The Student Room Group
Reply 1
futureaussiecto
Do you do mechanics in IB Maths (whatever maths i dont know) i have seen lots of papers and hardly any mechanics questions???

Mechanics is hardly maths ... It's part of physics and that's why it's covered in IB Physics. The only mechanics questions you're likely to come across in IB Maths are kinematics (ie problems involving velocity and acceleration).
Reply 2
futureaussiecto
Do you do mechanics in IB Maths (whatever maths i dont know) i have seen lots of papers and hardly any mechanics questions???


mechanics in maths?
Reply 3
Mechanics is an application of maths which is for some curious reason often done at maths a-level in the UK.

In general, the IB syllabus is written to be "pure" rather than "applied". For instance, it does contain a quite big section on vectors, which are commonly used in mechanics (I think).
Sinuhe
Mechanics is hardly maths ... It's part of physics and that's why it's covered in IB Physics. The only mechanics questions you're likely to come across in IB Maths are kinematics (ie problems involving velocity and acceleration).


Ok i did respect the IB, still respect physics IB but maths IB is a joke!

Well there must be some maths in mechanics because edexcel used to have 6 units of mechanics (6 units = 1 A Level), so you cant say its hardly maths?!

Theyve broken it down into such redculous titles anyway, im sure "Applied Maths" wudnt have gone a miss.
Reply 5
futureaussiecto
Ok i did respect the IB, still respect physics IB but maths IB is a joke!

Well there must be some maths in mechanics because edexcel used to have 6 units of mechanics (6 units = 1 A Level), so you cant say its hardly maths?!

Theyve broken it down into such redculous titles anyway, im sure "Applied Maths" wudnt have gone a miss.

I wouldn't know about IB Maths being a joke - I'm finding I know so much more than those who've only done A-level maths and further maths. And I haven't had any problems doing mechanics at uni even though I haven't done IB Physics, while several of my colleagues who have done A-level physics AND mechanics in maths are struggling. I think this has a lot to do with IB maths being a superior course ...

And there is a subtle difference between saying that there is a lot of maths in mechanics and that mechanics is a part of mathematics.
Mechanics is quite mathematically demanding physics. Incidentally, A-level physics is ridiculously easy in terms of the maths proficiency expected of you: you're not required, I'm told, to be taking a course in maths alongside, so it needs to be stripped of all the fun mathematical parts.
I don't see why you would want to have applications of maths to physics in maths rather than in physics - especially not if, when you want to take physics in the IB, you need to have a Group 5 subject, ie maths, in any case. Maths as a subject should be, I think, about proof and other fun things like that, not just applying it to solving some physical problems. Not having mechanics in maths enables you to do lots more in terms of pure maths - which is, in fact, harder maths as well. And you know it's all perfectly true in a mathematical world, rather than an approximation to the real world. That's what makes pure maths so beautiful, I should say. :biggrin:

And also, it is possible to do A-level maths without taking any mechanics modules. I don't see then why not having obligatory mechanics in maths would make you lose respect towards IB Maths?
Reply 6
Sinuhe
I wouldn't know about IB Maths being a joke - I'm finding I know so much more than those who've only done A-level maths and further maths. And I haven't had any problems doing mechanics at uni even though I haven't done IB Physics, while several of my colleagues who have done A-level physics AND mechanics in maths are struggling. I think this has a lot to do with IB maths being a superior course ...

And there is a subtle difference between saying that there is a lot of maths in mechanics and that mechanics is a part of mathematics.
Mechanics is quite mathematically demanding physics. Incidentally, A-level physics is ridiculously easy in terms of the maths proficiency expected of you: you're not required, I'm told, to be taking a course in maths alongside, so it needs to be stripped of all the fun mathematical parts.
I don't see why you would want to have applications of maths to physics in maths rather than in physics - especially not if, when you want to take physics in the IB, you need to have a Group 5 subject, ie maths, in any case. Maths as a subject should be, I think, about proof and other fun things like that, not just applying it to solving some physical problems. Not having mechanics in maths enables you to do lots more in terms of pure maths - which is, in fact, harder maths as well. And you know it's all perfectly true in a mathematical world, rather than an approximation to the real world. That's what makes pure maths so beautiful, I should say. :biggrin:

And also, it is possible to do A-level maths without taking any mechanics modules. I don't see then why not having obligatory mechanics in maths would make you lose respect towards IB Maths?

