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Preparing for the Physics Subject GRE Test
The Society of Physics Students in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Studies, have put
together a FREE GRE preparation course for OSU Undergraduates.
The idea is to provide materials
and course structure that will help students prepare for the Physics GRE Subject Test,
as efficiently as possible
over the period from August 9 th thru early November 2007. This web page will be the primary
source for materials, schedules, and links to solutions.
Information regarding the GRE subject test in physics:
- The test consists of 100 multiple choice questions.
- Students have 170 minutes to complete the test. Only a pencil (not mechanical)
is allowed - no calculators.
- Official GRE Website
- Past sample exams provided by the GRE testing service are available on the
web. These tests have been collected and are available below.
| IMPORTANT GRE DATES |
| Registration Deadline |
GRE Subject Test Date |
Scores Reported |
| August 31, 2007 |
October 6, 2007 |
November 16, 2007 |
| September 28, 2007 |
November 3, 2007 |
December 14, 2007 |
| March 7, 2008 |
April 12, 2008 |
May 23, 2008 |
Materials for the GRE Prep course: Based on last year's prep course, students recommend the following materials -
- Purchase a copy of "The Physics Companion" by A.C. Fischer-Cripps. This is available via amazon.com for about $20.00. (SPS does have some of these available to loan)
- Physics by Halliday and Resnick. Any edition. If you don't have this available to you, any introductory textbook will work.
Some details regarding the GRE Prep course:
- The course will meet twice a week for 1 hour sessions over approximately 10 weeks.
- The sessions will be in Smith Lab, room 1048, on Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. with the exception of mock test dates
- The course begins Thursday, August 9th with an informational meeting.
- The first mock exam will be Saturday, August 11th from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
- Course format will be explained at the informational meeeting.
- Sample tests, administered under test-like conditions, will occur during the course to prepare you for the actual test.
Contact Information for SPS Officers running the course:
| Course Schedule (will be updated as the course
proceeds) |
| Date |
Time |
Exam |
Problems (Click on them for PDF) |
Topic and Suggested Reading |
Solution Set (PDF) |
| Aug. 9 |
5:30-6:30pm |
Introduction; |
Course info |
Course info |
NA |
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August 11, 2007 Practice Test in Room 1048 Smith Labs
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. |
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| Aug. 13 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
4,5,6,7,8,19,39,40,41,42,43 |
Mechanics: Lagrangians, Newtonian, Graviation, Small Osc., Torque, Fourier Series, Rotating Bodies |
Solutions |
| Aug. 16 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
2,3,14,23,24,25,26,30,31,37,38 |
Thermodynamics: Fermi Temperature and Energy, Blackbody Radiation, x-ray diffraction, Bohr Atom, Nuclear Decay, Spectroscopic Notation, Lorentz Transformations |
Solutions |
| Aug. 20 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
9,10,11,12,13,18,32,33,34,36,54 |
E&M: Capacitors, Resistor Circuits, Faradays Law, Amperes Law, Maxwells Equations, Image |
Sols (PDF) |
| Aug. 23 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
20,21,22,35,67,68,96,16,46,47,62,63,64 |
Optics: Interference, Diffraction, Thin Film, Path Length, Lens Equation, Diffraction, Polarization. Thermo: Carnot Cycle, PV Diagrams, Critical Isotherms, Isothermal/Adiabatic Expansion.i |
Sols(PDF) |
| Aug. 27 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
1,27,28,29,50,51,52,53,56,89,98,99 |
Quantum: Free Particle, Postulates of QM, Properties of Wavefunctions, Commutators, Harmonic Osc, Well Problem. |
Sols (PDF) |
| Aug. 30 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
48,49,58,59,60,69,70,71,72,73,75 |
Modern/Experiment: Propagation of Errors, Bohr Model, Boltzman Statistics, Second Law of Thermo, Synchrotron Radiation |
Sols (PDF) |
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Deadline to register for Oct. 6 Test |
