Dylan

Question 1

Marcus competes in the shot put for his local track and field sports
club. When he throws the shot, its trajectory after he releases it can be
modelled by the quadratic equation

x 9 x 11
y= + + y represents the height in metres of the shot above
10 10 5

the ground, and X represents the horizontal distance in metres of the

shot from the position where it is released by Marcus. Assume that the
surface of the field is flat and horizontal.

a) (i) Is the parabola u-shaped or n-shaped? How can you tell this from
the equation?

The parabola is u-shaped because it is positive x-squared not negative x-

squared. If the parabola was negative x-squared it would be n shaped.

(ii) Use algebra to find the x-intercepts.

There are no x-intercepts as the u-shaped parabola reaches a minimum of:

9 7
,
2 40

I begin by making y = 0 to solve for the x-intercept(s):

x 9 x 11
0= + +
10 10 5

I then multiply each side by 10 and flip the sides:

0=x2 +9 x +22

2
x + 9 x +22=0

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Next we apply the quadratic formula and determine that there are no x-
intercept(s).

11
(ii) Explain why the y-intercept is 5 :

11
The y-intercept is 5 because we can take the expression no further than the

starting point. Lets try by making x=0 :

0 9 0 11
y= + +
10 10 5

Therefore our answer is:

11
y=
5

(iv) Find the equation of the axis of symmetry, explaining your method.
Use this information to find the coordinates of the vertex, giving your
answers to one decimal place.

To determine the axis of symmetry on a standard form equation we use the

formula y=a x 2 +bx +c

9
Our axis of symmetry in this case is
x=
2

b
The following formula to find the vertex: 2a

(v) Provide a sketch of the graph of the parabola, either by hand or by

using Graphplotter.

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(b) In this part of the question, you are asked to consider the trajectory
x 9 x 11
of the shot modelled by the equation
y= + + in conjunction
10 10 5

with the results that you found in part (a).

(i) Find the height of the shot when it is 3 metres horizontally from the
position where Marcus releases it.

(ii) Use your answer to part (a)(iv) to find the maximum height reached
by the shot

(iii) What does the y-intercept represent in the context of this model?

(iv) How far will the shot be horizontally from where Marcus releases it
when it first lands on the field? Explain your answer.

Question 2

(a) Use the quadratic formula to solve the equation:

3 t 25 t9=0

Give your answer to one decimal place.

(b) This part of the question concerns the quadratic equation

2
4 x +4 x+1=0

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2
(i) Find the discriminant of the quadratic expression 4 x +4 x+1

(ii) What does this tell you about the number of solutions of the
equation? Explain your answer briefly.

(iii) What does this tell you about the graph of y=4 x 2+ 4 x +1 ?

(c) (i) Write the quadratic expression x 222 x7 in completed-square

form.

(ii) Use the completed-square form from part (c)(i) to solve the equation
x 222 x7=0 , leaving your answer in exact (surd) form, simplified as

far as possible.

(iii) Use the completed-square form from part (c)(i) to write down the

vertex of the parabola y=x 222 x7 .

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Question 3

A company has two machines each of which performs the same task,
filling bags with powder. The weights in grams of powder in 20 bags
collected from each machine were recorded and are given in Table 1.

(a) Enter these data into two lists in Dataplotter. To check that you have
entered the values correctly, the mean weight of powder in the bags for
machine 1 is 3.355 grams, and the mean weight of powder in the bags
for machine 2 is 3.292 grams. Create boxplots for the two datasets,
either using Dataplotter or by hand.

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(b) A boxplot gives you a visual representation of the average value

using the median, and also tells you how the data are spread out based
on the size of the box and the lengths of the whiskers.

(i) How do the average weights of powder in the bags compare for the
two machines? Use your boxplots from part (a) to explain your answer.

The data in machine one is very spread out in comparison with the second
machine. This is represented visually by our boxplot shown in part (ii).

(ii) Are the data more spread out for the weight of powder in the bags
for machine 1 or for machine 2? Use your boxplots from part (a) to
explain your answer.

The data is more spread out in machine one. This is represented visually with the
following boxplots shown below:

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(c) Use the boxplot for machine 1 to say whether the data are
symmetrical, skewed to the left or skewed to the right, explaining your
reasoning briefly.

The numbers in this dataset are symmetrically spaced. The corresponding

boxplot is also symmetrical. The right whisker is longer than the left whisker for
machine one. This indicates that the larger values in the dataset are more spread
out than the smaller values. The mean is also greater than the median. The data
here is right-skewed.

(d) Create histograms for each of the datasets, using a start value of 3.0
and an interval of 0.1. Include either a printout of your histograms or a
sketch drawn by hand with your answer to this question.

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(e) Comment on one aspect of the weight of powder in the bags that can
be seen more easily on the histograms than on the boxplots.

Using a histogram it is far easier to see visually that the data in machine one is
far more spread out.

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Question 4

(a) Find the length of the side marked x in the triangle in Figure 1,

giving your answer correct to the nearest cm.

x
sin 39 = , so x=22 sin 39 =13.8( 1 d . p .)
22

14 cm

(b) Triangle PQR has a right angle at R. The length of side RQ is 6.2 cm,
and the length of side PR is 10 cm. Draw triangle PQR, and find RPQ,
giving your answer correct to the nearest degree.

