VCE Methods Question Thread!

[snowisawesome]

1. Is it possible to do well in methods 3/4 (in my case raw 35+) without a tutor?. I currently have a group tutor for methods 3/4 and i don't really find it useful so i'm considering quitting tutoring.
2. I mainly struggle with extended response questions. Is there a way to better understand what the question is asking and improve in extended response questions? (sorry if this question has been asked before). How hard are sac and exam 1 and 2 questions compared to the extended response questions in textbooks like mathsquest and cambridge senior mathematics.
thanks

[Sine]

1. Is it possible to do well in methods 3/4 (in my case raw 35+) without a tutor?. I currently have a group tutor for methods 3/4 and i don't really find it useful so i'm considering quitting tutoring.
2. I mainly struggle with extended response questions. Is there a way to better understand what the question is asking and improve in extended response questions? (sorry if this question has been asked before). How hard are sac and exam 1 and 2 questions compared to the extended response questions in textbooks like mathsquest and cambridge senior mathematics.
thanks

1. Yes plenty of people have done well without tutors and plenty of people have done badly with a tutor.
2. I found ERQ chapter review questions to be sometimes difficult although I feel the "hard" questions on exam 2 require a more nuanced understanding of the content rather than just realising a trick which was the case of the ERQ's found in textbooks. To improve the easy answer would be to spam questions but along with doing that make sure to note down exactly where you are going wrong, what didn't you see, what didn't you understand to result in you getting the wrong answer. Also to do well in these questions I believe you need to know which parts of the text given is important at least for vce you can assume all the information given is required/can be used fruitfully.

[snowisawesome]

Is it much of a problem if i don't have access to worked solutions for extended response questions? Like would it make it harder to learn my mistakes and where i'm going wrong if i just have regular solutions (not worked solutions)?

y = 2*(x-1)^(1/3)+3=0
the point of inflection = (1,3), the y intercept is (0,1), and the x intercept is at (-19/8,0) does anyone know how to determine the shape of the graph?
Thanks

[DBA-144]

I know how it looks like but it s a bit difficult to explain. But ill try...

So the power 1/3 is the inverse of a cubic. Try drawing that on ur cas to get a better understanding of what it really looks like. Like just the basic y=x^1/3.  It looks like an s that has been stretched a bit more. Sorry for the bad description.

But you just need to know the basic shape of the graph to determine it. Not sure how else to do it. Also, note that the inverses of the graphs y=x^-2 or y=1/x^2 which is the truncus and this graph have been mentioned on the study design IM PRETTY SURE and NOT certain. But i doubt that these graphs will have much of a prescence in the course anyways.

Hope that this helps!

[snowisawesome]

I know how it looks like but it s a bit difficult to explain. But ill try...

So the power 1/3 is the inverse of a cubic. Try drawing that on ur cas to get a better understanding of what it really looks like. Like just the basic y=x^1/3.  It looks like an s that has been stretched a bit more. Sorry for the bad description.

But you just need to know the basic shape of the graph to determine it. Not sure how else to do it. Also, note that the inverses of the graphs y=x^-2 or y=1/x^2 which is the truncus and this graph have been mentioned on the study design IM PRETTY SURE and NOT certain. But i doubt that these graphs will have much of a prescence in the course anyways.

Hope that this helps!

Do you think the graph I mentioned above could appear in exam 1?

[DBA-144]

I am probably not a good person to ask this as i dont really have a very good understnading of all the various questions that typically appear on exam 1s. 

[keltingmeith]

Do you think the graph I mentioned above could appear in exam 1?

Anything on exam 2 that doesn't require a calculator can easily still be asked in exam 1.

[Sine]

exam 1 is quite predictable and the past VCAA exams are always a great indication of what can and what will be on it. However usually there is a semi-seperator question which is q9 or q10 which is difficult to prepare for since it will heavily rely on a more indepth understanding of the content.

[snowisawesome]

exam 1 is quite predictable and the past VCAA exams are always a great indication of what can and what will be on it. However usually there is a semi-seperator question which is q9 or q10 which is difficult to prepare for since it will heavily rely on a more indepth understanding of the content.

Are q9 and q10 the questions that separate people with study scores in the 30s and the 40+s?
do you need to get q9 and q10 correct to get around raw 35+ in methods?

Also, do you know how to find the range of the graph y = 1/(x^2-4)
Thanks

[Sine]

Are q9 and q10 the questions that separate people with study scores in the 30s and the 40+s?
do you need to get q9 and q10 correct to get around raw 35+ in methods?

Also, do you know how to find the range of the graph y = 1/(x^2-4)
Thanks

I wouldn't say it "seperates people" I think across Sacs + 120 exam marks that seperates people organically enough at least on the level of 30 - 40. People could get the last question wrong and still get 47+ so you can't say anything on the final result based on a single quesiton.

Graph the function if you aren't too sure of the range, it's a reciprocal function (that may help graphing)

[S200]

How would I go about graphing this equation on paper without first entering it in a calculator?

I am absolutely baffled. Can't seem to factorise or anything.

I mean, I can work out the intercepts, but naught else.

[Yertle the Turtle]

How would I go about graphing this equation on paper without first entering it in a calculator?

I am absolutely baffled. Can't seem to factorise or anything.

I mean, I can work out the intercepts, but naught else.

You can factorise the top line to (x-1)(x+2), but I really don't know what you would do then.

[jazzycab]

How would I go about graphing this equation on paper without first entering it in a calculator?

I am absolutely baffled. Can't seem to factorise or anything.

I mean, I can work out the intercepts, but naught else.

Within the scope of the Methods course (at least as far as non-technology assessment goes), you'd have to sketch this as the product of functions. Firstly factorise the denominator

Then sketch the product of three functions, by sketching:

on the same axes, before proceeding to sketch their product.

On the VCAA exams, you wouldn't be expected to sketch something like this, unless it was on exam 2 and you had access to your CAS calculator.

[Opengangs]

How would I go about graphing this equation on paper without first entering it in a calculator?

I am absolutely baffled. Can't seem to factorise or anything.

I mean, I can work out the intercepts, but naught else.

Hey,
I'm not sure how relevant this would be, but here's an approach if you need to sketch it by hand.

If you're interested in an approach

[VanillaRice]

How would I go about graphing this equation on paper without first entering it in a calculator?

I am absolutely baffled. Can't seem to factorise or anything.

I mean, I can work out the intercepts, but naught else.

Some good responses above, but being asked to sketch a function like this is probably outside of the scope of VCE Methods.