Q: What can you do with a physics degree?
A: With a graduate degree you can work for high-tech industry, a government lab, or a college/university. With an undergraduate degree, there are many possibilities; I got my bachelor's degree along with a police officer, a patent attorney, and a medical physicist.
Q: Can we do the Schrodinger's cat experiment?
A: No.
Q: Why are you dressed like a slob?
A: Because I like to be comfortable.
Q: Why don't you have a PhD?
A: Because low-paid research isn't fun enough for me.
Q: Why do you prefer to be called Erik?
A: Because I don't see a point in emphasizing a hierarchy in the classroom or forcing displays of respect. I hope to earn your respect by demonstrating my expertise in physics and teaching. But you are welcome to call me whatever you want (within reason).
Q: Can you give me a study guide?
A: Yes, see the relevant tip sheet.
Q: How do you solve for _______?
A: It depends. There is no single way to solve for anything in physics. It always depends upon the physical situation and the data you are given. For example, acceleration could be determined in these ways:
Deduced as free fall (ay = -9.8 m/s2)
Calculated using a variety of kinematics equations
Calculated using net force and mass with Newton's second law
Q: Can you tell me what's going to be on the quiz or final?
A: Not really. Anything in the chapters(s) covered by the test is fair game. And you might need to use some skills and knowledge from previous chapters.
Q: Are you writing backwards when you make lightboard videos?
A: No, I flip the video horizontally.
Q: Why do you get mad when people say g = -9.8 m/s^2?
A: Because it's not true; g = 9.8 m/s^2.
Q: Why do you get mad when people say g = "gravity"?
A: Because it's not true. Gravity is the phenomenon, not this particular variable. Call it "little g", "gravitational field strength", or "magnitude of free-fall acceleration."
Q: Why don't you allow photos of monitors?
A: Because screenshots are better. Photos of monitors are very grainy, include reflections, and are not professional.
Q: What are your favorite areas of physics?
A: Physics education research is the most interesting to me, simply because it is relevant to my job. I like reading about astrophysics, though my educational background in this is not strong. For the topics we cover in the classes I teach, I am probably strongest in thermodynamics.
Q: How do I tell if another instructor is any good?
A: Consider doing these things:
Email them and ask for a syllabus before the term starts. If you get it (or one from a previous term) in a reasonable amount of time and it looks informative, then this is a good sign that they are organized.
Look into how lectures are structured. If it is almost entirely student-led discussion, then you might have a lazy instructor. If it is almost entirely lecturing with you passively taking notes, then you might have an instructor who doesn't know or care about active learning. Of course these are broad generalizations and will depend on the subject.
See how grading is done. If it is based on just a few papers or high-stakes exams, then you are unlikely to get regular and substantive feedback on your work.
Talk to other students, but have a filter. An instructor will be popular if they are charismatic and give easy grades. These don't necessarily correlate with learning. Avoid an instructor if they are lazy, disorganized, grumpy, or not very bright.
Q: I am not a student of yours, but can I share my new physics theory/experiment with you?
A: Yes. But it would be very helpful if you could summarize your findings before asking me to read a lengthy paper and dig into the details. A good theoretical physics paper should ideally generate specific, novel testable predictions or at least provide mathematical simplicity for existing predictions. Otherwise, it is just mathematical/philosophical navel-gazing. A good experimental physics paper should provide unique measurements. If you can't provide a summary that includes something like this, then there is probably no point in going further.
Q: What are your favorite sportsball teams?
A: I like the Portland Timbers (soccer), Portland Trailblazers (basketball), and Minnesota Vikings (football) for pro teams competing nationally. I support most of the Chemeketa teams plus both OSU and U of O. I like the Salem basketball team (Salem Capitals). And I like South Salem High School (where I went) and North Salem High School (where my kids went).
Q: What were things like in the 1980s?
A: The movie The Breakfast Club does a pretty nice job of capturing the youth culture of the time at my high school, albeit exagerrated. People could be pretty mean; there was not a lot of tolerance for people who were different and it was probably pretty awful for some (though I had a generally good experience). If you played D&D or liked computers (like me), then you had to hide it to avoid ridicule. Most people recognized that racism was wrong, but it was definitely there. And pretty much every other "ism" you can imagine was on full display without apology. The AIDS epidemic really brought out some incredible cruelty that is hard to fathom in retrospect. Homophobia wasn't a commonly used word, but I observed it almost every day.
There was no streaming and even watching taped movies was a special treat. Most people had a choice of 5 or so channels unless you were lucky and had cable. When I was young I got to watch my favorite movie (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) the one time per year it was televised. You had one phone line and you maybe carried around a quarter in case you needed to call someone at a pay phone. There was more wandering around on foot or by bike without adults present. The arcades were really fun as the home video games were pretty primitive (Pong and Atari). Radio stations and record stores were very influential in shaping the music scene (no YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Music). People often played multiple sports instead of specializing early as they do now. And more people participated either formally or informally (meeting at the park was common). Downtown Salem would smell bad at times when the paper mill (at the location of Riverfront Park) would emit some chemicals. Eating out was a pretty uncommon treat, even though my family had a decent income. Photography was much more expensive and cumbersome. Fact checking was tough without the internet; you had to dig through an encyclopedia or go to the library. Some of us were scared of World War 3 as things were very tense with the Soviet Union. You (and everyone else) got news from a half hour on TV at night or reading the newspaper in the morning. So you couldn't insulate yourself with like-minded people as tends to happen today.