PHYSCI 7
Science and Food: Physical and Molecular Origins of What We Eat
Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two and one half hours. Preparation: high school chemistry, mathematics, physics. What makes lettuce crispy and some cuts of meat chewier than others? Exploration of origins of food texture and flavor, using concepts in physical sciences to explain macroscopic properties such as elasticity and phase behavior, as well as physiological role of food molecules in plants and animals we eat. Letter grading.
Course statistics
- Predicted GPA
- 3.54
- n = 81 · 2 terms · ± 0.056
- A range
- 67%
- of letter grades
- Taken P/NP
- 0%
- — of those passed
- D / F / W
- 3.7%
- incl. withdrawals
Sections in Fall 2026
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.
- 3922S
- 4223S
Grade distribution
- A+ 29 · 35.8%
- A 17 · 21.0%
- A- 8 · 9.9%
- B+ 6 · 7.4%
- B 10 · 12.3%
- B- 4 · 4.9%
- C+ 2 · 2.5%
- C 2 · 2.5%
- D+ 2 · 2.5%
- F 1 · 1.2%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMBERY, CATHERINE ELIZABETH | 3.53 | 3.52 | 81 | 2 | 67% |
“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
- 22S 3.35 n=39
- 23S 3.69 n=42