Course Requirements for B.S. in Biophysics

The following is a nearly complete outline of the course requirements for the Biophysics degree. Students should consult the ISU catalog for the complete details of all the requirements in the major.

Biochemistry Courses
BBMB 101 (1 credit) Introduction to Biochemical Activities

Career opportunities in biochemistry. Current research in biochemistry and an introduction to structure-function of biochemical compounds.

BBMB 461 (2 credits) Topics in Biophysics

Biological phenomena viewed as problems in physics, with a focus on structure determinations and macromolecular characterization.
or

BBMB 551 (3 credits) Molecular Biophysics

An examination of physical methods for the study of molecular structure and organization of biological materials, with emphasis on applications. Spectroscopy, hydrodynamic methods, nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-ray diffraction.

CHEMISTRY COURSES
CHEM 177 (4 credits) and CHEM 178 (3 credits) General Chemistry I and II

Principles and quantitative relationships, stoichiometry, chemical equilibrium, acid-base chemistry, thermochemistry, rates and mechanism of reactions, changes of state, solution behavior, atomic structure, periodic relationships, chemical bonding. Electro-chemistry, acid-base equilibria, thermodynamics, nuclear chemistry, and descriptive topics (non-metals, transition metals, coordination compounds, organic compounds, polymers, biological molecules).

CHEM 177L (1 credit) Laboratory in General Chemistry

Laboratory to accompany CHEM 177.

CHEM 210 (2 credits) Quantitative Analysis

Theory and practice of elementary volumetric,chromatographic, electrochemical and spectrometric methods of analysis. Chemical equilibrium, sampling, and data evaluation.

CHEM 331 and CHEM 332 (3 credits each) Organic Chemistry I and II

Modern organic chemistry including nomenclature, synthesis, structure and bonding, reaction mechanisms, natural products, carbohydrates and proteins.

CHEM 321 and CHEM 322 (3 credits each) Physical Chemistry I and II

Classical thermodynamics 1st, 2nd, and 3rd laws with applications to gases and interfacial systems, multicomponent, multiphase equilibrium of reacting systems, surface chemistry, and electrochemical cells. Kinetic theory of gases; transport properties, chemical kinetics; quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular structure, spectroscopy, statistical thermodynamics, solids.

CHEM 321L (2 credits) Laboratory in Physical Chemistry for Engineers

Error analysis; use of computer; thermodynamics of gases; transport properties; thermochemistry; thermodynamics of phase equilibrium; chemical kinetics; polymers; mass spectrometry.
or

CHEM 322L. (3 credits) Laboratory in Physical Chemistry

Error analysis; use of computer; thermodynamics of gases; transport properties; thermochemistry; thermodynamics of phase equilibrium; chemical kinetics; polymers; molecular spectroscopy; x-ray crystallography; nuclear chemistry; surface chemistry; mass spectrometry.

MATHEMATICS COURSES
MATH 165 and MATH 166 (4 credits each) Calculus I and II

Functions, limits, continuity, differentiation, derivatives of vector-valued functions, applications of derivatives. Integration, applications of the integral, matrices, differentiation of functions of several variables.

MATH 265 (4 credits) Calculus III

Multiple integrals, vector fields and vector integrals, sequences and series.

MATH 266 (3 credits) Elementary Differential Equations

Solution methods for ordinary differential equations. First order equations, linear equations, constant coefficient equations. Elgenvalue methods for systems of first order linear equations. Introduction to stability and phase plane analysis.

PHYSICS COURSES
PHYS 221 and PHYS 222 (5 credits each) Introduction to Classical Physics I and II

Elementary mechanics including kinematics and dynamics of particles, work and energy, linear and angular momentum, conservation laws, rotational motion, oscillations, gravitation. Electric forces and fields. Electrical currents; DC circuits. Magnetic forces and fields: LR, LC, LCR circuits; Maxwell's equations; waves and sound; ray optics and image formation; wave optics: heat, thermodynamics, kinetic theory of gases; topics in modern physics. Laboratories are included.

PHYS 232 (1 credit) Computational Skills of Physics

Development of skills in the use of software and computational equipment essential to physicists and other scientists.
or

COM S 207 (3 credits) Programming I

An introduction to computer programming using an object-oriented programming language.

PHYS 321 (3 credits) Introduction to Modern Physics I

Quantum nature of matter: photons, Bohr model of hydrogen, deBroglie wavelength of matter. Schrödinger wave equation in one dimension: energy quantization; detailed solutions for potential steps, barriers and wells. One-electron atoms, spin, and transition rates; x-ray and optical excitations of multi-electron atoms.
or

PHYS 324 (3 credits) Elementary Modern Physics
* Quantization of light and energy, Schrödinger equation, atomic physics, molecular structure and spectra, properties of solids, the nuclear atom, nuclear fission and fusion. Nonmajor graduate credit.

BIOLOGY COURSES
BIOL 201 and BIOL 202 (3 credits) Principles of Biology I and II

Introduction to the nature of life, including the cellular basis of life; the nature of heredity; evolution; diversity of microbial, plant, and animal life; form and function of microbial, plant, and animal life; principles of ecology; energy relationships.

BIOL 201L or BIOL 202L (1 credit) Biology Laboratory

Laboratory to accompany one of the biology courses

ELECTIVES
Nine additional credits in courses numbered above 300 are required in biochemistry, biophysics, biological sciences, chemistry, or physics. Students preparing for careers in molecular biophysics are encouraged to use the following courses to meet this requirement.

BBMB 404 and BBMB 405 (3 cr. ea.) General Biochemistry

Fundamental, rigorous treatment of biochemistry. Structure of amino acids, structure and function of proteins, enzyme kinetics, enzyme mechanisms, structure of carbohydrates, structure of lipids, structure of nucleic acids, metabolism of carbohydrates, metabolism of lipids, metabolism of amino acids, biosynthesis of DNA and replication, the genetic code, translation and protein biosynthesis, and hormone action.

BIOL 301 (3 credits) Principles of Genetics

Introduction to the principles of transmission and molecular genetics of plants, animals, and bacteria. Recombination, structure and replication of DNA, gene expression, cloning, quantitative and population genetics.

OTHER RECOMMENDED COURES
BBMB 499 (variable) Undergraduate Research

Direct participation as an investigator in one of the Department's research laboratories.

MATH 385 (3 credits) Introduction to Partial Differential Equations

Separation of variables methods for elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic partial differential equations. Fourier series, Sturm-Liouville theory, Bessel functions, and spherical harmonics.

MATH 465 (4 credits) Advanced Calculus for Applied Mathematics

Frequently applied concepts from multivariable calculus, presented with enough theory to promote understanding of applications. Topics may include derivative matrices, Taylor polynomials, curvilinear coordinates, Green's theorem, divergence theorem, Stokes's theorem, uniform convergence, operations on series and integrals, improper integrals.

COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS
All majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences require two semesters of English (ENG 104 and ENG 105), and approximately 8 elective courses distributed in the categories of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Communications. Two semesters of foreign language are required of students who have not taken three or more years of language in high school. More information.