'Stupid' Exam Questions

[AngelWings]

I never wrote things like "using the quotient rule" and don't deem it necessary.

However, I did write "for the inverse swap x and y" or something similar and generally tell people to do so. With this being said, I can't recall if it is necessary, but it's probably outlined in the assessor reports or w/e they're called and would be dependent on how you formulate your solution.

Wait, I just write: "let y=f(x)=*insert rule here*
                            inverse: x=*insert rule with y substituted in place of x*"
and continue my working.
Stupid question no. 1: Would I end up with marks deducted for this, which is essentially the same thing in my opinion?

[keltingmeith]

Wait, I just write: "let y=f(x)=*insert rule here*
                            inverse: x=*insert rule with y substituted in place of x*"
and continue my working.
Stupid question: Would I end up with marks deducted for this, which is essentially the same thing in my opinion?

Welp, that's what we're here for.

I don't think you'd lose marks for this - on the safe side, follow Phy's/other's advice and write "for the inverse, swap x and y", but if you do it by habit on the exam, I think you'll be fine.

[GeniDoi]

Now it's my turn for the 'stupid' question - what's 'mathematical rounding'?

When you round down your final answer to a question when it asks to say 2 decimal places, even though the questions nature doesn't allow for the rounded down answer. Eg you have some curve describing the population vs time of some who cares what city, and your asked to find the time when the population reaches say 1000, and your answer is t=4.223 but you round down to 4.22, even though t=4.22 results In a population of say 999.8.

This answer is accepted by VCAA and is referred to as mathematical rounding. I believe rounding up to 4.23 is also accepted (to be sure your over a population of 1000) but am not 100% certain on this.

[AngelWings]

Stupid question no. 2: I went to get my reference book bound ages ago and they did a really bad job at it. In the end, I couldn't be bothered to go another time to get it rebound (with good reason), so I decided to tape all the pages that were about to fall out. (Fun times.) All the pages have been stuck in at the same place as a normal book, as close to the spine as possible i.e. there's technically one edge that is the spine. There are no foldouts whatsoever in this book or any other blatant problems that I can see about it (I've got firmly attached sticker tabs that are within the A4 page limit, but that's fine.), just most of the sheets that were meant to be part of the book are taped in, instead of being bound correctly. 
Is this going to be taken away or am I allowed to take this in, no problem? If there is an issue, what should I do about it?
(In case you weren't going to look at edits after you answered the first question.)

[Avainer]

What if you make a massive mistake in your working and need more working space to start over. Do you write refer to x page or something like that?

[paper-back]

I have a question that goes like this:
Question 4
A function follows the equation


b) The area between x=0, x=c and x=c, x=10 is equal. Show that the value of c is 6
I find c=6

c) Find the area between the line and the function

Now for part c, do I use c=6 in the function or leave c as it is? (In the answers they've used c=6)

I've noticed that in some questions that you can't use the answers you got for part b in part c and you just leave the function as if the
unknown hasn't been found, and for others you use your part b answers for part c
How do you know when to do what?

I've taken this particular example off ExamPro Mathematical Methods CAS Book 1, Page 148, and have just rephrased the questions a little

[drake]

I have a question that goes like this:
Question 4
A function follows the equation


b) The area between x=0, x=c and x=c, x=10 is equal. Show that the value of c is 6
I find c=6

c) Find the area between the line and the function

Now for part c, do I use c=6 in the function or leave c as it is? (In the answers they've used c=6)

I've noticed that in some questions that you can't use the answers you got for part b in part c and you just leave the function as if the
unknown hasn't been found, and for others you use your part b answers for part c
How do you know when to do what?

I've taken this particular example off ExamPro Mathematical Methods CAS Book 1, Page 148, and have just rephrased the questions a little

usually VCAA has good wording. in part c), they would either say, HENCE find blah blah blah, or USING THE PREVIOUS ANSWER, find blah blah blah. if they do not do this, then they will say, find blah blah blah in terms of c. if not, then you'll just have to decide yourself. look at the following parts (i.e. look at part d) and part e)) to see if the value of c is still 6 etc. hope this helps!

[drake]

What if you make a massive mistake in your working and need more working space to start over. Do you write refer to x page or something like that?

1. i HIGHLY recommend you write in pencil, so you can just rub it out. be careful about saying 'refer to x page' because i'm not sure if they scan the exam and then give it examiners. but yeah, if you write in pencil, then you can rub it out, and start again. i do not suggest writing in pen AT ALL.

