Year 12 Maths Study Group (new spec!)

OP

Hey guys,
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New year!
I'm just bringing this thread back to life since it died :sad:

and I wanted to remind you all you can post questions on here if you're stuck on anything or just want to discuss anything maths related :smile:

Has anyone else got mocks coming up? We've barely done anything new and yet we appear to have mocks next week (apparently...our teacher didn't think to tell us :facepalm:

)
Yesterday marked 20 weeks until the first further maths AS exam :shock:

Wasn't especially happy to hear how low that number is!
Hope everyone's studies are going well :yep:

Just tagging in anyone who has posted on the thread so far, so I apologise if anyone posted saying they're not taking maths or anything like that :lol:

Spoiler

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 104

JammieDodger27

15

Original post by Lemur14

Hey guys,
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New year!
I'm just bringing this thread back to life since it died :sad:

and I wanted to remind you all you can post questions on here if you're stuck on anything or just want to discuss anything maths related :smile:

Has anyone else got mocks coming up? We've barely done anything new and yet we appear to have mocks next week (apparently...our teacher didn't think to tell us :facepalm:

)
Yesterday marked 20 weeks until the first further maths AS exam :shock:

Wasn't especially happy to hear how low that number is!
Hope everyone's studies are going well :yep:

Just tagging in anyone who has posted on the thread so far, so I apologise if anyone posted saying they're not taking maths or anything like that :lol:

My school structures the course so we take all our exams at the end of two years. Great at the moment but probably won't be as great next year!

Reply 105

OP

Original post by JammieDodger27

My school structures the course so we take all our exams at the end of two years. Great at the moment but probably won't be as great next year!

We do that as well! All the exams which count will be done at the end of year 13...but because my school is awkward then they feel the need to enter us all in for ASs in maths and further maths (2 of 3 subjects doing this across the entire school :unimpressed:

) which of course don't count towards the final grade, and are just used for predicted grades in the autumn!

Reply 106

number0

12

Does anyone know if they will have proper mock papers set by the exam boards, I'm doing edexel specifically?

Edit: one google search showed me that there actually are secure ones :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 107

Doctor1234

9

I've just checked the Edexcel specification for A level maths, it says we're allowed to use calculators for all exams. If that's the case, then why do we need to memorize values of sin,cos and tan for 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°?

Reply 108

mariejuana

10

single
OCR A
Nope. I'm not taking any exams this year
N/A
Probably logarithms. I also really like coordinate geometry.
Medicine

Reply 109

OP

Original post by Doctor1234

I've just checked the Edexcel specification for A level maths, it says we're allowed to use calculators for all exams. If that's the case, then why do we need to memorize values of sin,cos and tan for 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°?

I assume it's for speed or something? It is a little odd, I never knew them properly for GCSE, I just knew how to work them out if I needed them.
Unless there's some other reason we're missing @Notnek?

Reply 110

ecila21

13

Original post by Lemur14

Hey guys,
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New year!
I'm just bringing this thread back to life since it died :sad:

and I wanted to remind you all you can post questions on here if you're stuck on anything or just want to discuss anything maths related :smile:

Has anyone else got mocks coming up? We've barely done anything new and yet we appear to have mocks next week (apparently...our teacher didn't think to tell us :facepalm:

)
Yesterday marked 20 weeks until the first further maths AS exam :shock:

Wasn't especially happy to hear how low that number is!
Hope everyone's studies are going well :yep:

Just tagging in anyone who has posted on the thread so far, so I apologise if anyone posted saying they're not taking maths or anything like that

I've got mocks in February I think, so we've still got a bit of time. I agree though that in normal maths I feel like I've barely learnt anything. I've learnt a few trig bits, binomial expansion and differentiation but that's it and I kind of knew how to do most of that anyway.

That's kind of alarming that there's only 20 weeks left... my school is entering us for AS maths and further maths too which none of us are particularly happy about. It kind of feels a bit pointless because it doesn't contribute to our grade, other subjects don't have AS exams and I feel like we might end up rushing through loads of applied stuff. Not to mention the fact that with AQA, the further maths AS requires some knowledge from the full A level of normal maths which we haven't been taught (at least that's what the specification implies)

Reply 111

OP

Original post by ecila21

I've got mocks in February I think, so we've still got a bit of time. I agree though that in normal maths I feel like I've barely learnt anything. I've learnt a few trig bits, binomial expansion and differentiation but that's it and I kind of knew how to do most of that anyway.

