wat is the hardest mx2 topic? (1 Viewer)

[AAEldar]

by algebra bashing i mean writing a page worth of algebra for three marks. i'm not even kidding. also volumes is probably one of the easier, if not easiest topics.

I used to think it Volumes were the hardest - but now after doing a heap of them I agree in saying that it is one of the easier topics.

For Harder 3U, I find that the Inequalities aren't that hard but are fun. Induction and Circle Geo for me is harder.

 

[hup]

Volumes the hardest? naaaaa. Some of the harder slicing ones can get annoying, depends on the shape. Volumes may actually be the easiest topic (overall)
But harder 3u is by far the hardest. Especially inequalities.

no

 

[bleakarcher]

alright guyz. order the topics from most challenging to least

 

[hup]

least challenging = graphs and integration

 

[AAEldar]

Harder 3U > Conics > Polynomials > Mechanics > Complex Numbers > Volumes > Graphs > Integration

IMO.

 

[NSWTutors]

From what I've heard, most people agree that harder 3U is quite challenging.
It is definitely the one which most of my students struggle with anyway.

That being said, lots of students will find different topics particularly difficult depending on what kind of background they have had in that particular area of maths.

Personally, I found probability to be annoying as hell. (Within Harder 3U)
The primary reason being I was not 100% sure of my answer most of the time since the probabilities or numbers were so obscure.

Hope that helped.

 

[Alkanes]

I havn't finished all the 4U course. But graphs looks fun =D

 

[hup]

i find perm combs the hardest

 

[Alkanes]

Oh and yes. Probability. I can't even do perms and combs properly for 3U.. Derno how im gonna cope with 4U probability =(

 

[4025808]

IMO from what I have found personally as I did them, here is the difficulty

Probability/Perms + Combs [harder 3U] > Circular motion [mechanics] > projectile motion [harder 3U] > | harder series [harder 3U], conics, polynomials, binomials [harder 3U] | > resistant motion [mechanics] > inequalities [harder 3U] > volumes > complex numbers> induction [harder 3U] (easy as marks to pick up here ) > circle geometry [harder 3U] > graphs > integrASIAN

basically i suck at the physics stuff, but I'm getting better with probability/perms + combs nowadays

 

[bleakarcher]

graphs is hard coz i dont have a teacher to guide me and the cambridge textbook doesnt really give a good explanation as to how to graph and determine its features, idk but im finding it hard to learn lol

 

[4025808]

graphs is hard coz i dont have a teacher to guide me and the cambridge textbook doesnt really give a good explanation as to how to graph and determine its features, idk but im finding it hard to learn lol

use terry lee. they got worked solutions included, and it also mimics the HSC questions as well

 

[zhiying]

Perms and Combs, Circle geo and Circular motion in that order T_T. Or basically anything in Q8

 

[4025808]

use terry lee. they got worked solutions included, and it also mimics the HSC questions as well

nah I'm still going to use it (it's a good book)

 

[cheezcake]

Circle Geo in harder 3u is all that really annoys me in 4u, polynomials can be a bitch sometimes because long ass algebra is boring

 

[OldMathsGuy]

graphs is hard coz i dont have a teacher to guide me and the cambridge textbook doesnt really give a good explanation as to how to graph and determine its features, idk but im finding it hard to learn lol

Get your hand on the light green book Graphs (without calculus) by Komaromi - ask your teacher if there is an old copy lying around in the staffroom or something. That book is an excellent treatment of graphing for the Ext 1/Ext 2 syllabi. It goes through all the variations of different things you can do to your base graph(s) with clear explanations and examples. Terry Lee is a good option but Komaromi is the gold standard. An alternative method but one that might be good for you is to go through past HSC questions with a good graphics calculator or program. Try to discern and understand why the graph looks the ways it does, trying little variations here and there to predict and see what happens. With practice, doing this will sharpen your intuition with these questions so that if you get thrown a curve ball on the exam, you will handle it more easily than students who have just focused on their textbook material and standard techniques.

Best Regards
OldMathsGuy

 

[AAEldar]

Get your hand on the light green book Graphs (without calculus) by Komaromi - ask your teacher if there is an old copy lying around in the staffroom or something. That book is an excellent treatment of graphing for the Ext 1/Ext 2 syllabi. It goes through all the variations of different things you can do to your base graph(s) with clear explanations and examples. Terry Lee is a good option but Komaromi is the gold standard. An alternative method but one that might be good for you is to go through past HSC questions with a good graphics calculator or program. Try to discern and understand why the graph looks the ways it does, trying little variations here and there to predict and see what happens. With practice, doing this will sharpen your intuition with these questions so that if you get thrown a curve ball on the exam, you will handle it more easily than students who have just focused on their textbook material and standard techniques.

Best Regards
OldMathsGuy

I'll vouch for the Komaromi books. I don't have the Graphs one but I do have them for Volumes and Conics and they are quite good.

 

[Alkanes]

Where can i get my hands on these books?

 

[AAEldar]

Where can i get my hands on these books?

My school had a few copies so they gave them out to us.

 

[OldMathsGuy]

Where can i get my hands on these books?

The problem is they are out of print. Get your teacher to check their staffroom to see if someone has a copy lying around - unfortunately, Maths staffrooms aren't as full of actual Maths teachers as once upon a time and so quality resources like these are becoming rarer and rarer. The graphs book is a bit fatter than the other ones in that series (the author was head maths teacher at Ascham I believe back in the day) and is light green in colour. The blue conics book is also a quality resource.

As for "harder 3U topics", this 4U topic is the hardest because the syllabus is basically giving the examiner carte blanche to introduce a whole heap of interesting applications from higher mathematical study. Bill Pender (chief author of the 2U/3U Cambridge books and former head of the Sydney Grammar maths department and general Godfather of HSC mathematics) produced the following (thanks to Derek Buchanan for highlighting this one on his excellent website where you will find literally hundreds of past trial papers):

members.optusnet.com.au/limkw/SGS_harder3U_2002.zip

While it is starting to show it's age, this is an excellent summary of the Harder 3U areas that have been pushed and prodded by the examiners pre-2002. Someone should eventually get around to updating this to encompass more recent papers but as is, it is still a brilliant treatment.

Best Regards
OldMathsGuy