Undergrad first year physics study material

[Lord Percy]

As I keep harping on about in most of my posts at the moment, I'm in South Korea. My girlfriend is working a lot so I have loads of idle time. This country is obsessed with studying, so... when in Rome...

I want to get up to scratch on some of the material I'll be covering in my first year of uni. I just wondered if anyone might know of any good online resources or books I can view or download?

The course is Theoretical Physics, which basically means bog-standard physics for the first couple of years.

The topics I'll be covering in my first year are:

Waves and Oscillations
'From Newton to Einstein'
'Mathematical Techniques 1'
'Mathematical Techniques 2'
Electric and Magnetic fields
Quantum Physics
C++

I know I can just punch those things into google to find them, but the problem is that the results I get are too varied, like some will be really basic and some will be far too complex - I can't really just go through it all and find the stuff that's perfectly geared towards a first year undergrad.

And I know there are a few physics bods on here who might know exactly what I should be looking at, so I thought I'd ask for some BCF guidance.

So far I'm halfway though downloading a book called 'Fundamentals of Physics, Edition 9'. Anybody know if this is a good start?

Anyone know the sort of 'mathematical techniques' I should be studying?

All info greatly appreciated.

Ta!

[WindyMiller]

C++ might be relatively easy to get a head start on. You can (IIRC) download Microsoft visual studio express for free (there will be others) and go through some tutorials, plus there are all sorts of web resources for coding.

Have you tried contacting your uni department for a reading list? They'll know what texts are going to be relevant to your course (and accurate, and up-to-date).
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[J.M.]

Visual studio is bloated and crap. Never really liked it. I'd use Eclipse. That sees me through all of my development work in Java/Android. Should handle C++ nicely too, but I confess to never using that part of it.

My current Android application does use JNI to use a C++ library, but I didn't write that library. Eclipse compiles it just fine though.
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[Rogerborg]

[barrkel]

[WindyMiller]

before this thread degenerates into a comparison of different development environments...

For learning basic C / C++, it probably does not matter at all. You may find MS VS has more examples / tutorials. You may find your uni uses MS VS. Many people do, regardless of whether eclipse is "better" or not.

To the OP, google both. make choice. learn to display "Hello World" on screen. etc.
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[Nick 50]

Which Uni are you going to again?

Most Uni's will have a module catalogue of sorts which should give some detail as to what will be covered in each module.

For instance:

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/module-catalogue/module.php?code=MEC2003

Have you tried asking the Uni? Also have they not released a reading list yet?

From the topics you have listed though, i'm guessing you will cover as part of maths:

Homogenous Second Order Differential Equations
Second Order Differential Equations with forcing
Second Order Differential Equations with resonance

I would then guess you will do 1st Order Differential equations too.

Also, if you're covering Electrics, it would be safe to assume you will cover Complex numbers in maths too.
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[Lord Percy]

Cheers all for the advice so far

I'm going to Queen Mary Uni in London. (I made a 'which uni?' thread a while ago and settled on Leeds, but changed my mind as I figured Leeds will be boring as hell because I'm from there...)

I can't find much info on the uni website, but yeah the mathematical areas are probably best to get working on. Complex numbers is a good shout, if anything because it's something I've never even remotely touched on, so I'd like to.

Regarding the C++ talk. That's an optional module, so not vastly important right now. Although I'm pretty sure that's the option I'm gonna take. The other choice is 'The Universe', but I know quite a bit about that already so I'm not interested in it. So C++ it is, methinks, but first and foremost I think I'll get on with the maths stuff.

This Fundamentals of Physics book is pretty good too.

Gravy

[Nick 50]

I expect cake as payment lol (preferably Jamaican)

https://ph.qmul.ac.uk/intranet/undergraduates/programme?id=F340

Click on the course name for each module which opens a new page and gives quite detailed information for each module.



The Maths is pretty straight in there The mock exam paper doesn't look too bad though.
4 modules for Semester 1 (3 exams 1 coursework) which isn't too bad.

I wonder how many of the "homework" on the modules stays exactly the same? If it's anything like my school it will be 100% the same.
Not that I noticed some have answers too lol
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[fatpies]

Not really an academic book, but have a read of this


https://isush4u1.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/37885_in_search_of_schrodingers_cat.pdf

It made me think wut? More than a few times
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[Lord Percy]

[Lord Percy]

[Nick 50]

[WindyMiller]

Wikipedia is remarkably helpful on complex numbers. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the concept of "imaginary" numbers and all the fancy terms. Ultimately, it's just a way of representing a 2-dimensional point and the basics are just geometry.

Probably worth looking at differentiation and integration as well if you haven't already. The standard stuff isn't that hard, but vector calculus will turn up somewhere and I never quite got to grips with that. I think it's one of those things that's easy when you know how, and impossible when you don't. "Waves and Oscillations" and "Electric and Magnetic fields" probably includes a big chunk of that.

And take the C++ module. That way you can get a job when you graduate even if you're not the next Stephen Hawking.
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[el_oso]

[Lord Percy]

My maths is far stronger than my physics, so it's good to know I'll need it! My calculus is alright, although I've not done the 'Further Pure' Maths stuff, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes. Just reading up on Complex Numbers at the moment. Actually one reason I look forward to moving from A-level physics to undergrad physics is that it'll get more mathematical, instead of the annoying ritual of just memorising facts without explanation.

[Derivative]

Preparing for first year?

Here first year is worthless (other than a 40% hurdle to continue). Second year and onwards count towards classification.

If your system is similar then I genuinely recommend you spend the time on extracurricular, or part time work, or whatever. Much better than trying to juggle everything in final year and being burned out because you spent 10 hours a day trying to get an excellent grade that ultimately is pointless.

Not that I speak from experience.

[Benno]

[Lord Percy]

Interesting points

I'm not necessarily wanting to push myself ahead because I want to be a top student or anything, it's just that I've got fuck all to do at the moment . Although of course some pre-uni preparation is never gonna be a bad thing.

Good to hear the first year is relatively unimportant and has lots of free time - I've been told this is the case in most degree subjects. I was way too much of a hermit with the A-levels I did over the past year, living in a boring little village at my gran's house, 250 miles from my home town. Admittedly it was by choice - I needed to get my head down and get serious about stuff without the burden of mates, alcohol, etc - but now a bit of free time, with the opportunity and excitement of London on my doorstep, is going to be a very welcome change.

[lihp]

Work on your maths.

You may think you're strong, I did the same. But then the entry to university level mathematics is mildly gradual, then all of a sudden it's like running into a wall.

Get your head around all the advanced concepts, and make sure as before, you can do all the A-Level work inside out, back to front without thinking.
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[Nick 50]

Personally, I would completely ignore/discount that the 1st year counts for nothing.

I would consider the 1st year of a Science based degree the most important. The Maths/Physics that you will do will be the foundation for the coming years. The better you do in year 1, the easier years 2 & 3 will be.

I have seen too many who have been complacent and fobbed the 1st year off who really struggled in Year 2, simply because they just didn't have the core knowledge needed to do well.

Do you have your timetable yet?
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[Lord Percy]

[el_oso]

[Lord Percy]

[Derivative]