Here is my drawing of PQR:

I can now use SAS (Side-Angle-Side) to help find RPQ:

a2=6.22+102 6.2 10 cos ( 90 )

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a=11.766

Now I can use the law of sines to find the angle for RPQ:

( 90 ) 6.2
sin 11.766
sin P=

sin P=0.5269

P=sin 1( 0.5269)

P=31.7 ( 1 d . p .)

Angles of a triangle must add up to 180:

Q=180 90 31.7

Q=58.3 ( 1 d . p .)

Our answer is therefore

RPQ=32 ( nearest degree)

(c) (i) Find the angle ABC in the triangle in Figure 2, giving your answer
correct to the nearest degree.

This is a SSS triangle (side, side, side) and can be solved using the law of cosines
to calculate the first and second angles, then we use find the last angle by using
the angles of our triangle that will add up to 180 . In our triangle we know the
three sides are: A = 15, B = 30 and C = 22.5

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Using this law we determined that the angle of A is 28.96, the angle of B is
104.48 and the angle of C is 46.57. Below are the steps I took to come to this
result.

2 2
30 +22.5 15
A=
2 bc
cos

2 2
22.5 + 15 30
B=
2 ca
cos

(ii) Find the area of the triangle ABC in Figure 2, giving your answer
correct to the nearest square cm.

The area of the triangle can be calculated using Herons formula. Lets start by
calculating the semi-perimeter:

S=( 15+30+ 22.5 ) 2=33.8

I then calculate the area by plugging in the semi-perimeter information:

Area= 33.8( 33.815)(33.830)(33.822.5)=163.4

163( 3 s . f )

(d) (i) Convert 54 to radians, leaving your answer in terms of

Calculating between degrees and radians can be completed using the following
method:

180
Angle degrees= angleradians

Using this we know that our answer is:

3
54=
10

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(ii) Use your answer from part (d)(i) to find the area of a sector of a
circle of radius 6.8 cm and angle 54, giving your answer correct to two
significant figures.

To determine the area of a sector we use the following formula:

angle
r
360

Lets now calculate the area of the sector using that formula:

54
6.8
360

21. 79

21( 2 s . f .)

Question 5

George and his two friends Mark and Kevin are playing frisbee on the
beach. Mark is standing at a point M, 22 metres due south of Kevin,
who is standing at point K. George is standing at a point G, 48 west of
north of Mark and 25 metres from point M. (You may assume that all
distances are flat and in a straight line.)

(a) Draw a diagram showing the points M, K and G, marking in the angle
and the lengths that you are given.

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(b) Find the distance between George and Kevin, that is, the length of
the side GK
2 2
We can use the formula a +b =c to help find the length of the remaining
side.

Our answer is: 11.8743 or 11 (to 2 s.f.)

(c) When George throws the frisbee, the wind catches it so that it lands
on the ground between Mark and Kevin (on the line MK) due east of
George (G). Add a line to your diagram that shows the shortest distance
from Georges position G to where the frisbee lands at point F (on the
line MK). Use triangle GFM to find GF, the distance between George and
the frisbee.

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Here is our new diagram with the line showing the shortest distance from
Georges position to where the frisbee landed at point F in-between Kevin and
Mark.

It is possible to determine the distance between George and the Frisbee using
the same formula we used earlier which is:

a2 +b 2=c

Using this formula we determine that the distance between George and the
frisbee is 21.93.

(d) As Kevin is nearer, he decides to retrieve the frisbee. Find the

distance that Kevin must walk to get it.

The frisbee landed in-between Kevin and George at the half way point, so of
22m is 12m. Kevin must walk 12 metres to retrieve the frisbee.

Question 6

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In this question, you are asked to comment on a students incorrect

attempt at answering the question detailed below.

(a) Write out your own solution to the question, explaining your working

(b) There are two places in the students attempt where a mistake has
been made. Identify these mistakes and explain, as if directly to the
student, why, for each mistake, their working is incorrect.

The Question

In triangle ABC, side BC has length 15.2 cm. CAB = 38, ABC = 34
and CDB = 90

(i) Use the sine rule in triangle ABC to find the length of AC, giving your
answer to two significant figures.

The angles in a triangle must add up to 180. Angle C must be 108.

Lets substitute in:

AC 15.2
=
sin108 sin108

Dividing by sin 108:

15.2sin 108
AC = =15.2
sin108

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Our answer is therefore:

15( 2 s . f .)

(ii) In right-angled triangle CDB, find the length of CD, giving your
answer to two significant figures.

The angles in a triangle must add up to 180. Angle C must be 56.

Lets substitute in:

CD 15.2
=
sin56 sin 90

Dividing by sin 108:

15.2sin 56
AC = =12.6
sin 90

Our answer is therefore:

12( 2 s . f .)

(iii) Use the cosine rule in triangle ABC to find the length of side AB,
giving your answer to two significant figures.

Here is our formula:

2 2 2
c =a + b 2 bc cos A

I substitute our values into the formula:

2 2 2
c =15.2 +15.2 2 15.2 15.2 cos 38

Our answer is:

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23 (to 2 s.f.)

The students incorrect attempt

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