Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.46 GPA, 72.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.26 GPA, 58.8% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).
Spring 2027
Solid State Physics
Covers mechanical, thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of solids, including band theory, semiconductors, and crystal imperfections.
offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Benjamin Woods
Summary
1 / 6
Past student reviews · Mark Rzchowski
Homework was considered quite easy once students put in some thought, and tests were reasonable in difficulty.
What you’ll be able to do
Utilize ideas of atomic bonding to understand crystal lattice structures and reciprocal space
Use the reciprocal lattice to determine complex x-ray diffraction patterns
Become familiar with the calculation of simple phonon dispersion relations and use them to determine lattice thermal properties
Master the electronic properties of metals in the quantum free-electron model and distinguish insulators, metals, and semiconductors
Obtain the ability to calculate general band structures in the nearly-free electronic and tight-binding approximations
Analyze and calculate properties of bulk semiconductors and semiconductor junctions
Describe quantitatively ordered systems such as ferroelectrics, ferromagnets and superconductors
Understand the physics of superconducting junctions
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗ average GPA
746746 letter grades
A53.1%53.1%
AB26.0%26.0%
B18.0%18.0%
BC1.3%1.3%
C0.9%0.9%
D0.4%0.4%
F0.3%0.3%
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapPHYSICS 205, 241, 249, 448, 531,PHYSICS/E C E 235, or graduate/professional standing
- PHYSICS 205
- PHYSICS 241
- PHYSICS 249
- PHYSICS 448
- PHYSICS 531
- ECE/PHYSICS 235
- graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- PHYSICS 205
- PHYSICS 241
- PHYSICS 249
- PHYSICS 448
- PHYSICS 531
- ECE/PHYSICS 235
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027Historical instructors & teaching patterns
BENJAMIN WOODS is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARK RZCHOWSKI is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024. 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 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 43 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Mark Rzchowski
Past students found the solid-state physics material well-covered with clear lectures and self-contained notes.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.46 GPA, 72.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.69 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.26 GPA, 58.8% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Mark Rzchowski
Homework was considered quite easy once students put in some thought, and tests were reasonable in difficulty.
Past student reviews · Mark Rzchowski
A former student noted that Professor Rzchowski did a very good job covering the course materials.
Topics
- Properties of solids: mechanical, thermal, electric, and magnetic.
- Band theory and semiconductors.
- Crystal imperfections.
Skills
- Understanding crystal lattice structures and reciprocal space using atomic bonding concepts.
- Analyzing electronic properties of metals and distinguishing insulators, metals, and semiconductors.
- Calculating properties of bulk semiconductors and semiconductor junctions.
- Quantitatively describing ordered systems like ferroelectrics, ferromagnets, and superconductors.
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
A41.2%41.2%
AB17.6%17.6%
B23.5%23.5%
BC0.0%0.0%
C11.8%11.8%
D5.9%5.9%
F0.0%0.0%
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.
Selected offering source records
Solid State Physics
Recorded 2026-10-14Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:754:015654",
"course_id": "PHYSICS 551",
"course_uid": "course_f927cf89d32d2a8a10f47b03",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "015654",
"source_subject_id": "754",
"title": "Solid State Physics",
"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
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesDataset & model
View the dataset on Hugging Face Recorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "82fbdb92ec272ea9a48b2b011608da25d5dd7ea95f9087a7d7b915aa2221c093",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}