# 9702/34 May/June 2020

> 9702/34 May/June 2020: 2 questions, 40 marks. Difficulty 0.37, deviation 0.12, algebraic 0.21, text density 0.32. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P3.

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CIE IAL · Physics · 2020 May/June

This Physics 9702 Paper 3 (AS Practical) paper contains 2 questions worth 40 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
- 9702 P3
- 2 questions
- 40 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=0c40dfe3-f5e2-405e-be2b-42e3249e34af)
- [All 9702 P3 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/)

Core finding

**9702/34 May/June 2020 is a past paper for CIE IAL Physics 9702 Paper 3 (AS Practical), with 2 questions worth 40 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.37 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.12 and a mark split of 32.5% Easy, 67.5% Medium and 0.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.21; text density and modelling average 0.32. All five measures use 19 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 19 parts carrying 40 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 19 parts, algebraic tags 19 and text-density tags 19. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.37 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.12 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 32.5 / 67.5 / 0.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.21 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.32 — 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** | 0.37 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.12 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 32.5% Easy / 67.5% Medium / 0.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.21 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.32 | 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 | [Manipulation, measurement and observation - Successful collection of data](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/manipulation-measurement-and-observation-successful-collection-of-data/) | 20 | 0.40 Medium | 0.23 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=0c40dfe3-f5e2-405e-be2b-42e3249e34af&question_id=6b13dbba-05ed-492f-9e79-f5946f391313&source_detail=9702%2F34+May%2FJune+2020) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [Manipulation, measurement and observation - Successful collection of data](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/manipulation-measurement-and-observation-successful-collection-of-data/) | 20 | 0.34 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=0c40dfe3-f5e2-405e-be2b-42e3249e34af&question_id=d756c2f6-1f7a-4801-a373-e9a58d209e8d&source_detail=9702%2F34+May%2FJune+2020) |

## Topics in this paper

- [Manipulation, measurement and observation - Successful collection of data](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/manipulation-measurement-and-observation-successful-collection-of-data/)
- [Manipulation, measurement and observation - Range and distribution of values](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/)
- [Presentation of data and observations - Table of results](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/presentation-of-data-and-observations-table-of-results/)
- [Presentation of data and observations - Recording of data, observations and calculations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/presentation-of-data-and-observations-recording-of-data-observations-and-calculations/)
- [Presentation of data and observations - Graph: Layout](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/presentation-of-data-and-observations-graph-layout/)
- [Presentation of data and observations - Graph: Plotting of points](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/presentation-of-data-and-observations-graph-plotting-of-points/)
- [Manipulation, measurement and observation - Quality of data](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/manipulation-measurement-and-observation-quality-of-data/)
- [Presentation of data and observations - Graph: Trend line](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/presentation-of-data-and-observations-graph-trend-line/)
- [Analysis, conclusions and evaluation - Interpretation of graph](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/analysis-conclusions-and-evaluation-interpretation-of-graph/)
- [Analysis, conclusions and evaluation - Drawing conclusions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/analysis-conclusions-and-evaluation-drawing-conclusions/)
- [Analysis, conclusions and evaluation - Estimating uncertainties](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/analysis-conclusions-and-evaluation-estimating-uncertainties/)
- [Analysis, conclusions and evaluation - Identifying limitations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/analysis-conclusions-and-evaluation-identifying-limitations/)

## Related papers

- [9702/31](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-october-november-9702-31/) — October/November 2020 — 2 questions · 40 marks — Free
- [9702/33](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-october-november-9702-33/) — October/November 2020 — 2 questions · 40 marks — Free
- [9702/34](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-october-november-9702-34/) — October/November 2020 — 2 questions · 40 marks — Free
- [9702/35](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-october-november-9702-35/) — October/November 2020 — 2 questions · 40 marks — Free
- [9702/36](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-october-november-9702-36/) — October/November 2020 — 2 questions · 40 marks — Free
- [9702/31](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-may-june-9702-31/) — May/June 2020 — 2 questions · 40 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 0.37 from 19 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 0.12, 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 32.5% Easy, 67.5% Medium and 0.0% 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/physics/9702-paper-3/2020-may-june-9702-34/