Maths in the 1st year

The majority of students will take PHY112 Introductory Mathematics for Physicists & Astronomers (20 credits) and MAS165 Mathematics for Physicists (10 credits). The first module is taken in semester 1 and is taught by the Department of Physics and Astronomy; the latter module is taken in semester 2 and is taught by the Mathematics Departments.

The recommended text book for PHY112 is 'Introductory Maths for Physicists and Astronomers' - Compliled by David Mowbray (Pearson), ISBN 978-0-85776-015-9. This book will be provided for you and gives you access to a large bank of online questions, some of which will be used for the continuous assessment for this module.

The first session of PHY112 will consist of a short diagnostic test covering material that you should have met at A-level. This test is designed to identify any areas of weakness which may occur due to, for example, students having followed different A-level courses. We will use the results from this test to offer targeted help in the form of additional workshops. It is therefore very important that you attend the first session of the PHY112 module so that we can clearly identify areas where additional help is required. The marks from this diagnostic test do not contribute in any way to the module mark.

PHY112 consists of four lectures, one small-group tutorial and one online exercise per week. Online exercises and homework each contribute 15% to your total module mark for PHY112.