What do we test?
Physics and Mathematics are extremely broad scientific disciplines, even at the high school level. Below is a guideline for what one would expect to find in the Physics and Mathematics Competition.
You may find that you may not be completely familiar with all of the content, as some of this may be a slight extension from what you learn in class, or new material completely.
Contents that are not covered in NCEA will be explained and expanded upon within the question, so as to not advantage any students.
Refer to Sample Questions or email contact@nzpmc.com to further clarify the difficulty of the tested concepts.
The following sections list the materials covered for physics. A handful of concepts listed here may be unfamiliar to most curriculums. For these concepts, only basic understanding is expected and required. Refer to Sample Questions or email contact@nzpmc.com to further clarify the difficulty of the tested concepts.
Syllabus
For a comprehensive list of specific concepts you should know for each division, please refer to the following document:
Junior Physics
As junior science does not have a nationally standardised curriculum like the senior division, we will be testing Physics and Maths content that is typically covered in common textbooks such as the year 9 and year 10 ESA. Mastery of the junior division questions would imply a mastery of these common junior physics curriculums. Reasonable extension of concepts to year 11 is made.
For Junior division physics, we highly recommend that you study with a NCEA level 1 Physics AME workbook or study guide, because they tend to cover Year 9 and 10 much more comprehensively and at a greater depth.
Junior Mathematics
Algebra
Sequence and general formula
Linear equation
Quadratic equation
Algebraic simplification
Intersection between two graphs
Simultaneous equations
Geometry
Angles
Shapes
Measurement
Trigonometry
Use the sine and cosine rules to find the length of sides in a triangle
Coordinate geometry
Find the gradient of parallel and perpendicular lines.
Recall that the perpendicular distance is the shortest distance from a point to a line
Probability
Single and combined events
Determining if events are mutually independent
Simple discrete probability distributions
Senior Physics
We assume your familiarity of physics contents up to NCEA level 3. However, you should be able to get through more than ~70% of the competition with NCEA level 2 knowledge.
Mechanics
Translational Dynamics
Kinematics
Gravitation/Circular Motion
Energy
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
Mechanics content outside of NCEA:
Kinetic Friction
Basic Calculus methods in Kinematics
Vector Mechanics
Waves
Interference
Refraction
Optics
Doppler Effect
Diffraction
Stationary Waves
We will not be testing any Waves content outside of NCEA.
Electricity and Magnetism
Basic Circuitry (AC and DC)
Electric Fields
Magnetic Fields / Force on a Moving Charge
Electromagnetic induction (Generators/Motors)
Capacitors
Inductors
We will not be testing any Electricity and Magnetism content outside of NCEA.
Quantum/Modern Physics
Nuclear Reactions
Atomic Energy Levels
Photoelectric Effect
Radioactive Decay
Wave particle duality
We will not be testing any Quantum/Modern Physics content outside of NCEA.
Following sections list the materials covered for mathematics. A handful of concepts listed here may be unfamiliar to most curriculums. For these concepts, only basic understanding is expected and required. Refer to Sample Questions and the full Syllabus to further clarify the difficulty of the tested concepts.
Senior Mathematics
Calculus
Differentiation of regular polynomials
Differentiation of trigonometric and logarithmic functions
Integration of regular polynomials
Integration by substitution method
Integration by parts method
Algebra
Evaluation of common logarithms, exponentials, and trigonometric functions
Complex number and locus
Parametric equations for common graphs
Common modelling problems with exponential graphs
Permutations and combinatorics