Physical Sciences
Associate of Science Degree Chemistry · San Diego Mesa College · 2026-2027 Catalog
Summary
Physical Sciences is a multidisciplinary program promoting an appreciation for various disciplines such as physics, chemistry, astronomy and earth sciences by exposing students to various methodologies.
Award Note: The Associate Degree requires a minimum of 60 degree applicable semester units.
Learning Outcome(s): Students who complete the Physical Sciences Program will be able to:
- Clearly communicate scientific principles, experimental results, and their implications.
- Apply conceptual and mathematical tools to correctly predict the future state of physical systems.
- Use proportional reasoning and graphical analysis to establish and analyze relationships between measured quantities.
Requirements
| Course | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| COURSES REQUIRED FOR THE MAJOR: | 4 | |
| GEOL 100 | Physical Geology | 3 |
| GEOL 101 | Physical Geology Laboratory | 1 |
| At least 4 units from the following: | 4 | |
| ASTR 101 | Descriptive Astronomy | 3 |
| ASTR 102 | Exploring The Solar System And Life Beyond The Earth | 3 |
| ASTR 109 | Practice in Observing | 1 |
| ASTR 111 | Astronomy Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 104 | Earth Science | 3 |
| GEOL 120 | Earth Science Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 130 | Field Geology of San Diego County | 4 |
| PHYN 114 | Weather and Climate | 3 |
| At least 8 units from the following: | 8 | |
| CHEM 100 | Fundamentals of Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 100L | Fundamentals of Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 130 | Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 130L | Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 152 | Introduction to General Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 152L | Introduction to General Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 200 | General Chemistry I - Lecture | 3 |
| CHEM 200L | General Chemistry I - Laboratory | 2 |
| CHEM 201 | General Chemistry II - Lecture | 3 |
| CHEM 201L | General Chemistry II - Laboratory | 2 |
| At least 3 units from the following: | 3 | |
| GEOG 101 | Physical Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 101L | Physical Geography Laboratory | 1 |
| At least 8 units from the following: | 8 | |
| PHYS 100 | Introductory Physics | 4 |
| PHYS 125 | General Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 126 | General Physics II | 5 |
| PHYS 195 | Mechanics | 5 |
| PHYS 196 | Electricity and Magnetism | 5 |
| PHYS 197 | Waves, Optics and Modern Physics | 5 |
| At least 8 units from the following: | 8 | |
| MATH 104 | Trigonometry | 3 |
| MATH 118 | Quantitative Reasoning | 3 |
| STAT C1000 | Introduction to Statistics | 3 |
| orPSYC 258 | Behavioral Science Statistics | 3 |
| MATH 141 | Precalculus | 5 |
| MATH 150 | Calculus with Analytic Geometry I | 5 |
| MATH 151 | Calculus with Analytic Geometry II | 4 |
| MATH 252 | Calculus with Analytic Geometry III | 4 |