This test although difficult from 8b) onwards definetly did not have any 3 unit in it, I am a 2 unit student only and I had enough knowledge from doing only 2 unit to be able to answer all of the questions if time had not had been an issue.
2UNIT paper apparently needed 3UNIT skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter micky25
- Start date
DigitalFortress
Member
It wasn't that hard a test. I just got time-fucked
*notice the lack of ext1 in my sig.
kthx
*notice the lack of ext1 in my sig.
kthx
It's not 3U
It did not require 3u knowledge- I'm sure the exam was not only set by the board but assessed by others to ensure that it was a fair paper. By fair, I mean that it would give a good spread of marks which is what the HSC is all about- where you come in relation to everyone else. The only way they could do that was by singling out the good people by putting in hard questions (by the way I couldn't do question 10 either).
Question 8
a) Pythagoras- something like year 9 or 10 work, then simple differentiation to prove max
b) Was a very simple areas question- integration is a standard 2U topic. Just required some abstract thinking- not too hard considering they gave us the hint of considering the difference of 2 areas.
c) Standard loan repayment question and logarithm skills question- the thing that would have put people off would have been the nasty algebra, but again, it was do-able. People should not give up at the sight of huge numers and with a clear head and methodical way of going about it, would have got you all of this question out.
Question 9
a) Very simple particles question- only required integration and graph drawing skills (which would have got answered the second part of ii). 3U motion requires more formulae for example, d/dx (1/2v^2), tricks such as inverting dx/dt and other topics such as simple harmonic motion and projectile motion.
b) Use of sine rule and simliar triangles- again standard 2U topics. Just required some persistence (as always). Part ii was a simple statement of limiting sum occurs if -1<r<1 (this was true by drawing graph of y=sinx), then using the limiting sum formula, algebra and cancelling. Again- did NOT require ANY 3U knowledge (there is no extra information that 3U students learn in this topic anyway!)
Question 10
a) i- Sums and product of roots/gradient of a line -2U work
ii- Distance formula, nasty algebra- set work out neatly and will get answer
iii- Very simple areas question- they gave you the answer to the above question
and this one to let those who didnt get ii try this very easy question
iv- Differentiation of the above answer, nasty algebra.
b) I have no idea because I couldn't do this one.
To sum up, I believe the paper was challenging- but nobody ever said the HSC was going to be a walk in the park. However, in saying that, it was very do-able and was NOT geared towards 3U students- there is absolutely no question which required 3U knowledge.
The only thing was that it required high-order thinking skills- this means that students who could do the questions absolutely understood the topics and could therefore apply it to questions that they wern't used to seeing.
Woah, this is a massively long post...sorry guys...but I'm just sticking up for the 3U people who have been accused (such as being called "arrogant fucks"- which they are not) or whatever- it's not their fault that they have a greater understanding of maths. That's why they do extension.
It did not require 3u knowledge- I'm sure the exam was not only set by the board but assessed by others to ensure that it was a fair paper. By fair, I mean that it would give a good spread of marks which is what the HSC is all about- where you come in relation to everyone else. The only way they could do that was by singling out the good people by putting in hard questions (by the way I couldn't do question 10 either).
Question 8
a) Pythagoras- something like year 9 or 10 work, then simple differentiation to prove max
b) Was a very simple areas question- integration is a standard 2U topic. Just required some abstract thinking- not too hard considering they gave us the hint of considering the difference of 2 areas.
c) Standard loan repayment question and logarithm skills question- the thing that would have put people off would have been the nasty algebra, but again, it was do-able. People should not give up at the sight of huge numers and with a clear head and methodical way of going about it, would have got you all of this question out.
Question 9
a) Very simple particles question- only required integration and graph drawing skills (which would have got answered the second part of ii). 3U motion requires more formulae for example, d/dx (1/2v^2), tricks such as inverting dx/dt and other topics such as simple harmonic motion and projectile motion.
b) Use of sine rule and simliar triangles- again standard 2U topics. Just required some persistence (as always). Part ii was a simple statement of limiting sum occurs if -1<r<1 (this was true by drawing graph of y=sinx), then using the limiting sum formula, algebra and cancelling. Again- did NOT require ANY 3U knowledge (there is no extra information that 3U students learn in this topic anyway!)
