Debating between whether to choose M1 or D1!

Hey everyone :smile:

I am currently studying for my edexcel A2 exams and I'm taking maths. For the units, we have to do three and I'm doing C3 and C4 and we have to choose between doing D1 or M1 at my school. I have idea how either of them are and how difficult or easy they are. My friends say since I did physics in AS, M1 would be a good choice. However, my grade for physics at AS was a D! and so I'm really confused as to what unit to do! Also, I want to make a wise choice because I really want to up my grades up..
Please help.. thankyou :smile:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Chlorophile

Original post by Shamla

Hey everyone :smile:

In terms of the content, M1 is definitely more difficult than D1. However, it is pretty easy to lose marks in D1 because of careless mistakes and I also think that D1 is the most monumentally boring module in existence. Maybe have a look through the respective module specifications and base your decision on that?

Reply 2

tanyapotter

I finished D1 as part of further maths AS and I've got to say, it was the most dire and depressing lesson of the week for me. I'm glad it's over and I'm starting mechanics now so I couldn't tell you what M1 is like but I can't see it being less interesting than the bane of my life that is D1.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

turn-to-page394

Just started D1 because we're doing our iGCSE early and stuff. It's not that bad (so far). But I don't think it's extremely interesting...

Reply 4

Azurefeline

Since you did physics AS, (assuming you took a board with a mechanics paper) you've likely covered 50%+ of the material already. Check it out: if you haven't, or found it difficult then do the other one.

I did M1 and D1 last year, personally I found M1 a lot easier because it has a lot more maths in it, and each process can be thought out logically. As long as you consider all the forces, it's fairly simple. D1 could be compared to "professor Layton puzzles for mathmaticians" if you like - what is the shortest route between A and B, etc (good for programming so I hear).

It depends on what you'll find easier. If the mechanics in physics is what brought your grade down, I'd lean towards D1 instead.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 5

izpenguin

I did D1 at AS and it was quite boring but pretty easy and there wasn't a lot to learn for it. To be honest it's not really maths, it's just problem solving. I got 94/100 for it.
That said, I do know a lot of people who did really badly in it. I think you just have to be careful because if you make 1 mistake you can mess us the whole question. Also you must be careful to write down all of your working, even if it seems obvious as that is what gets you the marks.
Overall I think D1 would be a good choice. I know nothing about M1 though.

Reply 6

RoyalBlue7

As you have done some Physics in AS and if you're continuing Physics or resitting some Physics - M1 is definitely the choice.

If you have no idea then you must go through the textbooks for yourself and see for yourself what's its like.

Personally I found D1 to be more interesting than M1 or M2 (if you're not forced to over do it) but as Chlorophile implied there are lots and lots of arithmetic - it's easy to make a mistake - even though you just have to follow algorithms.

Reply 7

Andy98

D1 is the maths behind computer science. You have to learn algorithms and follow them to the word. There's one algorithm that takes twenty marks.

Reply 8

Aph

Well seeing as you aren't good with decisions :tongue:

honestly I would always recommended mechanics.

Reply 9

Chlorophile

Original post by Andy98

D1 is the maths behind computer science. You have to learn algorithms and follow them to the word. There's one algorithm that takes twenty marks.

Is it really though? Because I went through a brief computer science phase and the mathematics in D1 looks so monumentally easy compared to anything I saw in suggested reading. D1 doesn't require any though, it just requires rote-learning.

Reply 10

404TWBS

Simple way to figure out if you should do M1 or D1.

Here is an equation.

x^2 +15x - 126

If your first thought is "I should factorize this!", do M1.
If your first thought is "I should use the Quadratic Formula on my Calculator!", do D1

D1 is SO much easier

Original post by Andy98

D1 is the maths behind computer science. You have to learn algorithms and follow them to the word. There's one algorithm that takes twenty marks.

I would have thought that even if you do want to do computer science at university, it's probably best to stick to M1 since it's more rigorous and physics-y?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 13

Andy98

Original post by Chlorophile

Yeahhhh tbf they say it's the maths behind computer science but the only it's true is that you're doing it the way a computer would.

Reply 14

Aph

Original post by 404TWBS

I decided to complete the square which one do I go into?

Reply 15

Andy98

Original post by tanyapotter

I would have thought that even if you do want to do computer science at university, it's probably best to stick to M1 since it's more rigorous and physics-y?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Well I'm doing further maths so I don't get the choice but I'd rather get a good grade in a "bad course" than a bad grade in a "good course". Besides, the maths may be easier in D1 although in a way it's harder because you've got to learn the algorithms

Reply 16

Andy98

Original post by Aph

I decided to complete the square which one do I go into?

PRSOM

Reply 17

Shamla

Original post by Chlorophile

I honestly can't risk anything at this stage :frown:

But it seems like both of them have their downs.. I did go through the M1 book and it's all plain physics and it just brought me down because I can't do physics at all! I will anyways go through the D1 specification and make a decision :smile:

Thankyou so much! In your opinion, which unit did you find the easiest?

Reply 18

TheKingOfTSR

If you can't do physics then I'd say D1. If you can rote learn and learn algorithms then you're through with D1. The disadvantage is it's pretty difficult to score very high on D1 since you've got a lot of arithmetic, so the chances of getting a careless mistake is so high. M1 will help your physics too ; if you're repeating physics AS then I'd say go for M1. If you hate physics then D1.