That's kind of alarming that there's only 20 weeks left... my school is entering us for AS maths and further maths too which none of us are particularly happy about. It kind of feels a bit pointless because it doesn't contribute to our grade, other subjects don't have AS exams and I feel like we might end up rushing through loads of applied stuff. Not to mention the fact that with AQA, the further maths AS requires some knowledge from the full A level of normal maths which we haven't been taught (at least that's what the specification implies)

That would be better for us, as I believe the plan is for us to have finished all of single pure by February (I'm not sure it will be done by then judging by how much is left, but I guess they know best!). I've literally learnt nothing new! Got better a differentiation without whole numbers but that's it!
It is sort of alarming! We're definitely gonna end up rushing mechanics at the end. I don't think that's the case with Edexcel, but that's pretty stupid! Hopefully that's just a bad implication which isn't true.

Reply 112

Notnek

Original post by Lemur14

I assume it's for speed or something? It is a little odd, I never knew them properly for GCSE, I just knew how to work them out if I needed them.
Unless there's some other reason we're missing @Notnek?

It's a good question and one that students ask every year. I'll write a long explanation so I can use it in the future:

The spec/textbooks/your teacher will tell you to learn the exact trig values. But if you don't know them (or how to find them) you can just use a calculator in the exam and many students breathe a sigh of relief when they find this out :smile:

But you have to be aware that some exam questions might say "without using a calculator". Simple example:

Without a calculator write

\sin 30 + \cos 30

as a single fraction.

If you just worked it out on your calculator and wrote

\frac{1+\sqrt{3}}{2}

you wouldn't get the marks. You'd need to show that you know the values of

\sin 30

and

\cos 30

in your working, even though you may have used your calculator to find them! I know this is a bit silly.

But, if you don't know the exact values then it will make a lot of textbook questions that say "without using a calculator" a bit pointless and you may even struggle in lessons sometimes depending on your teacher. You may end up skipping some really useful excercises. Also, once you know the exact values you can find e.g. cos(150) quickly in your head - this kind of thing will make you more confident with trig. I really regret not learning the exact values earlier on in A Levels. One more thing : there may be situations outside of A Level e.g. a University interview where not knowing the exact values won't go down well.

If you don't already know the exact values off-by-heart from GCSE then I highly recommend spending 10 minutes learning them. You'll be surprised how easy it is. Then try a trig exercise in your textbook that uses the exact values.

Reply 113

Sanjith Hegde123

18

Can we shove physics and further maths in here too? Safeeeeeee

Reply 114

OP

Original post by Sanjith Hegde123

Can we shove physics and further maths in here too? Safeeeeeee

Further maths yes...physics :noway:

Reply 115

ecila21

13

Original post by Lemur14

That would be better for us, as I believe the plan is for us to have finished all of single pure by February (I'm not sure it will be done by then judging by how much is left, but I guess they know best!). I've literally learnt nothing new! Got better a differentiation without whole numbers but that's it!
It is sort of alarming! We're definitely gonna end up rushing mechanics at the end. I don't think that's the case with Edexcel, but that's pretty stupid! Hopefully that's just a bad implication which isn't true.

I'm hoping that we'll move onto logarithms and stuff fairly rapidly so we can at least learn something.

I really hope so - it's been very frustrating so far when our teachers have given us questions that we cannot do without extra knowledge from A level maths

Reply 116

Pastelx

18

Anyone considering applying for maths at uni:

Have you read any maths books that you recommend for someone at a Yr12 Level?

I’ve read “the History of Mathematics: a short introduction” (one of the oxford series books) which I recommend; it doesn’t really contain much (if any) maths but it’s really interesting, especially if you like history (it discusses how the term “mathematician” developed, as well as showing different, forgotten yet important, mathematicians throughout history, to name a couple points). It’s a pretty easy read but, although interesting, not that useful.
I’ve started another book which is on prime numbers and that is WAY above Year12 Level (I’ve had to teach myself the basics of imaginary and complex numbers to try and keep up with it) so I’m struggling to find a book that is at the right level for someone who has finished AS maths and is currently working on the rest of the A Level maths.

Any suggestions or reviews of books would be appreciated!

Reply 117

OP