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Further mathssss compare to normal maths

Asfand98

On a scale of 1 to 10 how difficult is a levels maths and a levels further maths? Is further maths to difficult?

Reply 1

SteveDogg23

Original post by Asfand98

On a scale of 1 to 10 how difficult is a levels maths and a levels further maths? Is further maths to difficult?

You can't grade how hard it is on a scale. If you're good at maths and are prepared to work hard, then you will do well.

Reply 2

math42

They're both easy as hell if you work hard

Reply 3

RDKGames

Study Forum Helper

I give it a grade of

-e^{i\pi}

out of 10

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

JC52

Further maths is a lot tougher than maths, but if you really like maths and want to get good at it, then definitely try further maths. A good thing about doing further maths is that it will make regular a-level maths seem easy by comparison!

It's a bit tough to put them on a scale, since you have options regarding which modules to study, but I'll give it a go... For me, A-Level maths was C1 - C4, M1 and S1. A-level further maths was FP1 - FP3, M2, M3 and S2. I'll do three scales:

Further Maths(FP1, FP2, FP3) vs Maths(C1, C2, C3, C4):
Further Maths Difficulty = 9; Maths Difficulty = 5

Further Maths(S2) vs Maths(S1):
Further Maths Difficulty = 2; Maths Difficulty = 1

Further Maths(M2, M3) vs Maths(M1):
Further Maths Difficulty = 10; Maths difficulty = 4

So obviously the above is super subjective. I'm saying the pure maths modules in further maths are a lot harder than maths, the statistic module from further maths wasn't too much trickier than maths, whereas the mechanics modules from further maths were much much harder than maths. But of course you might be doing different modules, so it might be a different experience for you!

To conclude I'd say that further maths is a lot harder than maths, but it is a lot of fun too. It will make A-Level maths easier (which in turn makes A-Level physics easier), and will be very helpful if you decide to go to university to study a STEM subject. Further maths covered the first semester of my theoretical physics degree, for example. But it'll also help out loads with a degree in chemistry, medicine, engineering etc. It's the toughest A-Level in my opinion, but well worth it :smile:

Reply 5

math42

Original post by RDKGames

I give it a grade of

-e^{i\pi}

out of 10

Bit high. I'd give it

\displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \frac{(-1)^{k + 1}}{k}

out of 10.
idec if 1 is our effective 0 in a 1 to 10 system

Reply 6

Pentaquark

Makes normal maths looks easy af
Its more interesting and its more challenging than normal maths which makes it quite fun
But its also not like really really hard so yeah, its alright :tongue:

(I've only done AS so far bearing in mind although I am self teaching a bit of C3/C4 & FP2 rn)

Maths - 4 - easy A* for most people who do FM I guess
Further Maths - 8 - a lot harder to get the A*
The grade boundaries punish you more imo in FM, since most people will be aiming for 90+UMS I guess
So you can't afford to just drop silly marks.

Reply 7

TheConfusedMedic

Original post by RDKGames

I give it a grade of

-e^{i\pi}

out of 10

Original post by 1 8 13 20 42

Bit high. I'd give it

\displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \frac{(-1)^{k + 1}}{k}

out of 10.
idec if 1 is our effective 0 in a 1 to 10 system

can't wait until i can understand this maths banter :colone:

Reply 8

RDKGames

Study Forum Helper

Original post by surina16

can't wait until i can understand this maths banter :colone:

His is more straight forward but you won't understand mine unless you're doing FM. :tongue:

Reply 9

math42

Original post by RDKGames

His is more straight forward but you won't understand mine unless you're doing FM. :tongue:

It is? What is your solution? :beard:

Reply 10

RDKGames

Study Forum Helper

Original post by 1 8 13 20 42

It is? What is your solution? :beard:

Well any person can plug that into the calculator and see that it collapses onto around 0.69. Not sure how to approach it analytically.

Reply 11

math42

Original post by RDKGames

Well any person can plug that into the calculator and see that it collapses onto around 0.69. Not sure how to approach it analytically.

Ah right fair enough. If you know the answer, it can be quickly proved by Taylor series, but I've only solved it in Analysis I with a reasonably intricate guided method. I was just wondering if you had an easier one as I'd be interested to see if Warwick put me through unnecessary pain lol