Spring 2027

Mechanics

Advanced classical mechanics covering vector analysis, conservation laws, symmetry, rigid-body dynamics, and Lagrangian/Hamiltonian formalisms.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Alex Levchenko3.3/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Roman Kuzmin

Homework assignments were characterized as hard and long, contributing to the overall challenging nature of the class.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Use Newton's laws of motion to solve advanced problems involving the dynamic motion of classical mechanical systems.

  • Apply differential equations and other advanced mathematics to solve dynamic motion of classical mechanical systems.

  • Analyze and solve dynamics problems using conservation of energy and linear and angular momentum.

  • Calculate properties and behaviors of rigid body motion and motion of continuous media.

  • Derive the equations of motion for complicated mechanical systems using the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of classical mechanics.

  • Apply the Lagrangian formulation to analyze the motion of constrained systems.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(PHYSICS 202, 208, or 248) and (MATH 234, 321, or 376), or graduate/professional standing

PHYSICS 311 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

Alex Levchenko

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.94/5 from 18 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.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ANDREY CHUBUKOV is recorded teaching in Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ILYA ESTERLIS is recorded teaching in Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KEITH BECHTOL is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL TERRY is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROMAN KUZMIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 960
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 320
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 320
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 320

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

Past student reviews · Roman Kuzmin

Students described the course as well-structured with lectures that cover a lot of content, noting that they learned a lot despite the demanding pace.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.05 GPA, 42.3% A/AB (n=52 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.46 GPA, 75.6% A/AB (n=82 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.03 GPA, 45.9% A/AB (n=74 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Roman Kuzmin

Homework assignments were characterized as hard and long, contributing to the overall challenging nature of the class.

Past student reviews · Roman Kuzmin

One student found the course experience positive, stating that the structure supported learning effectively despite the difficulty of the assignments.

Topics

  • Conservation laws and symmetry principles
  • Orbit theory and rigid-body dynamics
  • Lagrange and Hamilton generalized-coordinate formalisms
  • Accelerated coordinate systems

Skills

  • Solve advanced classical mechanics problems using Newton's laws.
  • Apply differential equations and advanced mathematics to dynamic motion.
  • Analyze dynamics using conservation of energy and momentum.
  • Derive equations of motion using Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations.

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 · 0.20 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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

1280 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 311 · Spring 2027

Mechanics

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": "1274:754:015617",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 311",
    "course_uid": "course_aa45660f057a2b2997243229",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015617",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Mechanics",
    "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
Download part 1
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": "6f80ad0f8c3f781f9074918deeddfee9868137d7f8c6f385abba6b2d735067eb",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}