[keltingmeith]

Stupid question no. 2: I went to get my reference book bound ages ago and they did a really bad job at it. In the end, I couldn't be bothered to go another time to get it rebound (with good reason), so I decided to tape all the pages that were about to fall out. (Fun times.) All the pages have been stuck in at the same place as a normal book, as close to the spine as possible i.e. there's technically one edge that is the spine. There are no foldouts whatsoever in this book or any other blatant problems that I can see about it (I've got firmly attached sticker tabs that are within the A4 page limit, but that's fine.), just most of the sheets that were meant to be part of the book are taped in, instead of being bound correctly. 
Is this going to be taken away or am I allowed to take this in, no problem? If there is an issue, what should I do about it?
(In case you weren't going to look at edits after you answered the first question.)

I found this one the VCAA website:

The form of binding is not specified but it must be secure, and pages must not be readily detachable or designed to be removed. Binding can include cloth, glue, staple, spiral or comb binding.

So, as long as it's all properly secured, you should be fine. This website also said there should be one individual horizontal or vertical spine.

Here's where I found the information, if you want to read more and double-check.

[speedy]

Are we allowed to use abbreviations when explaining things - eg. "for inv. swap x and y" or when defining a probability function etc.

Edit: that's probably too stupid of a question... may as well just write out the full word lol, won't take any time really.

Another thing though, do we have to name the variable when we define a probability function?
Like this:

Spoiler

Assesors report doesn't make mention of what W actually is.

[BLACKCATT]

Very helpful thread btw. Should be stickied

[abeybaby]

Great thread EulerFan101 but there are a few errors in it:

VCAA do not expect you to include units with any Extended Response questions, both for intermediate steps and final answer. You can even be penalized for including the wrong units, whereas you won't be if you include none at all.

This doesn't mean they can't randomly ask you "What are the units of the answer above", or having a MC question that has 2+ options as the same number but different units (with only one of them being the right answer).

I'm not too sure about this. Let's consider a question which said "Find the area under the graph correct to 2 decimal places".
Say the correct answer is 3.25 square metres. VCAA will usually specify that they want an answer in square metres (the question will usually read: find the area correct to 2 decimal places in square metres). Because the question itself defines the units, the answer 3.25 is perfectly acceptable. If they didn't specify the units in the question, then I would certainly write the units. Otherwise, you could write something like 0.00 square kilometres and still be correct.

Same goes for worded questions. Sometimes they say things like, if m Litres is the point at which the bucket is full, find the value of m. Since the question specifies that m is in litres, there's no reason to write m=5 litres. m=5 would suffice in this case. But if the question just said "Find the volume which fills the bucket" I would absolutely include the units. It's possible that this explains what your teacher was saying.

[abeybaby]

Are we allowed to use abbreviations when explaining things - eg. "for inv. swap x and y" or when defining a probability function etc.

Edit: that's probably too stupid of a question... may as well just write out the full word lol, won't take any time really.

Another thing though, do we have to name the variable when we define a probability function?
Like this:

Spoiler

Assesors report doesn't make mention of what W actually is.

Short answer: Yes. W needs to be defined. Sometimes the question defines it (It sometimes says things like, W is the length of shoelaces in cm), and if it doesn't, then you need to write down "Let W be the..." before you continue.

And yeah, just write the full word, but I'm sure no one is going to take a mark off of you for an abbreviation like that

[keltingmeith]

Are we allowed to use abbreviations when explaining things - eg. "for inv. swap x and y" or when defining a probability function etc.

Edit: that's probably too stupid of a question... may as well just write out the full word lol, won't take any time really.

Another thing though, do we have to name the variable when we define a probability function?
Like this:

Spoiler

Assesors report doesn't make mention of what W actually is.

Never too stupid.
For inverse, I don't think you could write inv. BUT, if you ever want to refer to a probability function, a PMF (probability mass function, for discrete data) and PDF (probability density function, for continuous data) ARE valid initial-isms if you choose to use them (well, in the mathematical community, at least. VCAA should recognise them). Just make sure you use the right ones. The fact that the answer isn't what you expected just goes to show how non-stupid some of these questions really are.

Yes, you should. You see, you cannot write "P(X=7)=0.3452" unless you've defined what X is. Even if you don't use it, often it's good to define the random variable just so you know what you're doing, anyway. That's probably why the assessors defined it even though they didn't use it. (what question from which exam is that off, out of curiosity?)

[speedy]

Yes, you should. You see, you cannot write "P(X=7)=0.3452" unless you've defined what X is. Even if you don't use it, often it's good to define the random variable just so you know what you're doing, anyway. That's probably why the assessors defined it even though they didn't use it. (what question from which exam is that off, out of curiosity?)

Thankyou guys

And that is question 2d off Exam 2 2011. They did use it though, just didn't say what W is.