# WME01/01 January 2018

> WME01/01 January 2018: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.39, deviation 0.10, algebraic 0.37, text density 0.42. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M1.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2018 January

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=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03)
- [All M1 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/)

Core finding

**WME01/01 January 2018 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 1 (WME01), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.39 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.10 and a mark split of 22.7% Easy, 77.3% Medium and 0.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.37; text density and modelling average 0.42. 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**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.10 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 22.7 / 77.3 / 0.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.37 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.42 — 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** | 0.39 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.10 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 22.7% Easy / 77.3% Medium / 0.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.37 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.42 | 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 | [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 | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=ecffff59-4c06-4537-acfa-61201ac06e05&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 6 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=cdc35d90-2040-4bdc-864a-87087ed03d2b&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q3** 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 | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=0f0721c9-6dfe-444d-9373-df3e0cbba960&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q4** 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/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=72c5395e-f2f7-4301-aa81-8049504c4923&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q5** 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/) | 12 | 0.35 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=91e767c7-d675-4ae4-802d-38062f8d9d21&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 9 | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=11483083-d879-4823-987c-a1a57dfd2b5f&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 12 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=c473449d-7294-4107-8424-84675219f583&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |
| **Q8** 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/) | 14 | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=bb198b62-4994-4539-a87f-9241a2f89c03&question_id=92450c54-799d-43da-aadd-a512116f5ed3&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2018) |

## Topics in this paper

- [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/)
- [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/)
- [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/)
- [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/)
- [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-wme01/2018-october-wme01-01/) — October 2018 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2018-june-wme01-01/) — June 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2019-october-wme01-01/) — October 2019 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2019-june-wme01-01/) — June 2019 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2019-january-wme01-01/) — January 2019 — 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

## 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 0.39 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 0.10, 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 22.7% Easy, 77.3% 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-wme01/2018-january-wme01-01/