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CfE Advanced Higher Mathematics 2016/2017

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Hi there everyone, I thought I'd let you all know that I am nearing the end of my Maths Honours course and Teaching Maths is something that interests me greatly.

So if you have any questions about the course or a specific question about something Maths-y then let me know. :smile:

Oh, and if I have any advice then it is to get good at Calculus. I mean *seriously* good! AH Maths is literally 60% Diff and Int, 30% Matrices and Vectors and 10% Induction and Contradiction Proofs.
Original post by Sherlock222
ImageUploadedByStudent Room1465226756.234980.jpgI just started the course last week and I'm really excited for the rest!! Only thing is my cat is trying to sabotage my work...


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Do I spot a wee bit of Binomial Expansion? Psst, there's a shortcut method to this!
We just did Gaussians Elimination today and I swear I find it really hard to not make any arithmetic mistakes lol.


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Original post by TheRedGoldfish
Hi there everyone, I thought I'd let you all know that I am nearing the end of my Maths Honours course and Teaching Maths is something that interests me greatly.

So if you have any questions about the course or a specific question about something Maths-y then let me know. :smile:

Oh, and if I have any advice then it is to get good at Calculus. I mean *seriously* good! AH Maths is literally 60% Diff and Int, 30% Matrices and Vectors and 10% Induction and Contradiction Proofs.


Will you be here in months time so we can post questions we are struggling with next school year ?


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Original post by RossB1702
Will you be here in months time so we can post questions we are struggling with next school year ?


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Of course! Only thing is I don't check StudentRoom often enough outside exam period so what to do is post your question here as normal and tweet to me (@Mr_S_Davidson) to let me know about it. :smile:

Advanced Higher really isn't too bad and don't worry if you don't get understand it now because I got a D in it and I am now projected for a 2:1 Maths Honours.
Original post by RossB1702
We just did Gaussians Elimination today and I swear I find it really hard to not make any arithmetic mistakes lol.


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A good tip is to use "Row Sum Check" whereby you add up the coefficients plus the RHS constant. You can then perform the same row operation you used earlier on this number and you should get the same as the sum of the next bit.

e.g.
x-5y+7z=5 <-- (1-5+7+5 = 8)
4x+2y-2z=10 <-- (4+2-2+10 = 14)
9x+y-2z=15 <-- (9+1-2+15 = 23)

[R2 - 4R1; R3-9R1]=>
x-5y+7z=5 <-- (1-5+7+5 = 8)
22y-30z=-10 <-- (22-30-10 = -18)
46y-65z=-30 <-- (46-65-30 = -49)

Using the Row Operations earlier, we can see that:
8 = 8 (since R1 stays the same)
14 - 4(8) = -18
23 - 9(8) = -49

It is a bit tedious and so I would only recommend using this if you're not already confident with arithmetic. It's also useful in the exam because Gauss is some easy marks to pick up so better safe than sorry!
Original post by TheRedGoldfish
Of course! Only thing is I don't check StudentRoom often enough outside exam period so what to do is post your question here as normal and tweet to me (@Mr_S_Davidson) to let me know about it. :smile:

Advanced Higher really isn't too bad and don't worry if you don't get understand it now because I got a D in it and I am now projected for a 2:1 Maths Honours.


Cheers! I appreciate it.
Good luck with your last year.


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(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by TheRedGoldfish
A good tip is to use "Row Sum Check" whereby you add up the coefficients plus the RHS constant. You can then perform the same row operation you used earlier on this number and you should get the same as the sum of the next bit.

e.g.
x-5y+7z=5 <-- (1-5+7+5 = 8)
4x+2y-2z=10 <-- (4+2-2+10 = 14)
9x+y-2z=15 <-- (9+1-2+15 = 23)

[R2 - 4R1; R3-9R1]=>
x-5y+7z=5 <-- (1-5+7+5 = 8)
22y-30z=-10 <-- (22-30-10 = -18)
46y-65z=-30 <-- (46-65-30 = -49)

Using the Row Operations earlier, we can see that:
8 = 8 (since R1 stays the same)
14 - 4(8) = -18
23 - 9(8) = -49

It is a bit tedious and so I would only recommend using this if you're not already confident with arithmetic. It's also useful in the exam because Gauss is some easy marks to pick up so better safe than sorry!


