Leaving Cert Physics:Students were "angry and disappointed" coming out of yesterday's higher level paper which was more difficult than previous years according to teachers.

"I just think it's unfortunate that this sort of thing can happen at a time when we're trying to encourage students to study the sciences," said Martin Cunniffe, ASTI subject representative and teacher in St Patrick's Classical School in Navan.

The problems occurred mainly in the first section of the paper. Students answer questions based on experiments they have done over the two years of study.

While no particular method of conducting experiments is specified in the syllabus, two out of the four questions required specific knowledge of methods that students may not have been familiar with. Question 2 was singled out for particular criticism.

"The question asked about one specific method of measuring the heat capacity of water," said Pat Doyle, a teacher in the Institute of Education.

"That discriminates against students who have carried out measurements by another method." It is the teacher who chooses the method that students learn, and according to Mr Doyle, it is not feasible to cover all methods.

Section B was also described as "tricky enough" by Mr Cunniffe who said it was full of "twists and turns".

Mr Doyle, however, thought that it was at the "appropriate level of difficulty for higher level students".

A question on the benefits of nuclear power "must have been written before the Greens got into power," he said.

The story was a happier one for students who sat the ordinary level paper which was described as being "fair and doable" by teachers. It wasn't without its issues with two difficult questions.

Section A threw up a challenging question on Joule's Law. "Anyone who could complete that should have been doing higher level," Mr Cunniffe said. Question 9 was singled out for similar criticism by Mr Doyle who felt it was "very challenging for an ordinary level student". The problems were small compared with those at higher level, however.

Physics is perceived as a difficult subject although it is marginally more popular than chemistry. More than 7,000 students sat the physics exam this year, most of those at higher level and as a result they may have been disappointed.

"A student may have done their work, known everything they were supposed to, and still been penalised . . . the department really needs to look at this problem," Mr Doyle said.