Common Further Mathematics Mistakes

[Predator]

The idea of this thread is post common mistakes that students make in this subject.
The advice for further mathematics thread is more about the choices of the modules rather then simple mistakes that one should avoid in the subject.
I will start this thread by listing one that tripped up many on last years exam including me.

That would be finding/estimating the standard deviation.
Many people went range/4 to this however if you are going to estimate this and want to do it quickly use range/8.

[Streaker]

Tip: Never estimate the standard deviation. I don't remember ever having to estimate it when I did Further last year. A lot of people tripped up on one of the first few multi choice questions on the core in exam 1 last year because they tried to estimate it.

One common mistake people make is misreading the scaling on one or both axes - the axes don't necessarily have to begin at zero, some axes start their scale off at a random number. This leads to the student miscalculating the y-intercept and whatnot. Other common mistakes include correct number of decimal places and units (I think they're quite lenient with units in some modules but still good to get the units right).

Something that students might find useful when making their bound reference towards the end of the year - make sure you have a checklist of common mistakes on the front page of your bound reference which can be ticked off every time you finish the exam. Most people finish well under the allocated time so it never hurts to look over your questions again whilst referring to that checklist - I know that definitely saved me 3-4 marks across my exams.

[Greatness]

Read the questoin at least 2 times and analyse the graphs/diagrams given.

[kenhung123]

Look at mark allocation. You pretty much have to think for yourself if your answer is worth 2 marks or not. Usually if they are worth 2 marks for 1 answer you need to do something further e.g. unit conversion (cm^2=>m^2)

[Xavier1234]

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THIS SUBJECT, BECAUSE YOU'LL GET KICKED UP THE ARSE BY DECEMBER.