Physics and Maths, Studied this Week.

Okay, Another week done and it's been tough on account of me having to work 60hrs and I still can't shake this rotten cold / virus.  Anyway, I have still managed some decent studying and I have started to delve into the murky world of complex / imaginary numbers.  To be honest, I am not sure what all the fuss is about.  I know that imaginary numbers are difficult to visualise, but I do find that they are surprisingly easy to manipulate algebraically.

e.g.

where    i = √-1

(2i)^2 = 2i x 2i

or,

2i x 2i = 4i^2

and,

4i^2 = -4

Once you get used to them, you can really start doing some cool stuff with them, such as finding the complex roots of quadratics or solving simultaneous complex equations using the rule:

a+bi = c+di  (if, and only if)  a = c  and  b = d

Anyway, my weeks's study has looked something like this:

Open University MST121


Calculations with triangles
Parametric equations of lines
Parametric equations of circles  (studied at 4am, so I may need to revisit this!)
Function notation
Graphs of functions
Graphs of quadratics
Trigonometric functions

TMA01, part 1 result: 94% (hurray!)

The Teaching Company Calculus Lectures


The Product rule
The Quotient rule

The Teaching Company Cosmology Lectures


Cosmic Geometry
Cosmic Expansion - keeping track of energy

Open University S197 How the Universe Works


The Expanding Universe
The Cooling Universe
Electric and Magnetic Forces
The Fine Structure Constant
Quantum Electrodynamics

Open University S196 Planets


Mercury

Supplementary Study materials


Complex numbers (4hrs of practice in manipulation and rules)
Why Does E = mc^2  (book by , Cox, Forshaw) - Chapter - The origin of mass

Stanford University Physics Letures: Prof. Susskind


Lecture 1 Classical Mechanics
Lecture 2 Classical Mechanics

I have now, also started my assessed coursework for S197 and S196, my Open University 1st year introduction courses to Cosmology and Planetary Physics.  I have completed 10 questions from a total of approximately 40, so it is all coming along nicely.

Interestingly, now that I have read some more or Roger Penrose's book, I am slowly coming to the conclusion, that I should be thinking about planing in some more 3rd year maths modules, as part of my degree.  I think that this will really help at post graduate level, in 3yrs time.

I'll post later on the options.  By actually completing some further maths, it may even shorten my Undergraduate studies by approximately 6 - 12 months.

Well, back to work tomorrow for another 60hr week, but I am hopeful, that I will make some headway with more work on Hubble's law, The Calculus chain rule and move onto some matrices work with the OU.