Circuits and Electronics
(Fall 2026)

Welcome to 6.200! We're very much looking forward to working with you all this semester!

We are still figuring out some of the details of how our fall 2026 offering will be structured, and we will update this page with more information as we get closer to the start of the semester. In the meantime, please be aware of the following:

  1. Course Number

    We refer to this subject as 6.200 ("six two hundred"). But for registration purposes, note that its official number is 6.2000 (with a 'silent' extra zero), so that's the number you should register for.

    Please do not call this class "six two thousand"; the extra zero will be disappearing in a few short years, after which its number will officially be 6.200. So we can plan ahead and make that transition easier by just agreeing to call it "six two hundred" right away. Cool? Cool.

  2. Ready for 6.200?

    The only prerequisite for this class is 8.02, and we are expecting you to come in with some amount of familiarity with that material. There are a few additional topics that you should feel comfortable with before taking this course:

    • Working with linear functions and linear equations

      • Moving between representations of linear functions, e.g., slope-intercept form y = mx + b, standard form Ax + By = c, point-slope form (y-y_1) = m(x-x_1).

      • Sketching and interpreting graphs of linear functions, including estimating slopes and intercepts from graphs and interpreting graphs in terms of physical quantities.

      • Solving simultaneous linear algebraic equations graphically and analytically.

    • Logarithms and mathematical operations on them, e.g., \log(xy) = \log(x) + \log(y).

    • SI units and prefixes ("nano" means 10^{-9}, etc). You will often need to convert between various units (e.g., you're given a value in milliAmps but you need to express it in Amps) and you should be able to do this without a calculator.

    • Integrals and derivatives, and their interpretations; and the fundamental theorem of calculus (the change of the value of a function across an interval is the integral of its derivative over that interval).

    • Basic trigonometry (e.g., SOH/CAH/TOA), and a few common integral/derivative relationships, for example:

      • {\displaystyle {{\rm d}\over {\rm d}x} \cos(u) = -\sin(u) \, {{\rm d}u\over {\rm d}x}}

      • {\displaystyle {{\rm d}\over {\rm d}x} \sin(u) = \cos(u) \, {{\rm d}u\over {\rm d}x}}

      • {\displaystyle {{\rm d}\over {\rm d}x} {\rm e}^u = {\rm e}^u \, {{\rm d}u\over {\rm d}x}}

  • First Class Meeting

    Our first class meeting will be a recitation on the first day of classes (Wednesday, 9 Sep). We will do our own section assignments in 6.200 (more details to come!), but for that first day, please come to whatever section works for you. Note that all three recitation sections are held in room 4-265.