Question 10
a) i- Sums and product of roots/gradient of a line -2U work
ii- Distance formula, nasty algebra- set work out neatly and will get answer
iii- Very simple areas question- they gave you the answer to the above question
and this one to let those who didnt get ii try this very easy question
iv- Differentiation of the above answer, nasty algebra.
b) I have no idea because I couldn't do this one.
To sum up, I believe the paper was challenging- but nobody ever said the HSC was going to be a walk in the park. However, in saying that, it was very do-able and was NOT geared towards 3U students- there is absolutely no question which required 3U knowledge.
The only thing was that it required high-order thinking skills- this means that students who could do the questions absolutely understood the topics and could therefore apply it to questions that they wern't used to seeing.
Woah, this is a massively long post...sorry guys...but I'm just sticking up for the 3U people who have been accused (such as being called "arrogant fucks"- which they are not) or whatever- it's not their fault that they have a greater understanding of maths. That's why they do extension.
DigitalFortress
Member
LMAO,
Cityboy knows the score.
Cityboy knows the score.
congratulations all you 3 unit students who answered the paper with no problems, really...bravo....
obviously if there is such an uproar about the difficulty of the paper then it was significantly harder than past years (to the AVERAGE students or perhaps the ones who aren't as mathematically gifted as you 3unit students who are obviously so very brilliant)
who is a better judge of that? a mathematician or year 12 students whose level doesn't succeed our final year of high school? i think we are an indication of how difficult a paper is.
so don't get your knickers in a knot about how hard it was....you did fine....they're not going to scale our marks so we beat you so no need to fret
to a great number us 2unit students who studied our asses off doing past papers....the paper we did on monday is one of the most disappointing things we could come across as it feels as if we've studied so much only to have to sit in that exam and not having a clue what to do with some of those questions
so really.... i think we reserve the right to complain...
obviously if there is such an uproar about the difficulty of the paper then it was significantly harder than past years (to the AVERAGE students or perhaps the ones who aren't as mathematically gifted as you 3unit students who are obviously so very brilliant)
who is a better judge of that? a mathematician or year 12 students whose level doesn't succeed our final year of high school? i think we are an indication of how difficult a paper is.
so don't get your knickers in a knot about how hard it was....you did fine....they're not going to scale our marks so we beat you so no need to fret
to a great number us 2unit students who studied our asses off doing past papers....the paper we did on monday is one of the most disappointing things we could come across as it feels as if we've studied so much only to have to sit in that exam and not having a clue what to do with some of those questions
so really.... i think we reserve the right to complain...
RyddeckerSMP
Go The Knights!
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2004
- Messages
- 342
- Gender
- Male
- HSC
- 2005
It was harder sure, but it was still definately a 2unit exam.
Sarah_Lou
hsc ova
i know that many people are arguing the contrary - but my maths tutor, who has been teaching senior maths for over 30 years, and who is a HSC marker, said to me that it was a difficult exam that did require 3unit skills.....so i guess it's just one person's word against the other.
chin music
Member
I think that ur confusing 3 unit skills with 3 unit difuculty. Theyre 2 different things. 3 unit skills were definately not need for any questions the BOS wouldnt screw up that much. As a 3 unit student parts of 8,9 and 10 felt much like a 3 unit exam so id say that there was 3 unit difficulty. 3 unit difficulty should be only in q 10 but what made the test much harder was the fact that it was in 8 9 and 10micky25 said:
chin music
Member
Well considering the fact that everyones complaining about the paper id say that it was a higher standard (3 unit standard). I think the motion graph question was 3 unit standard, I reckon all of q 10 was 3 unit standard, q 8 and 9 actually werent that difficult. I got the money maths one wrong not coz it was hard but because i hate it. But i still think that q 8 and 9 were closer to 3 unit standard then 2 unit. 3 unit questions usually involve complicated applications of formulae and questions which require more steps. 2 unit is usually easier questions to understand and involve clearer ways to apply the formulae. Thats how i define 3 unit standard.
