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Dibs Fall 2026

PHYSICS 5A

Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Mechanics and Energy

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, two hours. Requisites: Life Sciences 30A, 30B, or Mathematics 3A, 3B, 3C (3C may be taken concurrently). Statics and dynamics of forces, motion, energy, including thermal energy, with applications to biological and biochemical systems. P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.38
n = 6,938 · 15 terms · ± 0.007
A range
60%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
0%
65% of those passed
D / F / W
4.2%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Sections offered, with live enrollment and predicted GPA
Section Status Enrolled Seat risk Meets Instructor Predicted GPA
Lec 1 Open
244 of 275
89% full
 could fill TR 8:00am-9:15am Tung, N.C.
3.39n=2,242 · this instructor
Lec 2 Open
252 of 273
92% full
 could fill TR 9:30am-10:45am Tung, N.C.
3.39n=2,242 · this instructor
Lec 3 Open
254 of 274
93% full
 could fill TR 2:00pm-3:15pm Gutperle, M.
3.38n=6,938 · course average
Lec 4 Open
260 of 278
94% full
 could fill TR 3:30pm-4:45pm Gutperle, M.
3.38n=6,938 · course average

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 19021F
  • 18622W
  • 17022S
  • 18122F
  • 18323W
  • 17123S
  • 19723F
  • 18724W
  • 18324S
  • 18424F
  • 18425W
  • 18125S
Enrolment by term: 21F 190, 22W 186, 22S 170, 22F 181, 23W 183, 23S 171, 23F 197, 24W 187, 24S 183, 24F 184, 25W 184, 25S 181
Peak 197 Most recent 181 in 25S 12 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A+ 728 · 10.4%
  • A 2,695 · 38.6%
  • A- 770 · 11.0%
  • B+ 626 · 9.0%
  • B 629 · 9.0%
  • B- 465 · 6.7%
  • C+ 298 · 4.3%
  • C 287 · 4.1%
  • C- 152 · 2.2%
  • D+ 53 · 0.8%
  • D 89 · 1.3%
  • D- 50 · 0.7%
  • F 96 · 1.4%
  • P 15 · 0.2%
  • NP 8 · 0.1%
  • I 26 · 0.4%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
TUNG, NATHAN C 3.39 3.39 2,242 8 62%
BAUER, DAVID JEFFREY 3.16 3.16 1,689 7 47%
SCHRIVER, DAVID 3.87 3.87 1,286 4 88%
HUANG, HUAN Z 3.07 3.06 1,086 6 44%
ROMBES III, NICHOLAS DEMETRIOS 3.39 3.39 477 2 58%
MCKEOWN, DANIEL FREDERICK 3.80 3.84 158 1 90%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term