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| | Sept. 3 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
44,45,61,66,74,78,82,87,93,100 |
Mechanics: Lagrangians, Small Oscillations, Rotations |
Sols(PDF) |
| Sept. 6 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
15,17,78,77,80,85,90,92,94,95,97 |
Grab bag: Equipartition Theorem, Spin, Electron Configurations, Relativistic Momentum, Lorentz Transformations, Nuclear Decay. |
Sols(PDF) |
| Sept. 10 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9277 |
55,57,64,65,79,81,82,84,86,88,92 |
Faraday's Law, Potential, Index of refraction, RLC Circuit, Coulomb Force Law |
Sols (PDF) |
| Sept. 13 - Sept. 20 | 5:30-6:30pm |
OPEN |
Study for Mock Test |
Review Exam GR9277 |
NA |
| | |
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September 22, 2007 Practice Test in Room 1048 Smith Labs
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. |
|
| Sept. 24 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
1,2,3,4,19,24,25,26,43,46,47,49 |
Electricity and Magnetism: Capacitors, Faraday's Law, Potentials, Electrostatics, RLC Circuits, Relativistic E & M |
Sols 5(PDF) |
| Sept. 27 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
5,6,7,20,21,22,23,30,31,32,44,65 |
Mechanics: Energy conservation, Physical Pendulum, nonconservative forces, conservation of momentum, Force Body Diagrams |
Sols8(PDF) |
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September 28, 2007 Last Day to Register for Nov. 3 Test |
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| Oct. 1 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
13,14,15,16,73,54,55,56,57,27,28,29 |
Thermodynamics, Optics, and Experimental: Diffraction, Refraction, Relativistic Momentum, Adiabatic Expansion, Heat Conduction |
Sols(PDF) |
| Oct. 4 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
17,18,33,51,52,76,77,97,98,99,100 |
Quantum: Postulates of Quantum, Time Independent Schrodinger Equation, Infinite Square Well Problems, Rigid Rotor Problem (Spherical Harmonics), Free Particles, Uncertainty Principle, Coupled Systems, Harmonic Oscillator, Operator Algebra, Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory |
Sols(PDF) |
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October 6, 2007 GRE SUBJECT TEST DATE |
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| Oct. 8 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
8,9,10,11,12,34,35,36,37,38,39,40 |
Modern, Nuclear, Particle, Atomic Physics: Harmonic Oscillator (Quantum and Classical); Bohr Atom; Rydberg Atom; Fermions, Bosons; Rest mass; Relativistic Energy and Momentum; Particle Physics; Stern-Gerlach |
Sols(PDF) |
| Oct. 11 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
61,62,69,70,71,86,87,88,89 |
Electricity and Magnetism: Gauss's Law; Capacitors; Ampere's Law; Lorentz Force; Faraday's Law |
Sols(PDF) |
|
| Oct. 15 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
66,68,80,81,83,84,85,92,93 |
Mechanics: Lagrangians, waves, small oscillations, effective potentials, Normal Modes of Oscillations |
Sols(PDF) |
| Oct. 18 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
74,75,79,91,94,58,59,60,82,45,72 |
Thermodynamics, Optics, Experimental: Entropy, Second Law of Thermo, Heat Transfer,Specific Heat, Partition Functions, Lens Equations, Feedback Circuits, Thin Film Optics, Relativistic Doppler Shift, Lasers |
Sols(PDF) |
|
| Oct. 22 | 5:30-6:30pm |
GR9677 |
41,42,48,50,53,63,64,67,78,95,96 |
Nuclear, Modern, Atomic, Particles: Term Notation, Photoelectric Effect, Lorentz Transformations, Elementary Particles, Solid State Physics, Schwartzchild Radius |
Sols(PDF) |
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November 3, 2007 GRE SUBJECT TEST DATE |
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Sample GRE Exams
A resource for GRE solutions can be found here. We have skimmed the solutions but do not guarantee their "correctness". These solutions have been provided as a free resource however the creator would appreciate a small donation to facilitate maintenance and continued availability of the solutions. If you would like to make a small donation, go to here.
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