VCE Specialist Maths Exam 1 - 08/11/19 - Discussion/Questions/Solutions

[undefined]

If I forgot to put pi in the revolution formula and my answer was correct without the multiplied pi, would I lose 4 marks?

[jac0016]

Where do I get a copy of the actual exam?

[Macnamat]

Since question 9a asked for the tension in the string, wouldn’t it actually be mg/sin(a)?

[Tau]

Since question 9a asked for the tension in the string, wouldn’t it actually be mg/sin(a)?

There are two ‘components’ there, each with magnitude T Newtons, so you resolve vertically and you get 2(T*sin(alpha)) is balanced by the weight force. Dividing through by 2sin (alpha) gives the required result for T.

[S_R_K]

Slightly offbeat exam. Question 1 seemed surprisingly difficult for a Q1, requiring both separation of variables and substitution; and then Q2 was very easy. Q 3c was unnecessary in light of 3a; it almost felt like they discovered late that they had a 39 marker and needed to find a mark somewhere. Q5 felt more like a Methods question; 5b very easy, most likely examiners will be very picky about positioning of endpoints / turning points on the scale. Qs 6–8 pretty standard. Q9 b was good, requiring both resolution of forces and a trig-identity. Q10 was silly, apart from the first few steps it's just assessing how fast you can do Year 10 maths, not whether your understanding of the study design is in the top 10% of the state.

The exam was more noteworthy for what it didn't include: partial fractions and arc length, which really should be on exam 1, because they are trivialised by CAS.

[Tau]

Slightly offbeat exam.

Definitely agree - interesting choices in questions and I also felt it strange they neglected arc length and partial fractions.

[Tau]

If I forgot to put pi in the revolution formula and my answer was correct without the multiplied pi, would I lose 4 marks?

I can’t imagine you’d lose 4 marks for that, at most they could take off 2 - 1 for incorrect expression for volume, 1 for wrong final answer. Most likely you’d only lose 1 mark.

[studyingg]

Slightly offbeat exam. Question 1 seemed surprisingly difficult for a Q1, requiring both separation of variables and substitution; and then Q2 was very easy. Q 3c was unnecessary in light of 3a; it almost felt like they discovered late that they had a 39 marker and needed to find a mark somewhere. Q5 felt more like a Methods question; 5b very easy, most likely examiners will be very picky about positioning of endpoints / turning points on the scale. Qs 6–8 pretty standard. Q9 b was good, requiring both resolution of forces and a trig-identity. Q10 was silly, apart from the first few steps it's just assessing how fast you can do Year 10 maths, not whether your understanding of the study design is in the top 10% of the state.

The exam was more noteworthy for what it didn't include: partial fractions and arc length, which really should be on exam 1, because they are trivialised by CAS.

Do you think the A+ cut-off would be comparable to the 2016 grade distribution or 2017&2018? 

[Macnamat]

There are two ‘components’ there, each with magnitude T Newtons, so you resolve vertically and you get 2(T*sin(alpha)) is balanced by the weight force. Dividing through by 2sin (alpha) gives the required result for T.

Might’ve done this wrong but aren’t we solving for 2T since each component is T?

[S_R_K]

Do you think the A+ cut-off would be comparable to the 2016 grade distribution or 2017&2018?

No idea, really. Even though it wasn't conceptually challenging, there were enough quirks and hurdles to throw students off.

I doubt it will be lower than the last couple of years.

[undefined]

I can’t imagine you’d lose 4 marks for that, at most they could take off 2 - 1 for incorrect expression for volume, 1 for wrong final answer. Most likely you’d only lose 1 mark.

Thank you. Was really scared that I'd lose 4 marks for forgetting one tiny thing.

No idea, really. Even though it wasn't conceptually challenging, there were enough quirks and hurdles to throw students off.

I doubt it will be lower than the last couple of years.

I think it will be around 34-35/40. It got progressively harder (especially the last 2 questions) compared to 2018, which remained at a consistent difficulty throughout in my opinion. The marks where I see people losing are 9b, maybe 2 marks for q10 and the variance question.

[Jadu]

Too easy.

I wish they made it harder

Its a 40/40 for me

[Lachlanmartino19]

I wrote natural numbers {1,2,3...} instead of integers for the questions 7c and d but had the same formulas do you think i would achieve any marks from that??

[Jackson.Sprigg]

I wrote natural numbers {1,2,3...} instead of integers for the questions 7c and d but had the same formulas do you think i would achieve any marks from that??

Don't think so as it was only worth one mark and stating N instead of Z excludes a lot of possibilities

[Ali Ali]

Must say I'm very disappointed with this year's exam. Felt like they weren't giving the high achievers a chance to distinguish themselves with engaging problems, instead just throwing a whole load of algebra at you hoping that you screw up somewhere in there. To be honest, I think anyone could have gotten a 40/40 on a good day for this one since mistakes in algebra can happen to anyone. Personally had a few algebra mistakes (2 marks down first question possibly since i forgot to include the 1 in 1 + e^2x inside the second log, 2 marks down in probability due to brain slightly failing)  but still managed better than some friends who are very good at the subject but just made a few more algebra mistakes.