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MAT Prep Thread - 2nd November 2016

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Quido
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Original post by KloppOClock
i need to do well in MAT to compensate for my **** grades lol.

Ive already done 6 papers but dont want to do any more as I need to save some for later

So far I am just doing C1,C2 papers and some aea,smc and nrich questions.


Take it easy :tongue: I need the MAT to compensate for my slightly lower than expected AS grades but you don't need to do so much so quickly
Original post by KloppOClock
im running out of things to do, how are all you revising for this? I have too much time and not enough work


I know the feeling with too much time - in Scotland timetables are designed around 5 subjects, yet I'm sitting 3 (Advanced Highers), so I've got a bunch of time in school to study and the like.

In terms of preparation, I've been doing one paper a week, then closely reviewing the paper, and giving myself the week to understand the bits I don't get. If I'm still not sure, I ask my maths teacher for help. It seems to be going fairly well so far - at least I get the logic question instead of geometry :biggrin:.

If you look up something called the "Reimann Zeta Club", they've got quite a number of things for the MAT. In particular, I liked their PowerPoints for the multiple choice - it goes through it all very well, particularly looking at certain question types in more depth, and pointing out some common tricks/shortcuts.
Original post by AmanGottu
Hey guys if anyone is interested in having group skype sessions to practice for MAT be sure to message me! I'm a US applicant btw and I'm trying to practice so I can try to get a 90-100 on the exam. Here are my test scores to show some sense of credibility. Please message me!

ACT - 36
Math2 - 800
Bio - 790
Chem - 770
AP CalcAB - 5
AP Com. Sci - 5
AMC 12A (Feb. 2016)- 117


Heyy
Add me to this Skype chat!

Im doing the MAT and definitely need to start preparing!

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Original post by lewman99
I know the feeling with too much time - in Scotland timetables are designed around 5 subjects, yet I'm sitting 3 (Advanced Highers), so I've got a bunch of time in school to study and the like.

In terms of preparation, I've been doing one paper a week, then closely reviewing the paper, and giving myself the week to understand the bits I don't get. If I'm still not sure, I ask my maths teacher for help. It seems to be going fairly well so far - at least I get the logic question instead of geometry :biggrin:.

If you look up something called the "Reimann Zeta Club", they've got quite a number of things for the MAT. In particular, I liked their PowerPoints for the multiple choice - it goes through it all very well, particularly looking at certain question types in more depth, and pointing out some common tricks/shortcuts.


thanks, these power points look the ****
Original post by KloppOClock
thanks, these power points look the ****


Do some BMO and step.
Last years questions 2 of them were easy full marks since I had done BMO and STEP.


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Original post by physicsmaths
Do some BMO and step.
Last years questions 2 of them were easy full marks since I had done BMO and STEP.


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which step?
Original post by KloppOClock
which step?


Just do Step I id say for now. If you do around 2000-2010 it will be overkill but worth it imo.
The question that was repeated was from a step II i think.
Original post by physicsmaths
Just do Step I id say for now. If you do around 2000-2010 it will be overkill but worth it imo.
The question that was repeated was from a step II i think.


ok thanks
Im stuck on this mat question from 2010 paper, part iii, I've found the equation of the line, but i can't seem to understand why the line would be tangential when h=2/root5, would it not be tangential when h=root3/2???
Screen Shot 2016-09-20 at 14.23.23.png150.8KB
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RichE
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If h is between the two values given, then the right side of the triangle will intersect the circle in two points.
Original post by redsquared
Im stuck on this mat question from 2010 paper, part iii, I've found the equation of the line, but i can't seem to understand why the line would be tangential when h=2/root5, would it not be tangential when h=root3/2???


Well if you're stuck on this sort of thing you can just plug things in. Try solving for x^2 + y^2 = 4 when y is given by the line with h = 2/root5. If you get only one solution (which you do) then clearly the line is tangent to the circle.
Original post by RichE
If h is between the two values given, then the right side of the triangle will intersect the circle in two points.


oh yeah thanks i just hadn't thought about it like that
Hey guys, thought i'd join in here! Been prepping for about a month now, the DR Frost resources are definitely something i would recommend to anyone. How is everyone finding the MAT? To start with i was doing terribly, as this is the first thing like this i've tried, but i find the question styles are definitely easier to prepare for once you've looked at a few past papers. Need to sharpen up my geometry, but the rest of the questions im not finding to bad now. Feel free to message me to talk about any questions, would be a help to me too!
Original post by Non-Euclidean
Hey guys, thought i'd join in here! Been prepping for about a month now, the DR Frost resources are definitely something i would recommend to anyone. How is everyone finding the MAT? To start with i was doing terribly, as this is the first thing like this i've tried, but i find the question styles are definitely easier to prepare for once you've looked at a few past papers. Need to sharpen up my geometry, but the rest of the questions im not finding to bad now. Feel free to message me to talk about any questions, would be a help to me too!


