The 2012 STEP Results Discussion Thread

So I started off on STEP 2007 and 2008 papers, just trying to get acquainted with the question style. I've done a lot of them so went on to a new paper... from 1997.

Whereas on the 2007 papers some questions took me a day or so to get perfect, these seem so much easier! I managed STEP I 1997 question 3 in 8 minutes. Eight.

Anyone else had this kinda experience? Is STEP really getting that much harder? :s-smilie:

Yeah I noticed that, STEP 1 1998 q 8 and 9 I did in under 10 mins each but I really struggle with most of the later papers!

Reply 781

Rahul.S

14

Original post by Xero Xenith

So I started off on STEP 2007 and 2008 papers, just trying to get acquainted with the question style. I've done a lot of them so went on to a new paper... from 1997.

Whereas on the 2007 papers some questions took me a day or so to get perfect, these seem so much easier! I managed STEP I 1997 question 3 in 8 minutes. Eight.

Anyone else had this kinda experience? Is STEP really getting that much harder? :s-smilie:

so far I think STEP I has got harder...but STEP II has been the same I think. I reckon if you saw the trick earliar in a question before you would be able to do the questions quicker whereas now the parts which follow become harder.

try q2 step I 1994...I did that in 2 minutes :confused:

Reply 782

Dirac Spinor

10

I think the consensus is that old papers tended to be much more variable. Some of them were trivial, others were very hard. Seems to be particularly stark amongst the mechanics questions. Dunno, maybe I'm misremembering.

Reply 783

shamika

16

Original post by Rahul.S

so far I think STEP I has got harder...but STEP II has been the same I think. I reckon if you saw the trick earliar in a question before you would be able to do the questions quicker whereas now the parts which follow become harder.

try q2 step I 1994...I did that in 2 minutes :confused:

Yeah this has to be in contention for the easiest STEP question ever. Was the 'trick' to differentiate

x^x

not standard at A-Level then? And really, you get marks for differentiating

x^a

(even if its a half mark)? That can't be right...

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 784

Rahul.S

14

Original post by shamika

Yeah this has to be in contention for the easiest STEP question ever. Was the 'trick' to differentiate

x^x

not standard at A-Level then? And really, you get marks for differentiating

x^a

(even if its a half mark)? That can't be right...

yh it was that question :tongue:

I mean it wasnt a bad question....just need some extra stuff to make it longer.

you done STEP?

Reply 785

shamika

16

Original post by Rahul.S

yh it was that question :tongue:

I mean it wasnt a bad question....just need some extra stuff to make it longer.

you done STEP?

Nah - chickened out and went to Imperial instead (this was when Imperial didn't require STEP)

Reply 786

TSong

The syllabus for STEP III includes 'marginal and conditional distributions'.

I am wondering if anyone knows any questions based on this. I didn't do A-Levels so have no idea of what level of knowledge is expected. :smile:

Reply 787

sianem

Is anyone else really panicking about STEP or is it just me??!

Reply 788

marcus2001

14

Just noticed in Siklos' booklet, for a volume of revolution question, rotating about the y-axis he uses the integral of 2*pi*y*x dx, haven't seen this before, when can it be used?

Reply 789

Xero Xenith

10

Original post by marcus2001

Just noticed in Siklos' booklet, for a volume of revolution question, rotating about the y-axis he uses the integral of 2*pi*y*x dx, haven't seen this before, when can it be used?

That seems wrong - it's usually

\int{2 \pi x^2 dy}

.

Wikipedia says otherwise, but I'm too tired/full/lazy to make sense of it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_of_revolution#Cylinder_method

Reply 790

gff

5

If it is the question I have in mind, then the disks method would work, but you need split it into two parts.
However, the method of shells is quite common, and it is part of our A-level syllabus as well. (I think)

The disk method is

\pi \int_{a}^{b} y^2(x)\ dx

, and it seems that it is not available in the formulae book.

EDIT: Doh, didn't pay enough attention to the limits of integration.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 791

like_a_star

1

Original post by sianem

Is anyone else really panicking about STEP or is it just me??!

me

Reply 792

fruktas

2

Original post by marcus2001

Just noticed in Siklos' booklet, for a volume of revolution question, rotating about the y-axis he uses the integral of 2*pi*y*x dx, haven't seen this before, when can it be used?

It might be very likely that it is only valid for that particular case?

Volume of a revolution is usually given by the integral pi*y^2*dx
or by the integral pi*x^2*dy

Reply 793

bananarama2

Original post by fruktas

It might be very likely that it is only valid for that particular case?

Volume of a revolution is usually given by the integral pi*y^2*dx
or by the integral pi*x^2*dy

There is another method...

Reply 794

marcus2001

14

Okay, thanks guys, I wasn't previously aware of the 'disc' method and 'cylinder' method - they're definitely not on my specification.

In the Wikipedia article there is a case when using the cylinder method where the volume of revolution is given by 2*pi*y*x which is what Siklos must have used.

Only thing I haven't really grasped is when to use each method, the examples from the article aren't too clear?