# WME01/01 October 2016

> WME01/01 October 2016: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.38, deviation 0.11, algebraic 0.36, text density 0.65. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M1.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2016 October

This Mechanics 1 (WME01) paper contains 8 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.

- Edexcel IAL
- M1
- 8 questions
- 75 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e)
- [All M1 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/)

Core finding

**WME01/01 October 2016 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 1 (WME01), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.38 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.11 and a mark split of 26.7% Easy, 73.3% Medium and 0.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.36; text density and modelling average 0.65. All five measures use 16 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 16 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 16 parts, algebraic tags 16 and text-density tags 16. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.38 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.11 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 26.7 / 73.3 / 0.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.36 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.65 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer High

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** | 0.38 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.11 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 26.7% Easy / 73.3% Medium / 0.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.36 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.65 | 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 | [4. Dynamics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/dynamics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line-or-plane/) | 7 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=841928d6-be28-4c30-a1be-13c5f578c9b0&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 9 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=f7510313-57ca-44d9-adbb-22ed8cd3b0ac&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=3c053381-ed7f-4d78-8a75-88f94be3dd27&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 10 | 0.40 Medium | 0.30 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=e9c2e06f-a045-4154-9353-a83bdf22c569&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=e8b282fc-dc88-4bc5-b906-420b0776acd2&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [3. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=2181f0f6-b708-4466-9eab-4adc5f19d9d3&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [3. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line/) | 11 | 0.40 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=6520a19b-9eaa-4ae2-81e2-2f917b988701&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [3. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line/) | 13 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=64bb0a93-48f0-493b-8b59-280524c8a55e&question_id=f9de950d-4cb1-4e95-b108-4bbe010b02c9&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2016) |

## Topics in this paper

- [4. Dynamics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/dynamics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line-or-plane/)
- [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/)
- [3. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line/)
- [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/)
- [6. Moments](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/moments/)

## Related papers

- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2016-june-wme01-01/) — June 2016 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2016-january-wme01-01/) — January 2016 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2017-october-wme01-01/) — October 2017 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2017-june-wme01-01/) — June 2017 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2017-january-wme01-01/) — January 2017 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2015-june-wme01-01/) — June 2015 — 8 questions · 75 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 0.38 from 16 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 0.11, 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 26.7% Easy, 73.3% 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/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2016-october-wme01-01/