# 9709/53 October/November 2017

> 9709/53 October/November 2017: 7 questions, 50 marks. Difficulty 0.55, deviation 0.14, algebraic 0.39, text density 0.46. CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 P5.

- Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-october-november-9709-53/
- Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-october-november-9709-53/index.md

---

CIE IAL · Mathematics · 2017 October/November

This Mathematics 9709 Paper 5 (Mechanics 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 P5
- 7 questions
- 50 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d)
- [All 9709 P5 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)

Core finding

**9709/53 October/November 2017 is a past paper for CIE IAL Mathematics 9709 Paper 5 (Mechanics 2), with 7 questions worth 50 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.55 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.14 and a mark split of 0.0% Easy, 62.0% Medium and 38.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.39; text density and modelling average 0.46. All five measures use 14 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 14 parts carrying 50 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 14 parts, algebraic tags 14 and text-density tags 14. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.55 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.14 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 0.0 / 62.0 / 38.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.46 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium

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** | 0.55 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.14 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 0.0% Easy / 62.0% Medium / 38.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.39 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.46 | 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 | [3 Uniform motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 4 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=eebf3dfc-004b-474c-b3ea-b39db24a596a&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [1 Motion of a projectile](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 4 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=27a94805-e0f3-49b5-9396-6218749a6070&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [3 Uniform motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=54657ae9-cc91-41ac-88eb-9ef2bffac79a&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [1 Motion of a projectile](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=1d7fec9b-0ef7-4263-a370-878e6734ef33&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [4 Hooke’s law](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 8 | 0.75 Hard | 0.45 Medium | 0.64 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=984e6df5-8b9b-46c9-ab4a-243a0795f33b&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [2 Equilibrium of a rigid body](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 9 | 0.55 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.52 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=c3e53d92-3dca-4b5d-beb0-c623668f1e4c&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [5 Linear motion under a variable force](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/) | 11 | 0.65 Hard | 0.45 Medium | 0.35 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c05a2b90-f4d9-418c-b225-4eae05368b8d&question_id=8e835257-f8a4-4eef-b782-3f0dd8c73dc5&source_detail=9709%2F53+October%2FNovember+2017) |

## Topics in this paper

- [3 Uniform motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)
- [1 Motion of a projectile](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)
- [4 Hooke’s law](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)
- [2 Equilibrium of a rigid body](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)
- [5 Linear motion under a variable force](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/)

## Related papers

- [9709/51](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-october-november-9709-51/) — October/November 2017 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/52](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-october-november-9709-52/) — October/November 2017 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/51](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-may-june-9709-51/) — May/June 2017 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/52](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-may-june-9709-52/) — May/June 2017 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/53](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-may-june-9709-53/) — May/June 2017 — 7 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [9709/52](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/mathematics/9709-p5/2017-march-9709-52/) — March 2017 — 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 0.55 from 14 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 0.14, 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 0.0% Easy, 62.0% Medium and 38.0% 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-p5/2017-october-november-9709-53/