# 9709/31 May/June 2017

> 9709/31 May/June 2017: 10 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.40, deviation 0.16, algebraic 0.44, text density 0.29. CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 P3.

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CIE IAL · Mathematics · 2017 May/June

This Mathematics 9709 Paper 3 (Pure Mathematics 3) paper contains 10 questions worth 75 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 P3
- 10 questions
- 75 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e)
- [All 9709 P3 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/)

Core finding

**9709/31 May/June 2017 is a past paper for CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 Paper 3 (Pure Mathematics 3), with 10 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.40 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.16 and a mark split of 29.3% Easy, 54.7% Medium and 16.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.44; text density and modelling average 0.29. All five measures use 20 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 20 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 20 parts, algebraic tags 20 and text-density tags 20. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.40 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.16 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 29.3 / 54.7 / 16.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.44 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.29 — 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** | 0.40 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.16 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 29.3% Easy / 54.7% Medium / 16.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.44 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.29 | 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 | [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/algebra/) | 4 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=a21b850a-bd25-4d76-bd71-2d480dd5e422&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/algebra/) | 4 | 0.20 Easy | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=1501ad61-225b-4980-a590-c3b9e5693599&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [2 Logarithmic and exponential functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/logarithmic-and-exponential-functions/) | 6 | 0.37 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=bbf7be9d-1124-46db-9843-7ed05238dc85&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [4 Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/differentiation/) | 8 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=24b12032-b6c5-43d0-9cee-e3d1921f17b3&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [3 Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/trigonometry/) | 8 | 0.29 Easy | 0.29 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=5285666f-9882-46c0-a287-12d62567f123&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [7 Vectors](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/vectors/) | 8 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=ac2ff9f9-4f83-4bfd-9670-8c47c99944bf&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [9 Complex numbers](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/complex-numbers/) | 8 | 0.26 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=c31c96ff-061d-4acd-b54a-ba690aafef92&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [3 Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/trigonometry/) | 8 | 0.36 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=248eab92-ecf4-4814-835d-d95b26f2c0f7&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q9** FRQ | [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/algebra/) | 9 | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=4d063f3d-6c7d-438e-a42f-557aa3581622&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |
| **Q10** FRQ | [5 Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/integration/) | 12 | 0.75 Hard | 0.75 High | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64e885fc-720e-4597-8103-13fb84ddde6e&question_id=537b67a3-791a-4f78-bf34-64ace89a4363&source_detail=9709%2F31+May%2FJune+2017) |

## Topics in this paper

- [1 Algebra](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/algebra/)
- [2 Logarithmic and exponential functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/logarithmic-and-exponential-functions/)
- [5 Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/integration/)
- [4 Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/differentiation/)
- [3 Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/trigonometry/)
- [6 Numerical solution of equations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/numerical-solution-of-equations/)
- [7 Vectors](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/vectors/)
- [9 Complex numbers](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/complex-numbers/)
- [8 Differential equations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/differential-equations/)

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## 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 0.40 from 20 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 0.16, 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 29.3% Easy, 54.7% Medium and 16.0% 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.

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Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p3/2017-may-june-9709-31/