Last edited:
lincolnbaker
New Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2004
- Messages
- 6
The back end of maths papers is where the courses overlap..
Q9 and Q10 are of 3unit standard, and separate the strong 2unit kids to the weak and average 2unit kids.
Dont worry, they will scale you up, because everyone found it hard.
The same will happen tomorrow in 3unit, question 7 will resemble 4unit, its just the way it is.
Q9 and Q10 are of 3unit standard, and separate the strong 2unit kids to the weak and average 2unit kids.
Dont worry, they will scale you up, because everyone found it hard.
The same will happen tomorrow in 3unit, question 7 will resemble 4unit, its just the way it is.
Why doesn't anybody realise that the difficulty of the exam barely makes a difference? If the exam was easier, you would of got 80%, but everyone else would of also got 80% and higher! If the exam was harder, you got 40%, but everyone else got 40% as well! When it comes down to it, your ranking will remain relatively the same, you are only as good as a certain number of people...what mark you get to beat them is not making a difference. 100th in the state with 80% or 100th in the state with 40%, big friggen deal!!! Its all about ranking!!!
i dont recon 3 unit diffuculty should be in the test at all...its a 2 unit test...so the questions should focus on the difficulty for 2U students...they should be trynig to test 2U students understanding of what we have leanrt...not making it so hard so very few 2U kinds can sctually do the question
skyrockets1530
Member++
The issue, atleast for me, was not the difficulty but the time required to answer all the questions- and the normal pressure of an hsc exam. I dont do 3unit, and I can say that I CAN do all the questions asked in that paper. But i wasnt able to.
The paper was simply far too time consuming, after finishing past papers in under two hours, i couldnt get through question ten and had to leave a thing or two blank. Even the early parts of the paper took longer than the corresponding parts of past papers. So the issue for me wasnt difficulty, because 2units could theoretically do the whole paper, but not in the 3 hours, and adding to that the careless errors I usually make, it felt like a more difficult paper than I've seen in recent years.
The paper was simply far too time consuming, after finishing past papers in under two hours, i couldnt get through question ten and had to leave a thing or two blank. Even the early parts of the paper took longer than the corresponding parts of past papers. So the issue for me wasnt difficulty, because 2units could theoretically do the whole paper, but not in the 3 hours, and adding to that the careless errors I usually make, it felt like a more difficult paper than I've seen in recent years.
chin music
Member
As lincolnbaker said, the 3 unit standard is to separate the weak 2 unit kids from the strong 2 unit kids. Every test u ever do has hard questions or its a shit test. It just so happens that hard questions are classified as 3 unit standarddumbralph said:
Jago
el oh el donkaments
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2004
- Messages
- 3,691
- Gender
- Male
- HSC
- 2005
q8a - pythagoras' theorem, substitution and maxima/minima
q8b - integration of polynomials (?)
q8c - superannuation
q9a - calc of x, dx/dt, graphing sin/cos/tan graphs
q9b - similar triangles, limiting sum
q10a - co-ordinate geometry, algebra manipulation
q10b - obscure probability
as far as i can tell q8 - 10 didn't require 3u at all, just because SOME of it was difficult doesn't make it 3u standard, and imo i think the q9s of the past couple years were quite difficult also.
sure it was hard, but if you look at the questions carefully any capable 2U student should have been able to do the paper.
Edit: but i agree, the paper was quite time consuming
q8b - integration of polynomials (?)
q8c - superannuation
q9a - calc of x, dx/dt, graphing sin/cos/tan graphs
q9b - similar triangles, limiting sum
q10a - co-ordinate geometry, algebra manipulation
q10b - obscure probability
as far as i can tell q8 - 10 didn't require 3u at all, just because SOME of it was difficult doesn't make it 3u standard, and imo i think the q9s of the past couple years were quite difficult also.
sure it was hard, but if you look at the questions carefully any capable 2U student should have been able to do the paper.
Edit: but i agree, the paper was quite time consuming
Last edited: