmental impacts, applying mechanics, heat, electricity, and nuclear physics to fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear energy.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 John Sarff3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · John Sarff

The class was described as very math-heavy, but students noted it was not hard if they completed the homework and attended discussion sessions.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Qualitatively describe and quantitatively analyze the physics behind energy technologies and their impacts, including climate change

  • Apply foundational physics concepts to solve quantitative problems regarding energy use in society

  • Critically assess and discuss current issues in energy and climate, and how these issues are reported in the news

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A. Not open to students with credit forPHYSICS 103, 201, 207, or 247.

PHYSICS 115

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.75/5 from 4 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.

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

Past student reviews · John Sarff

Professor John Sarff taught Physics 115 with a broad, engaging focus on energy and climate, using demos and real-world connections. Students found the math manageable and the atmosphere relaxed, noting that topics were covered extensively but not deeply. He was described as willing to help and effective at explaining concepts.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.38 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.52 GPA, 79.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Hakki Ogelman, Justin Vandenbroucke

Past students found Hakki Ogelman’s section generous, with no final and cheat sheets allowed on midterms. Justin Vandenbroucke’s section included 2 midterms and a final worth 75%, with weekly problem sets. One student found his lectures tedious, while another appreciated his helpful office hours and supportive approach.

HAKKI OGELMAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOHN SARFF is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2022, Fall 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.

JUSTIN VANDENBROUCKE is recorded teaching in Spring 2014, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021. 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

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 00

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

Past student reviews · John Sarff

Professor Sarff taught a broad overview of energy and climate using engaging demonstrations and real-world connections. Students found the math and physics concepts easy to pick up in this interesting course.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.38 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.52 GPA, 79.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · John Sarff

The class was described as very math-heavy, but students noted it was not hard if they completed the homework and attended discussion sessions.

Past student reviews · John Sarff

Students appreciated Professor Sarff's willingness to work with them, noting the material became a bit heavy towards the end of the term.

Topics

  • Energy sources and environmental impacts
  • Physics principles: mechanics, heat, electricity, atomic nuclei
  • Fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear energy

Skills

  • Qualitative description and quantitative analysis of energy technology physics
  • Application of foundational physics concepts to solve quantitative energy problems
  • Critical assessment and discussion of current energy and climate issues

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— 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 Spring 2026

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

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

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 115 · Spring 2027

Energy and Climate

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:754:015595",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 115",
    "course_uid": "course_8f18f98dbf0c944ea0381465",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015595",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Energy and Climate",
    "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 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "514734d6bdd878b7eef799335ed0a89a91e0db1f42b71462a57c6fc2d3bcb666",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}