Maths H P2 Disaster Prevention.

JackKelly

It is easily possible that P2 could be as difficult as P1 so imagining the worst possible scenario, what questions do you think could come up? Things that havent been asked for ages or difficult questions in the back of the syllabus?

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Maths II isn't so bad... the circle and the line are fairly basic, vectors can be learnt in an hour. I'm doing the further calculus option and it's more or less basic differentiation with some rudimentary series and spend half an hour with Mr. Maclaurin and you're fine. Then all you have is either 2 trig. questions [I shall be avoiding] or 2 probability/stats questions.

A fairly handy paper with lots of intertwined material if you ask me, I wouldn't go in expecting surprises.

There's a good chance of an awkward probablity question again.

They could also throw in something about sequences and series, besides the difference equations, in the discrete maths section, which would be tough on a person like me who hasn't studied it.

And perhaps one of these proofs:

The Cosine rule
Perpendicular Distance between point and line
The angle between two lines

shelleEire

Paper 1 was so tough but alot of people tink that paper2 is easier because all the questions are more or less the same every year. dont worry if its hard coz theres always attempt marks. im doing the Q11 linear programming.. its difficult enuf il get my head round it soon i hope. the line n the cirle.. i agree are fairly basic. dont worry.. just do ur best! im dreading it monday all the same!!

*Angel*

I can't see them asking anything out of the ordinary for coord geometry, for trig make sure you know your proofs and familiarise, vectors should be ok.

I think it's really unpredictable as to what is coming up.

Advice is start with your easiest/shortest (vectors perhaps) then the option Q, don't bother reading through the exam paper at the start cos that could freak you out if you see something difficult, do the questions that you know you are going to do at the start, then browse.

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

I'll probably attack the papers much like Angel recommends.... vectors first, then Q8 (Kuwait!) followed by the geometry questions (line/circle) and finish off with probability and stats as they usually require a bit of thinking - for me, anyway.

Cina

Why are so many avoiding trig? Usually the easiest thing on Paper 2, short, and almost no learning, everything is on Page 9! I'll be avoiding Probabilty personally, it's too unpredictable and difficult to study.

I'd start with trig questions first, then the circle and line questions, then the optional question.

Then I'd do the probability ones, which SHOULD BURN IN HELL.

On a side note, I'm ironically not doing in vectors. However it's the only question I'm not doing (besides the other 3 optional questions of course). I was just glancing over it and it seems pretty simple, especially since I do App. Maths.

So should I do it, or should I acknowledge that I have a question to spare and concentrate on what I already know?

sci0x

Bob wrote:

Maths II isn't so bad... the circle and the line are fairly basic, vectors can be learnt in an hour. I'm doing the further calculus option and it's more or less basic differentiation with some rudimentary series and spend half an hour with Mr. Maclaurin and you're fine. Then all you have is either 2 trig. questions [I shall be avoiding] or 2 probability/stats questions.

A fairly handy paper with lots of intertwined material if you ask me, I wouldn't go in expecting surprises.

Why avoiding the trigonometry Qs? They are usually fine. Its those bastards of questions 6 and 7, i'll be staying well away from!

Cina

Vectors are supposedly the easiest thing on P2 as they are the least attempted Q, just like sequence and series I expect they'll be easy.

*Angel*

Deleted User wrote:

Then I'd do the probability ones, which SHOULD BURN IN HELL.

Yes they should!

Deleted User wrote:

On a side note, I'm ironically not doing in vectors. However it's the only question I'm not doing (besides the other 3 optional questions of course). I was just glancing over it and it seems pretty simple, especially since I do App. Maths.

So should I do it, or should I acknowledge that I have a question to spare and concentrate on what I already know?

