Department of Physics
The Physics Department offers courses in mechanics, electrodynamics, optics, and astrophysics, plus courses in meteorology and aerodynamics.
Students who choose a career in physics are generally superior students, excelling both in the classroom and in the many other activities at The Citadel. Many of our majors have aspirations to become professional physicists in industry, research, engineering or education. Cadets who intend to become submarine officers, Air Force pilots, etc., are often advised to major in physics in order to better prepare themselves for such military careers. In any case, physics is considered to be the most fundamental and important of disciplines, and to be of value to all other sciences. Indeed, the methods of analytical and rational reasoning which form the basis of its content are hallmarks of human intellect and have applications in all realms of life.
Our faculty takes care to know each Physics major personally and be of assistance where appropriate. Partly for this purpose, we sponsor a chapter of the national Society of Physics Students (SPS). We have set aside a Physics workroom within the department domain for club activities, and another as a quiet room for reading (Physics Library). Club members have been involved in high altitude balloon atmospheric and cosmic ray research, designing and building trebuchets, and building robots. Physics students who excel at The Citadel are inducted into our chapter of the physics honorary society, Sigma Pi Sigma and the honor society, Phi Kappa Phi.
We believe our physics department at The Citadel has much to offer a serious student. We are dedicated to sound and thorough undergraduate teaching, and we provide a strong curriculum and a quality faculty as well as excellent student/faculty ratios. The number of students per class is kept at a minimum so that students may have more direct exchange with instructors. The disciplined environment at The Citadel is also conducive to good scholarship and study habits.
Our faculty is particularly strong in the areas of aerodynamics, space physics, particle physics, and meteorology. One of our department members has been involved in the recent search for water on the moon. The department has a wind tunnel that has been used to study the lift and drag in airfoils and sports balls, and has also constructed a supersonic wind tunnel. All of your courses are taught by professors. The faculty in our department has Ph.D.’s from such schools as Caltech and Princeton.
Grimsley Hall provides our department with modern classrooms, laboratories, and research facilities, all conveniently located together with ancillary equipment, including a student computer room.
The Citadel offers a wide range of opportunities to its students in an effort to enhance the complete individual, and we encourage you to take full advantage of the many aspects of learning available here. You will find the climate and beauty of the Charleston area unsurpassed. We believe there is no better place to live, nor nicer weather to enjoy, than Charleston throughout the academic year.
Should you choose The Citadel for your undergraduate education, we look forward to further explaining the advantages of our programs to you.