I agree with you. Just to degrade Maths HL because of some non-existent mechanics part; sorry, I find that a bit ridiculous.
Mechanics is usually part of the Physics IB course, and in that case, I can regard mechanics/Physics as an application of Maths. The Maths HL course tries to give the student a good "overview" if I may say so of very important maths to be used in applications, i.e. pure maths is mostly taught.
Reply 7
i also agree. i study math because i like pure stuff. and if there was more on velocity/acceleration than there is already (which isn't much) that would be disappointing. you want mechanics, then do physics. leave math for people who want to do pure.
Reply 8
Sinuhe
I wouldn't know about IB Maths being a joke - I'm finding I know so much more than those who've only done A-level maths and further maths. And I haven't had any problems doing mechanics at uni even though I haven't done IB Physics, while several of my colleagues who have done A-level physics AND mechanics in maths are struggling. I think this has a lot to do with IB maths being a superior course ...


What are you on? A-level further maths ***** all over IB HL. I'm not talking about the pussy modules, like D1 and C1 and S1 here. I'm talking about the people who do M3/M4, S3/S4 FP2/FP3. That's where its really at. I mean I remember looking at an IB HL person's maths notes on Matrixes and when I asked whether they'd learned the inverse of a 3x3, the notes actually said "there is a long and complicated process, here at IB, we use a calculator..." that's rigour and superiority for you is it? its FP1 we're talking about here.

Also, please take a look at some of M3 and M4's derivations, if proof by contradiction isn't pure maths, i don't know what is.

I get the impression that Maths HL IB is a great course for people who want to keep a really broad spectrum of studies and it seems to go into more depth than A-level. But please don't trash further maths until you've done all the propper modules.
Reply 9
Diego Granziol
I remember looking at an IB HL person's maths notes on Matrixes and when I asked whether they'd learned the inverse of a 3x3, the notes actually said "there is a long and complicated process, here at IB, we use a calculator...".


That person's notes weren't correct, because you need to know how to find the inverse of a 3X3 matrix by hand for the IB.

I also think you would be doing most of Edexcel's (sorry, i'm not too familiar with the a-levels system, but i suppose that each exam board has a somewhat different syllabus, that's why I specifically mention this one) FP1 and FP2, and some parts of FP3 by doing IB Math HL with the Series & Differential Equations option.
Reply 10
peer-i
That person's notes weren't correct, because you need to know how to find the inverse of a 3X3 matrix by hand for the IB.

I also think you would be doing most of Edexcel's (sorry, i'm not too familiar with the a-levels system, but i suppose that each exam board has a somewhat different syllabus, that's why I specifically mention this one) FP1 and FP2, and some parts of FP3 by doing IB Math HL with the Series & Differential Equations option.


No you don't, but the reason isn't that it's too hard, just that it's pointless/repeatable. IB makes their questions unpredictable and extremely difficult, where as the A-level questions seem to be quiet direct and simple, no tricks needed.
It's in IB physics yeah, but there isn't very much mechanics in IB physics at all (even compared to A lvl physics as opposed to A lvl mechanics).
TheSmokeMonster
It's in IB physics yeah, but there isn't very much mechanics in IB physics at all (even compared to A lvl physics as opposed to A lvl mechanics).


I completely disagree. This mechanics part of the syllabus, like Bonding in chemistry, is the part that ties the whole course together and is central to the understanding of the course. It doesn't have fluid mechanics, yes, but it's all because of how central these concepts are to other areas of physics.
In fact, when you are first introduced the concepts of simple harmonic motion, you tie back in with the mechanics unit! Not to mention that if you take the Relativity Option, you really need to know your definitions and equations for mechanics as well in order to do relativistic mechanics.
I get what you are trying to say about there being physically less material for mechanics, but I believe mechanics is more overarching in IB physics than any other pre-university physics course, be it A-Levels or Advanced Placement.
*end rant*

And one last thing to the original poster: don't knock IB Maths HL just because it doesn't have mechanics in the syllabus. Like the other posters have said, they really do provide tricky and unpredictable math questions for their final exams and mechanics as an added topic would really hold them back from the "pure" element of the course. They let IB physics take care of mechanics.