It's been going quite well - I'm doing roughly a paper a week, and I'm doing the 2011 paper tomorrow. I haven't been focusing too much on scores so far, moreso on tackling and understanding the questions, but I feel I understand most of it. Let's just say I'm very happy to do the logic question rather than geometry. I feel I've been rushing through the papers a bit, though - I usually have quite a bit of time left, and I'm unsure whether going a bit more slowly would help me or just cause me to doubt myself.

Also, can somebody explain 1H from the 2009 paper? I'm in Scotland, and the trapezium rule isn't taught here at all, not even as Advanced Higher. I know a little bit about it (approximating an integral with trapeziums, if the graph curves up it'll be an overestimate otherwise it's an underestimate), and that's been enough for some of the other trapezium rule questions so far, but I just don't get this one.
Original post by lewman99
It's been going quite well - I'm doing roughly a paper a week, and I'm doing the 2011 paper tomorrow. I haven't been focusing too much on scores so far, moreso on tackling and understanding the questions, but I feel I understand most of it. Let's just say I'm very happy to do the logic question rather than geometry. I feel I've been rushing through the papers a bit, though - I usually have quite a bit of time left, and I'm unsure whether going a bit more slowly would help me or just cause me to doubt myself.

Also, can somebody explain 1H from the 2009 paper? I'm in Scotland, and the trapezium rule isn't taught here at all, not even as Advanced Higher. I know a little bit about it (approximating an integral with trapeziums, if the graph curves up it'll be an overestimate otherwise it's an underestimate), and that's been enough for some of the other trapezium rule questions so far, but I just don't get this one.

Ahh fair, are you getting help from your college? I'm all alone haha! I would recommend originally going through without to much emphasis on time making sure you understand as much as you can and appreciate what's going on- i find if i rush through i generally dont realise what they want you to see! I am exactly the same with preference to logic haha!
As for 1 H, assuming you know the formulae for the trapizium rule, if not you'll need to learn it! Write it out with the subinterval terms and try to form a partial geometric sequence and use the sum formula to evaluate it, you should be able to simplify using index laws and obtain one of the answers.
If you still get stuck let me know and i'll try and explain more explicitly but, would recommend trying to do it yourself to start with, hope i helped :smile:
Original post by lewman99
x


http://i.imgur.com/djWpe0V.png

Here are the notes from our (UK edexcel) textbook on the trapezium rule. Hope it helps :biggrin:

for the MAT question just carefully think about what each y value will be, then do some tidying up and as non-euclidean said you should look to use the geometric series formula
so is everyone generally finding the logic 15 markers easier and the geometry 15 markers harder?
for 2007 question 4, i don't really understand the solution. i used a different method to answer the A(thetha)=B(*) and A(pi/4) etc whereby i essentially found the area of both A(theta) and B(theta) by finding area of triangle-area of sector for both and checked that B(pi/2-theta)=A(theta). Is that a valid method of doing it? Also can someone explain to me the official solution to that question from the A(theta)=B(pi/2-theta) part.
Thanks!
Original post by danielhx
for 2007 question 4, i don't really understand the solution. i used a different method to answer the A(thetha)=B(*) and A(pi/4) etc whereby i essentially found the area of both A(theta) and B(theta) by finding area of triangle-area of sector for both and checked that B(pi/2-theta)=A(theta). Is that a valid method of doing it? Also can someone explain to me the official solution to that question from the A(theta)=B(pi/2-theta) part.
Thanks!


It seems they're just looking for an intuitive answer: it's sort of obvious when you look at the picture that that result should follow, and what they've written is basically a long-winded way of saying "symmetry". I doubt you'd be penalised for concretely working it out. But in general if something says "explain" it's license to just use words.
Not sure I can explain better than they have but I'll try. Imagine I fix some arbitrary value for theta. Then consider the corresponding diagram with pi/2 - theta in theta's place, so the areas are A(pi/2 - theta) and B(pi/2 - theta) Now envision this diagram being reflected in the line y = x. The circle stays the same, because we don't care which of x and y is which right? (remember the equation is (x - 1)^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 1 ). But the line changes, swapping theta and pi/2 - theta. This is just our original diagram with theta. You can envision the section with area B(pi/2 - theta) being reflected where it becomes A(theta) in said original diagram.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by 1 8 13 20 42
It seems they're just looking for an intuitive answer: it's sort of obvious when you look at the picture that that result should follow, and what they've written is basically a long-winded way of saying "symmetry". I doubt you'd be penalised for concretely working it out. But in general if something says "explain" it's license to just use words.
Not sure I can explain better than they have but I'll try. Imagine I fix some arbitrary value for theta. Then consider the corresponding diagram with pi/2 - theta in theta's place, so the areas are A(pi/2 - theta) and B(pi/2 - theta) Now envision this diagram being reflected in the line y = x. The circle stays the same, because we don't care which of x and y is which right? (remember the equation is (x - 1)^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 1 ). But the line changes, swapping theta and pi/2 - theta. This is just our original diagram with theta. You can envision the section with area B(pi/2 - theta) being reflected where it becomes A(theta) in said original diagram.


Thank you very much!

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