Any last minute pointers for the Mathematics (2 unit) course? (1 Viewer)

[MrBrightside]

Hello BOSers,

Just seeing as the HSC exams are coming up pretty fast. Are there any last minute summary notes or common mistakes to be aware of that many people make in exams?

I find that maths is a 'trippy' subject from my perspective (Meaning that if you let your guard down for 1 second, your solution can become extremely problematic from one mistake).

I want some excellent quality posts, I.e NO Matthew Goodwin - Troll shit talk.

Thanks,

MrB

 

[LightXT]

Just realised that OP is talking about 2U Maths, not all subjects.

Even though I don't do 2U Maths (anymore), here's my 2 cents. If you're high Band 6 material, don't bother reading this.

Plan your time carefully. Try dividing the HSC exam into 3 sections.
Q1-4: Try to finish in under 40 minutes. Shouldn't be too difficult for many people, but double check your answers. If you go too fast (i.e. 15 minutes) you might write something stupid like 1--1=0
Q4-8: Gets harder. Geometry proofs are usually 3 or 4 lines, so don't waste your precious time on elaborate, fudged proofs. If your proof is too long, chances are, it's probably wrong as well. Remember your formulae, APs, GPs and finance. Try to finish in under 1 hour. Double check.
Q9-10: Some difficult questions may pop up in this final section. Likely to be maxima/minima questions. Remember there may be links in the questions i.e. you can use a previous part of that question eg 10(a) in 10(b) if need be. There was something like that in the 2010 HSC, if I remember correctly.

Sorry my advice is so shit, I haven't touched 2U for a year.

 

[MrBrightside]

Just realised that OP is talking about 2U Maths, not all subjects.

Even though I don't do 2U Maths (anymore), here's my 2 cents. If you're high Band 6 material, don't bother reading this.

Plan your time carefully. Try dividing the HSC exam into 3 sections.
Q1-4: Try to finish in under 40 minutes. Shouldn't be too difficult for many people, but double check your answers. If you go too fast (i.e. 15 minutes) you might write something stupid like 1--1=0
Q4-8: Gets harder. Geometry proofs are usually 3 or 4 lines, so don't waste your precious time on elaborate, fudged proofs. If your proof is too long, chances are, it's probably wrong as well. Remember your formulae, APs, GPs and finance. Try to finish in under 1 hour. Double check.
Q9-10: Some difficult questions may pop up in this final section. Likely to be maxima/minima questions. Remember there may be links in the questions i.e. you can use a previous part of that question eg 10(a) in 10(b) if need be. There was something like that in the 2010 HSC, if I remember correctly.

Sorry my advice is so shit, I haven't touched 2U for a year.

Nah, realistically I think I'm potentially band 5 material

Thanks for your insight, i've never tired doing a maths exam by splitting it up into timed sections like that. I try it on a pass paper and see how I go.

Also I found this thread which provides greater input on this thread topic.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=238553

Thanks to harrisony for the thread and the HSC markers who put the document together.

I don't get the second last line though of his first post. (xii), can someone care to explain it further? 2^x + 2^x =

 

[username_1]

Man I can't wait for the day this site gets permanent IP bans up and running.

ohh.. they got my house but that is only 1 out of like 200-300 computers I can access.

 

[KhanhM]

Be sure when doing trig you check if your calculator is either in degrees or radians! Neatly lay your work out, sometimes clutter mixed with a bit of stress can cause you to make mistakes. Bring 2 calculators in case too, haha!

 

[enoilgam]

Be sure when doing trig you check if your calculator is either in degrees or radians! Neatly lay your work out, sometimes clutter mixed with a bit of stress can cause you to make mistakes. Bring 2 calculators in case too, haha!

Agreed, definitely with the first point - so many people get caught out in tests by leaving their calculator on radians (we had a test on trig once, and a person in my year left their calculator on radians by mistake). This might be a stupid question, but can the markers give you full marks for a question if your working is correct but your calculator is on radians?

 

[SpiralFlex]

Nah, realistically I think I'm potentially band 5 material

Thanks for your insight, i've never tired doing a maths exam by splitting it up into timed sections like that. I try it on a pass paper and see how I go.

Also I found this thread which provides greater input on this thread topic.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=238553

Thanks to harrisony for the thread and the HSC markers who put the document together.

I don't get the second last line though of his first post. (xii), can someone care to explain it further? 2^x + 2^x =

The post is incorrect, it should be actually:

 

[gunner94]

Bring 2 calculators in case too, haha!

Can you explain this? I thought you can only bring in one.

 

[MrBrightside]

The post is incorrect, it should be actually:

so the qs or ans is 2^x + 1 ?


And to above posters, yes I have found in past papers that writing carelessly can cause you a lot of trouble for not getting the right solution. E.g. one time accidentally made a stroke next to a 3, so i thought it was a 13 the whole time, then at the end when it cam to graph the solution it wadsn';t making any sense, so I back tracked every line of working out to find that silly careless stroke. grrrrrr.

and no you will not get full marks if you used radians when you're supposed to use degrees mode. It will give an incorrect solution. You can still get marks for the working out if it's right, but not for the answer.

 

[SpiralFlex]

Yes, the answer.

 

[kaz1]

Can you explain this? I thought you can only bring in one.

one for radians, the other for degrees