There isn't much common between vectors in maths and vectors in app maths, however it's a very short topic so you might wanna have a look at it. However you might consider it too late.

dRNk SAnTA

The problem with paper 1 was that they threw dodgy things into the so-called easier questions. Like question 1 which is usually a joke, they took part c and made it so that u're not really working with numbers, just percentages. oh and asked it in a complicated way. so the presumed easy question is now not so easy.
like wise in the algebra question - algebra is usually so easy, but that part c! what?! i still haven't a clue.
anywho, what i'm saying is i wouldn't presume that the so-called easy questions on paper 2 will be left alone either. I expect the same pattern of making the easy questions harder.
basically, know the easier chapters inside out cos u never know what they'll ask.

by the way, to the person who can't get their head around linear programming, i was the same before the mocks but once u figure it out, u'll realise theres nothing to it. its actually easy marks because the questions are ALWAYS the same. (although i'll prob be made to eat those words on monday).

2e

Deleted User wrote:

I'd start with trig questions first, then the circle and line questions, then the optional question.

Then I'd do the probability ones, which SHOULD BURN IN HELL.

On a side note, I'm ironically not doing in vectors. However it's the only question I'm not doing (besides the other 3 optional questions of course). I was just glancing over it and it seems pretty simple, especially since I do App. Maths.

So should I do it, or should I acknowledge that I have a question to spare and concentrate on what I already know?

If your not fond of probaility (as I'm guessing your not) I'd advise doin them both fast in half an hour then do vectors. You'll then have a spare question incase its a horrible paper. Vectors is handy enough out of the book, an hour or two tomorrow and 04, 03, 02 questions should have you prepped enough to handle most that they throw at you.

2e

2e wrote:

If your not fond of probaility (as I'm guessing your not) I'd advise doin them both fast in half an hour then do vectors. You'll then have a spare question incase its a horrible paper. Vectors is handy enough out of the book, an hour or two tomorrow and 04, 03, 02 questions should have you prepped enough to handle most that they throw at you.

I already have a spare question even if I don't do vectors, but I might give it a glance anyway.

2e

What were/ are you hoping for in Maths overall? Does you need it for your points?

2e

2e wrote:

What were/ are you hoping for in Maths overall? Does you need it for your points?

I was hoping for an A1. Never got lower than an A1 in maths before. But I only got apr. 80% in paper 1. Hopefully, if paper 2 is nice, I might scrape an A2.

Rredwell

How do you all have spare topics? We only had enough time in class to cover the minimum 6 questions (in my case 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8).

I agree with Sci0x and Cina that the Trig questions are good. The only problem is the learning of 12 proofs, of which one is only ever asked one. However, mostly it is a combination of alfebra and calculator work.

Do you have to prove the distance from a line to a point? I never realised that had a proof.

2e

Sorta same here... I need a min. B3 but I'll get that. I thought I did horribly in my pre but ended up with an A1. was hoping for A1 but mite end upo as A2 now cos of paper.1 but you never know..........

Rredwell

I also think I got around 81-82% in Paper One, so if I get 88 or 89% in P2, that will be an A2.

Rredwell

Rredwell wrote:

How do you all have spare topics? We only had enough time in class to cover the minimum 6 questions (in my case 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8).

Well I didn't have any spare questions in Paper 1, so I guess that's why, although i only started HL in November.

Rredwell wrote:

Do you have to prove the distance from a line to a point? I never realised that had a proof.

Well it's in the Less Stress book, so I assum so, although John Brennan doesn't mention it in his book of solutions.

Gileadi

its listed in the syllabus so its entitled to be asked

Beno

I've heard from a few people now that proof perpendicular distance from a line is gonna come up

OTliddy

Perpendicular dist came up in 1998, angle between 2 lines came up in 1997, so the signs are indeed ominous. perp. distance is quite a hard proof i think. In paper 1 i think i got 280+. I'm depending on A1 for maths for course. Q6 an Q7 Paper 2 can be done in 5 mins each but they're so unpredictable

BraveheartGal

vectors are p*** easy
theyre the matrices of paper 2

the smiley one

BraveheartGal wrote:

vectors are p*** easy
theyre the matrices of paper 2

Argh! vectors do my head in!!! I think it's cuz we done tham the last... Why do you all have so little choice??!! We were finished with the whole course by easter....

also a HATE probability......esp when they stick in a sets question, really don't understand that!!

oh well vectors it is I suppose...



btw, I heard the paper 2 was set by the same person that set paper one....don't know if that's a good or bad thing :eek:

stevoxbx

Its bad. Definatly bad.

*Angel*

Same people perhaps?

A good thing!

Awayindahils

ok i dont know if this was posted but its possible for them to get you to get the sum yoke of a difference eqn given that its two geometric series, and since there was so little of proper sequences and series on paer 1 it may come up. anyway you solve the differcne eqn as normal , and get to the Un equal to (xyz etc)and then you use the Series to infinrity formule which is a over (1-r) for each of the two parts and then add them togetehr.

also there were really few proofs on paper 1 so go over everything, and my teacher guessed the intergration proof of the cone thing, so may i suggest that you review the proof of the difference eqn aswell no promises but i think he said something about that.

D-Generate

Don't do the option question first because if you find it tricky and are not getting a part out then you will be worried for the rest of the exam because its compulsory.

randomfella

"the option is not an option" - prob what i'd put my study but instead putting all my study into geog.

2e

Wello people. Any one out there have any tips or good links for help dealing with max/ min problems in the calculus 'option'. mainly for the type of questions involving distances from/ to places. e.g. 2003 pap.2 Q8c.
P.S. I'm not worried about cones etc.

For that question:

A is equal to 12(x/60)=x/5 km.
B is equal to 6(x/60)=x/10 km.


Therefore, B has travelled a total of x/10 km, but the total distance is 4km. So the distance remaining is (4 minus x/10)

Using Pythagoras' theorem (if you draw a diagram, you'll see why), you have D^2=(x/5)^2 + (4-x/10)^2

Therfore 2D(dD/dX)=2(x/5)(1/5) + 2(4 minus x/10)(-1/10)

and then go from there. Sorry if it's not clear. It's very hard to do it without a diagram.

2e

Thanks... I can see how to do that one now. But in general how do you go about doing them??? Sorry if it seems like I'm asking the same question again, but I am not able to get my head round them and as the cone came up last year I'm worried it'll be a distance one again. THANKS!! (again)

If there are two variables in it, you have to find a link. Ex: If it tells you to find the maximum area that a four-sided fence of perimeter 30m has, you can see straight away that 2x + 2y=30. So Y=(15-x).

So the area A=xy.

And that's equal to x(15-x)

=15x-x^2.

Then differentiate to find the max/min area, and let it = 0

dA/dX=15-2x=0

Therefore x=7.5

and Y=15-7.5=7.5 (Ok I picked out a bad example, as it doesn't make sense. )




So A=xy=7.5(7.5)=whatever

To check whether it's a maximun or minimum, we find te second deriative:

d^2A/dX^2=-2

Sice the answer is less than zero, it is a maximum.

So the answer is the "whatever" above.


So, the steps are:

If there are two variables, find the link.

Differentiate and let it be equal to zero.

See if your answer is a max or a min by finding the second deriative.

State your answer.

JackKelly

first of all READ THE QUESTION!

They always ask you to put something in terms of something else. That bit is the key so go no further without doin that. In 2004 for example, they ask for volume of cylinder in terms of r and pi. So get what the normal formula is for vol of a cylinder

Vol = (pi)(R^2)(h)

You have to get rid of H, but we know

Circumfrence + H = 3

H = 3 - Circumfrence

H = 3 - (2)(pi)(R)

So Vol in terms of pi and r = (pi)(r^2)(3 - (2)pi(r))

Than go onto the next piece. The Easy part.

Max or Min is when f '(x) = 0 Max is when f ''(x) < 0 etc etc.

