In the online solutions PDF, for the 2015 MAT Qu2, you have written that you tried expanding (xy+y^2)^4 because that expansion includes a term which is proportional to x^3y^5. How did you know to try that term specifically, I only found it by trying to expand the bracket by squaring it, cubing it, and eventually, raising it to the power 4?
That gives you the right answer, but why have you said 7/9 rather than 7/10? So yes, but I disagree with the word just! 7/9 is the probability of something quite subtle - it's the probability for the 2nd contestant not to be chosen given that the 1st contestant has already been chosen, which is a bit harder to explain. ^James
Will the 2-mark and 3-mark multiple choice questions be designed to be quicker and/or easier than the 4 mark questions? Will the 4-mark questions be a similar difficulty to past multiple choice questions and the 2/3 mark questions easier/quicker? Or is another system being used?
No comment on the difficulty of the questions, sorry! I'll note that we compare candidates' scores to the average score, so that if the average score ends up being a bit higher or lower than the previous year, that doesn't make any difference to the admissions process. ^James
In the online solutions PDF, for the 2015 MAT Qu2, you have written that you tried expanding (xy+y^2)^4 because that expansion includes a term which is proportional to x^3y^5. How did you know to try that term specifically, I only found it by trying to expand the bracket by squaring it, cubing it, and eventually, raising it to the power 4?
wIll we know the marks allotted to the MCQ questions
Yes, it's displayed as part of each question. ^James
Hello, thank you for the lesson. By the way, you look like Tobey Maguire.😁
Q12: is it not just (3/10) * (7/9)? As in 3/10 is probability for 1st contestant to be chosen and 7/9 is probability for 2nd one not to be chosen.
That gives you the right answer, but why have you said 7/9 rather than 7/10? So yes, but I disagree with the word just! 7/9 is the probability of something quite subtle - it's the probability for the 2nd contestant not to be chosen given that the 1st contestant has already been chosen, which is a bit harder to explain. ^James
Will the 2-mark and 3-mark multiple choice questions be designed to be quicker and/or easier than the 4 mark questions? Will the 4-mark questions be a similar difficulty to past multiple choice questions and the 2/3 mark questions easier/quicker? Or is another system being used?
No comment on the difficulty of the questions, sorry! I'll note that we compare candidates' scores to the average score, so that if the average score ends up being a bit higher or lower than the previous year, that doesn't make any difference to the admissions process. ^James