This was my first upper level physics course and it was a good stepping stone into upper level physics. I sadly had this course when Covid hit and everything went online so I didn't do as good as I could but I did well given the circumstances.

The course basically goes over everything you learn in general physics 1 but goes more in depth into the material mathematically and proves why the equations are what they are. You do end up learning some new stuff at the end. It starts with a brief review on Newtonian mechanics and then delves into air resistance. Then center of mass, linear and angular momentum, energy and conservative forces, harmonic motion, calculus of variations, and Lagrangian mechanics.

Dr. Matcheva was very passionate about the course and she was a great lecturer. She's also very nice and takes the time to explain things to you in office hours. I don't think she transitioned well to online learning, but that was tough for everyone.

THE most important thing you'll learn in this class is harmonic motion. It shows up EVERYWHERE in your future physics classes so make sure you pay attention to that bit.