# 9709/21 May/June 2018

> 9709/21 May/June 2018: 7 questions, 50 marks. Difficulty 0.42, deviation 0.17, algebraic 0.47, text density 0.23. CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 P2.

- Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-may-june-9709-21/
- Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-may-june-9709-21/index.md

---

CIE IAL · Mathematics · 2018 May/June

This Mathematics 9709 Paper 2 (Pure Mathematics 2) paper contains 7 questions worth 50 marks. The profile below reports five mark-weighted difficulty and complexity measures, and every question row repeats them. Full question text and mark scheme open in the Interactive Practice Hub.

- CIE IAL
- 9709 P2
- 7 questions
- 50 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b)
- [All 9709 P2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/)

Core finding

**9709/21 May/June 2018 is a past paper for CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 Paper 2 (Pure Mathematics 2), with 7 questions worth 50 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.42 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.17 and a mark split of 28.0% Easy, 54.0% Medium and 18.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.47; text density and modelling average 0.23. All five measures use 13 part-level tags, not candidate results. Every question row below repeats them and opens the Interactive Practice Hub for that question.

## Difficulty & complexity profile

All five measures are mark-weighted and calculated from 13 parts carrying 50 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 13 parts, algebraic tags 13 and text-density tags 13. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.42 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.17 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 28.0 / 54.0 / 18.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.47 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.23 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low

Scale: Easy 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · Hard 0.75, and Low 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · High 0.75 for the two complexity measures. [How each band is defined and how the values are calculated →](https://www.examsci.com/guides/difficulty-and-complexity-measures/)

### Definitions and calculation

| Measure | Paper value | Formula |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Difficulty Measure** | 0.42 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.17 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 28.0% Easy / 54.0% Medium / 18.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.47 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.23 | Σ(t_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with t = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |

w_i equals the part marks, except for a Hard part worth 4 or more marks, where w_i = marks^0.75 to offset the accessible starter steps inside long structured questions.

## Question list

Each measure is recalculated from the parts of that question and uses the same weights as the paper profile.

| Question | Topic | Marks | Difficulty Measure | Algebraic Complexity Measure | Text Density and Modelling Measure | Practice |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Q1** FRQ | [2 Logarithmic and exponential functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/logarithmic-and-exponential-functions/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=32421f32-3555-4b00-883f-1b9e7a1c382a&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [2 Logarithmic and exponential functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/logarithmic-and-exponential-functions/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=b5489ad9-6d22-4c70-b6e2-9c363fade1ac&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [5 Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/integration/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=1a94c2ea-24f4-4c9c-9858-246caad8182c&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [4 Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/differentiation/) | 8 | 0.26 Easy | 0.36 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=5c39642c-8446-456e-ae5f-18f1a1a0d254&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [4 Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/differentiation/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=27e4d6b2-bee5-4948-a8e0-31ed431c0bc9&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/algebra/) | 9 | 0.40 Medium | 0.58 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=ba70128a-ca8a-4797-b440-54c37fe24661&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [3 Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/trigonometry/) | 11 | 0.48 Medium | 0.52 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6ec9c7a2-7634-43a6-9c4d-9984511c571b&question_id=1c09db18-cb89-437d-b546-8ca749c7d2df&source_detail=9709%2F21+May%2FJune+2018) |

## Topics in this paper

- [2 Logarithmic and exponential functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/logarithmic-and-exponential-functions/)
- [5 Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/integration/)
- [4 Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/differentiation/)
- [6 Numerical solution of equations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/numerical-solution-of-equations/)
- [3 Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/trigonometry/)
- [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/algebra/)

## Related papers

- [9709/21](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-october-november-9709-21/) — October/November 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-october-november-9709-22/) — October/November 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/23](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-october-november-9709-23/) — October/November 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-may-june-9709-22/) — May/June 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/23](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-may-june-9709-23/) — May/June 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-march-9709-22/) — March 2018 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free

## Paper FAQ

**How are the difficulty and complexity measures calculated?**

Each part is weighted by its official marks. Difficulty uses Easy 0.20, Medium 0.45 and Hard 0.75; algebraic complexity and text density and modelling use Low 0.20, Medium 0.45 and High 0.75. A Hard part worth 4 or more marks is down-weighted to marks^0.75, so the accessible starter steps inside a long structured question do not inflate the difficulty result. This paper's Difficulty Measure is 0.42 from 13 parts.

**What does the Difficulty Deviation show?**

It is the mark-weighted standard deviation of the part difficulty values around the paper mean. A value of 0 would mean every tagged part has the same difficulty; this paper's deviation is 0.17, so its parts are more mixed than a single-level paper.

**Is the Difficulty Ratio based on question counts or marks?**

It is based on official marks, not question counts. This paper's shares are 28.0% Easy, 54.0% Medium and 18.0% Hard; the three shares sum to 100% before rounding.

**Are these official difficulty ratings?**

No. They are derived from the platform's part-level difficulty and static-question-profile tags. They are not exam-board grade boundaries and are not calculated from candidate outcomes. Use them to compare the demand profile of papers, not to predict a grade.

**Why does each question row show its own measures?**

Each row recalculates the same mark-weighted formula from that question's parts. A single-part MCQ therefore shows the tag value directly, while a multi-part structured question blends the tags of its parts using the same Hard-part decay as the paper profile.

---

Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p2/2018-may-june-9709-21/