The Leaving Cert physics papers were highly challenging and did little to address the perception among some students that the subject is demanding and arduous.
Sean Ashe, principal at Maynooth Post-Primary School, Co Kildare, and a physics teacher, was critical of the ordinary-level paper for its "abstract" and "verbose" language.
He said question 11 in section C on resistance was one example. "It asked for the `resistivity' of a material, and the use of that word would have put many students off the question," he said.
He said section A (the short questions) was fair but parts of sections B and C were very testing and in a subject with a high failure rate "too abstract for many students".
The layout of question 13 was not student-friendly. "The use of a whole page for the question, rather than spreading it out, was not the right approach," Ashe said. He also pointed out that the first part of question 12, on a current-carrying conductor, was almost identical to question 11 on the higher-level paper.
"I was not too happy with the paper - I think it was expecting too much of students at this level," he said.
Ashe emphasised that the higher-level paper was fair. The short questions were reasonable and there were no nasty surprises.
However, he said questions 3 and 4 were hard and very specific. "Many students may not have prepared them, though they should have," he said.
In section C, questions 10 and 11 were not to students' liking
The joint physics and chemistry papers were well received, teachers said. Dr David Nolan from Rockbrook Secondary School in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, said the questions were "very straightforward". His colleague, Senan O'Boyle, who teaches the physics part of the subject, said if students covered the course properly, their biggest problem was honing down the questions they wanted to answer.