Josh the goat, 98 let’s go !!

Ended up getting a H1 because the exam was scaled but overall I didn't enjoy this subject. The thermal section (David Jamison) was quite messy and it was annoying how many of the lecture examples were left as exercises for the students. The classical section also just seemed bolted on and was very rushed. The quantum part was interesting but again seemed a bit rushed and only basic problems were looked at in lectures. Lastly, no past exams were given which in my opinion is lazy as it probably meant our exam was just very similar to past ones.

Thermal section was taught poorly. Mess of terminology and very little clarity. Josh Combes in Quantum was an amazing lecturer with the student experience at the forefront of his mind - he would repeatedly ask whether we understood the complicated topics during the lectures and would allocated time for us to go through some worked examples. I really liked how Combes went through the Quantum postulates and bra-ket notation properly, as previous renditions of this course left that for 3rd year.

Grade: 88 Completely messy thermal section! With inconsistent symbols and explanations along! The quantum section is actually not bad as long as having the good old calculus 2 stuffs in mind. The best thing I learnt is how to find online courses on youtube... Btw, statistically, this subject has made quite a portion of students into giving up physics.

This subject is HARD. If you're coming out of Physics 2 PST (like I did) then it's a big step up. That being said, it's a fantastic subject with passionate lecturers and fascinating content. Resources other than the textbook are somewhat limited, so be prepared to do a lot of self-guided learning. Additionally, I found that getting an H1 required a larger time commitment than many of my other subjects, just so that I was able to properly understand the content. The first half (thermal and classical, taught by Jamieson) is a bit dry and the lectures go fast and often beyond what you actually need to know. The second half (quantum, taught by McCallum) is more interesting but also less intuitive, however Jeff provides additional resources. Overall, if you're prepared to put the time in and work hard then it's highly rewarding. One of my favourite subjects so far