Apologies if i did something wrong,have no paper and im still thinking in vectors!

EDIT: Got there before me ^ . The first part is always the hard bit, so get that and you have it.

Its been a max min prob for the last two years, a Maclaurin Series before that, so it could always be a McLaurin this time.

snappieT

Probability is a piece of piss. I'll also be doing vectors, trig and statistics, with the line as a backup. I will be avoiding the circle at all costs.

JackKelly

Yea, i hate the circle too for some reason. I'll do it if i have to.

I hate the circle for the same reason I hate probability: there's usually something awkward in the question.

That being said, I still prefer it a LOT more than probability.

JackKelly

only good thing about prob is that you can do the questions fairly quickly, so if you do ok in the rest of the paper, you can still do the two prob's on top of that in <20 mins.

2e

TimAy wrote:

only good thing about prob is that you can do the questions fairly quickly, so if you do ok in the rest of the paper, you can still do the two prob's on top of that in <20 mins.

Thats my masterplan too!!!!!!!!! Then I have extra time to do the circle/ line depending on which is easier.

Scarinae

How do people find questions 6 and 7 difficult? I think probability etc is the easiest thing on the course, I'm surprised they haven't made it more difficult. Maybe there are two types of people who do higher Maths - those that hate probability and love trig, or those that hate trig and love probability?
I was surprised there weren't more proofs on paper 1. I mean, x squared from first principles? that's so easy it's unbelievable

BraveheartGal

me loves the circle!
vectors...kinda freakin out about em. i always had it in my head that theyre p easy and they are but jus looked at 2/3 of em there and theyre trickier than i thought

ill prob do
circle
vectors
probability and trig (3 out of the 4, depends on how tough they are)
and the stupid horrible god forsaken calculus question

2e

I know but it sucked it only being a part a. :-( I find trig and probabilty fairly handy but I always make stupid mistakes that I can never find afterwards, even if i go at snails pace. Thats why I'm doing it quick and fitting in an extra question. Plus unlike other questions you never know if your right or not. (e.g stuff like give answer in surd form).

Scarinae

Yeah I'm gonna be doing The Line, the two Trig questions, the two Probability/Statistics ones and Further Calculus

BraveheartGal

the line

*shudders in horror....sideshow bob style*

2e

My deffo qs:2 prob, 2 trig, option, vectors. Extra: eaisest of the 2 left, probably and hopefully circle!!

JackKelly

Fishie wrote:

How do people find questions 6 and 7 difficult? I think probability etc is the easiest thing on the course, I'm surprised they haven't made it more difficult. Maybe there are two types of people who do higher Maths - those that hate probability and love trig, or those that hate trig and love probability?
I was surprised there weren't more proofs on paper 1. I mean, x squared from first principles? that's so easy it's unbelievable

Yea seems to be two types of people. I love trig and i don't mind Prob too much. Still, i'll try and avoid it.

That X2 by 1st principles was v easy. it should have been in part b though.

Scarinae

TimAy wrote:

That X2 by 1st principles was v easy. it should have been in part b though.

Are they usually part b's? I'm a very forgetful person

There isn't really much they can ask you for the Line, is there? It's a very Junior Cert style question I think, not much to it

BraveheartGal

it is the easiest first principle on the course, was hopin for quotient cos that wld have been worth a lotta marks! and i knew it off in a song!

OTliddy

BraveheartGal wrote:

vectors are p*** easy
theyre the matrices of paper 2

What!?!? Linear transformations are the matrices of paper 2. If there is any question I won't be doing it'll be vectors.

Scarinae

BraveheartGal wrote:

it is the easiest first principle on the course, was hopin for quotient cos that wld have been worth a lotta marks! and i knew it off in a song!

Yeah, I'd heard the quotient rule was due as well (probably on this board, now that I think about it!) It's a pity yeah, cos it would have been a nice easy 20 marks! You made up a song about it?!?