9801 AEA Maths Rep 20090820 UA021532

Examiners Report Summer 2009
AEA

AEA Mathematics (9801)

Edexcel Limited. Registered inEngland and Wales No. 4496750
Registered Office: One90 High Holborn, LondonWC1V7BH

Edexcel is one of the leading examining and awarding bodies in the UK and
throughout the world. We provide a wide range of qualifications including academic,
vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers.
Through a network of UK and overseas offices, Edexcels centres receive the support
they need to help them deliver their education and training programmes to learners.
For further information, please call our GCE line on 0844 576 0025, our GCSE team on
0844 576 0027, or visit our website at www.edexcel.com.

If you have any subject specific questions about the content of this
Examiners Report that require the help of a subject specialist,
you may find our Ask The Expert email service helpful.

Ask The Expert can be accessed online at the following link:

http://www.edexcel.com/Aboutus/contact-us/

Summer 2009
Publications Code UA021532
All the material in this publication is copyright
Edexcel Ltd 2009

9801 Examiners Report Summer 2009 3

Contents

1. AEA Mathematics Examiners Report 5
2. Statistics 9



Advanced Extension Award Unit AEA
Specification 9801

Introduction

The overall quality of the work this year was not quite as good as last summer but there were
some excellent scripts seen. Questions 2 and especially the second half of 7 were the least well
answered whilst questions 1, 4 and 6 were tackled well by most candidates. Some candidates
could not quote basic formulae such as the cosine rule in question 5 (it is given in the formula
booklet!) or recall standard mathematical facts such as
3
sin
3 2

=

in question 3 and this
hampered their performance.

Report on individual questions

Question 1

The graphs were usually both correct although some had a smooth curve at the origin rather
than a sharp point for the mod graph. Almost everyone identified the intersection at x =2,
although this was often after solving a quadratic equation. The second intersection caused more
problems as some candidates were uncertain which of the x terms changed sign and those who
did solve the correct equation sometimes failed to choose between
1 17
4

.

Question 2

The challenge here was how to represent y =
sinx
x in a form for which standard differentiation
rules could be applied. Those who connected powers of x with logarithms or the exponential
function were able to write lny =sinx lnx or
sin ln
e
x x
y = and usually completed part (a)
successfully. Some candidates had learnt the derivative of
x
a , where a is a constant, and tried
applying that whilst others just wrote down
sin 1 sin 1
sin . or sin .cos .
x x
x x x x x

.

In part (b) those with a tangent of y =x were usually able to show that there were infinitely
many points of intersection given by sinx =1 but the general solution of this equation was
sometimes given as
2
x k
= + rather than 2
2
x k
= + . Only a handful of candidates

addressed the touching aspect of the question though and showed that the derivative of the
function was also 1 at each of these points.


Question 3

There were many fully correct solutions to part (a) although some candidates did not choose a
very efficient route. Part (b) was more challenging and the weaker candidates simply thought
that taking a sine of both sides would give them the equation 1 2
3
x x
= , others tried to use

part (a) and thought x or
6
= . Many expanded a sum or difference of sine or cosine but the

stumbling block was writing cos(arcsinx)
2
1 x = , or equivalent, and some promising
solutions stopped at this point. Those who were able to square and obtain a quadratic in x
usually managed to complete the question successfully.

Question 4

Most candidates handled the generalised nature of part (a) successfully but some did not use x =
k at the end thus failing to appreciate that the result is only valid at the stationary point. Only a
handful of candidates saw how this result could simplify their working in (b)(iv). In part (b)
most gave the correct coordinates of A and the equations of the vertical asymptotes but the
horizontal asymptote was often incorrect with y =1 appearing quite frequently. The expression
for the area of the triangle was usually derived satisfactorily and the candidates usually went on
to use differentiation to find a stationary point. Some differentiated the equation of C but many
successfully found 3 a = and usually went on to find the corresponding area although they
often failed to establish that this was the minimum area.

Question 5

In part (a)(i) many students struggled to establish that angle B =60
o
, the simple use of the sum
of the first 3 terms of the arithmetic series being equal to 180 eluded them. Some invented
values for all three angles and 30, 60, 90 was quite common but we allowed them to use B =
60
o
, along with the area formula, to reach the printed result. A simple application of the sine
rule or
1
2
sin bc A led most candidates to 5 b = . Some lengthy solutions were seen to part (a)
(iii) sometimes involving complicated surd work to find sinC or cosC but a good number of the
candidates did obtain a correct expression for c. Those who assumed angle C =90
o
gained no
credit.

Part (b) turned out to be quite testing. A common approach was to use the nth term of the
arithmetic series and then impose the condition that this value must be less than 180. This gives
a whole range of values for n but only one of these is valid. The key was to consider the sum of
the internal or external angles and candidates who used this approach were usually able to show
that n =18 or 20 and then use the less than 180 degrees condition to show that n =18.


Question 6

Part (a) was answered well although some tried to disguise their incorrect value for the gradient
at P as they worked towards the printed answer. Many stated their strategy for answering part
(b) at the start and often managed to find the area of the triangle correctly. The area under the
curve required some careful and persistent application of standard integration techniques and
there were a good number of fully correct solutions. Most used the parametric form but a
Cartesian approach proved equally successful the key to both approaches being to use
integration by parts the correct way around. A few candidates used the area of a trapezium and
d x y
which yielded the result quite efficiently.

Question 7

The first two parts were usually answered quite well but only the very best candidates made
much progress with parts (c) and (d). In part (a) those who used the scalar product often had a
sign error or failed to realise that they needed both vectors pointing to or away from the angle.
Some used the cosine rule as an alternative. Most realised in part (b) that the area of the kite
was twice the area of triangle ABC and were able to arrive at the value of 30 and at this point
most solutions ground to a halt. There were some diagrams drawn but some drew ABDC and
others had diagrams looking like a rhombus which often led to the false assumption that the
centre of the circle was at the midpoint of AC. Some realised that the radii would be
perpendicular to AB and BC and just occasionally they used an area approach to form an
equation for r as in the mark scheme for part (c). In part (d) many found the vector AC and they
usually realised that BD was perpendicular to AC but few had a viable strategy for finding OD.



Grade Boundaries

Distinction Merit
9801 AEA Mathematics 69 51

Further copies of this publication are available from
Edexcel Publications, Adamsway, Mansfield, Notts, NG18 4FN

Telephone 01623 467467
Fax 01623 450481
Email [email protected]
Order Code UA021532 Summer 2009

For more information on Edexcel qualifications, please visit www.edexcel.com/quals

Edexcel Limited. Registered in England and Wales no.4496750
Registered Office: One90 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BH

9801 AEA Maths Rep 20090820 UA021532

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

9801 AEA Maths Rep 20090820 UA021532

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

9801 AEA Maths Rep 20090820 UA021532

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Examiners Report Summer 2009

= + . Only a handful of candidates

= , others tried to use

= . Many expanded a sum or difference of sine or cosine but the

which yielded the result quite efficiently.

You might also like