Yeah I'll maybe use it if I have finished the exam and are checking over my answers at the end. Thanks for the tip!


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Original post by TheRedGoldfish
Do I spot a wee bit of Binomial Expansion? Psst, there's a shortcut method to this!


Shortcut?? I need that in my life!
Just subscribing to this thread, as I do every year :lurk:
This is my first post on this forum :smile:.

I'm taking advanced higher maths this year, but I'm not at school, I'm doing it through a college in Edinburgh. I'll also be doing Mechanics advanced higher and an A level in physics. I'm hoping to go to uni to do maths.

It would be good if this thread was very active, and I note we have some extremely well qualified people advising, which is brilliant.

At the moment I'm working through the !aths higher book as my highest qualification in maths is a GCSE (I got an A).
Original post by DonAchille
This is my first post on this forum :smile:.

I'm taking advanced higher maths this year, but I'm not at school, I'm doing it through a college in Edinburgh. I'll also be doing Mechanics advanced higher and an A level in physics. I'm hoping to go to uni to do maths.

It would be good if this thread was very active, and I note we have some extremely well qualified people advising, which is brilliant.

At the moment I'm working through the !aths higher book as my highest qualification in maths is a GCSE (I got an A).


Any problems then send them here or ask your college tutors. There's plenty people to help. :smile:


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Original post by TheRedGoldfish
Any problems then send them here or ask your college tutors. There's plenty people to help. :smile:


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Thank you! My college (Wallace college) is really just an exam centre. They do offer tuition, but it sounds extremely expensive for what's on offer, so I have managed to find a private tutor.

I've got the maths in action advanced higher book, can anyone recommend anything else? I've found a fair amount of stuff on school websites.
Original post by DonAchille
Thank you! My college (Wallace college) is really just an exam centre. They do offer tuition, but it sounds extremely expensive for what's on offer, so I have managed to find a private tutor.

I've got the maths in action advanced higher book, can anyone recommend anything else? I've found a fair amount of stuff on school websites.


BrightRed does an excellent range. I highly recommend their AH Maths book.
Original post by TheRedGoldfish
BrightRed does an excellent range. I highly recommend their AH Maths book.


I have that one too! It seems like it'll be more use later in the year though, once I've actually covered the material.
Reply 35
Hi, i am taking advanced higher maths and have maths homework and i was wondering if anyone could help me on the following question:
Q: For a curve with equation y= x^sinx show that the tangent at x=pi/2 is inclined at pi/4 to the x-axis
Original post by Kao1
Hi, i am taking advanced higher maths and have maths homework and i was wondering if anyone could help me on the following question:
Q: For a curve with equation y= x^sinx show that the tangent at x=pi/2 is inclined at pi/4 to the x-axis


Think back to Higher where you had to find the gradient of a tangent to a function. There are two ways you learn how to do it:

1) Differentiation
2) Using the angle between the function and the x-axis. e.g. tan(pi/4) = 1 so the gradient is 1.

This question requires you to do both.

Tip: You do not need to actually find the stationary points
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by DonAchille
This is my first post on this forum :smile:.

I'm taking advanced higher maths this year, but I'm not at school, I'm doing it through a college in Edinburgh. I'll also be doing Mechanics advanced higher and an A level in physics. I'm hoping to go to uni to do maths.

It would be good if this thread was very active, and I note we have some extremely well qualified people advising, which is brilliant.

At the moment I'm working through the !aths higher book as my highest qualification in maths is a GCSE (I got an A).

Heyy I did Advanced Higher Maths and Mechanics so I can help you with any questions you might have! I think AH Maths is a bit repetitive and not that difficult but AH Mechanics is a whole different story :laugh: It's not like there's loads to learn in AH Mechanics but there's always a lot of problem solving in exam questions. Having said that, if you're naturally good at problem solving then you'll get used to the type of questions that come up in past papers and everything will start to click.
Reply 38
I am doing AH maths this year and I'm wondering if you guys know any good websites to help and that have practice questions on specific topics in the course?
Original post by ....Jeff458
Me!!!!!!!!!!!

We started the course briefly at school.

Anyone else done matrices? Seems stupid tbh -_-


I LOVE MATRICES.
Just wait till you get to the new trig. identity stuff and you'll realise how great matrices are. :biggrin: lool But I agree there isn't much point in it but I like it lol

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