LC Maths HL past years

MikeHough

Can anyone tell me which years were the hardest since about 1996 onwards?
Or if someone is feeling in a particularly good mood could ye list the past years in order of hardness???
thanks

LilMissCiara

Each year will be of a similar standard. Yes there will be questions which caught people out but over all they would be the same.

Plus, it depends on what your good and bad sections are. They'll differ from other peoples.

jumpguy

I'd have hated to have sat the maths paper in 2006.

partyatmygaff

It really depends.

Some of the early pre 00s papers are quite easy in certain sections (Namely Calculus) but are nightmarish in others like Algebra.

Don't waste your time trying to find patterns in past papers. Unless you're going to do it to practice your statistics or something then don't bother :pac:

MikeHough

partyatmygaff wrote: »

It really depends.

Some of the early pre 00s papers are quite easy in certain sections (Namely Calculus) but are nightmarish in others like Algebra.

Don't waste your time trying to find patterns in past papers. Unless you're going to do it to practice your statistics or something then don't bother :pac:

ha.no im not doin it to practice stats.i doubt il do 6 or 7 at all. but while we're talkin about it; is there much difference between these 2? like is there mainly prob in 1 and stats in the other usually, or are they mixed?

prettygurrly

all I can say about maths is that you just have to keep practising. Every year is practically the same just slight differences. I just wish I had understood probability back doing my leaving cert. I stilll did the question but just knew how to do it not why.

I sat 2002 and imo it was a fine paper. paper two was harder but only that one of the theorems that I couldn't get into my head came up...oh well!

if you can keep a paper to do without any help, no books etc. to make sure you can do the questions, that's handy and keep testing yourself on the theorems. I used to have a whiteboard that I could wipe off each time I wrote one out. Saved on paper!

partyatmygaff

MikeHough wrote: »

ha.no im not doin it to practice stats.i doubt il do 6 or 7 at all. but while we're talkin about it; is there much difference between these 2? like is there mainly prob in 1 and stats in the other usually, or are they mixed?

They can be mixed but I think stats comes up more in Q7 than Q6.

MikeHough

ok off topic a bit from de thread title now but its still maths...:
For the coordinate geom qs (circle and line) can you just draw accurate sketches to get the answers to de questions???

prettygurrly

MikeHough wrote: »

ok off topic a bit from de thread title now but its still maths...:
For the coordinate geom qs (circle and line) can you just draw accurate sketches to get the answers to de questions???

surely the point of knowing your equations is so you DONT have to draw anything! kinda defeats the purpose of doing maths if you cant follow the logic of the equations...you need to sit down and try to understand what the equations are saying and then once you understand them then you can remember how to use them in the exam. drawing things to get the answer wont necessarily get you the answer you need and you'll waste a lot of time.

MikeHough

prettygurrly wrote: »

surely the point of knowing your equations is so you DONT have to draw anything! kinda defeats the purpose of doing maths if you cant follow the logic of the equations...you need to sit down and try to understand what the equations are saying and then once you understand them then you can remember how to use them in the exam. drawing things to get the answer wont necessarily get you the answer you need and you'll waste a lot of time.

hiy now.calm down there. ive no problem with goin learnin de equations BUUUT i find it much EASIER to draw them as i am very good at tech graph. and i dunno about u but drawin DOES nearly always get me de answer actually. so im askin will i get the same marks for drawing to get de answers?

Maybe_Memories

prettygurrly wrote: »

surely the point of knowing your equations is so you DONT have to draw anything! kinda defeats the purpose of doing maths if you cant follow the logic of the equations...you need to sit down and try to understand what the equations are saying and then once you understand them then you can remember how to use them in the exam. drawing things to get the answer wont necessarily get you the answer you need and you'll waste a lot of time.

On the other hand drawing diagrams makes your equations much easier to understand, and you'll have a pretty good verification that your solutions are correct

Maybe_Memories

MikeHough wrote: »

hiy now.calm down there. ive no problem with goin learnin de equations BUUUT i find it much EASIER to draw them as i am very good at tech graph. and i dunno about u but drawin DOES nearly always get me de answer actually. so im askin will i get the same marks for drawing to get de answers?

I'd say draw a diagram, use it to help you solve the question but don't rely on it. And if you do this explain in plain english your logic as the examiner might not be able to follow your work

prettygurrly

yeah i did sound a little mad in the post there...apologies...

to get the correct answer your drawing would have to be excellent (which I'm sure you can do) but at the same time, if you use the equation but ultimately get the wrong answer then you will still get attempt marks and some more along the way for getting bits right. I'm not sure how a picture will go down apart from the type of sketch that you would do yourself to make sure your answer is plausible (i.e. check you used the equation correctly) which you would do anyway...i think if you can guarantee that you'll always get the right answer then draw it but what if the question is a little more algebraic where simply drawing it might not work?

MikeHough

prettygurrly wrote: »

yeah i did sound a little mad in the post there...apologies...

to get the correct answer your drawing would have to be excellent (which I'm sure you can do) but at the same time, if you use the equation but ultimately get the wrong answer then you will still get attempt marks and some more along the way for getting bits right. I'm not sure how a picture will go down apart from the type of sketch that you would do yourself to make sure your answer is plausible (i.e. check you used the equation correctly) which you would do anyway...i think if you can guarantee that you'll always get the right answer then draw it but what if the question is a little more algebraic where simply drawing it might not work?

ha ya its fine

ok.ya ye make a few good points there. i guess de best and safest way really is to do both so.ok thanks