# WME01/01 October 2018

> WME01/01 October 2018: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.38, deviation 0.15, algebraic 0.29, text density 0.48. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M1.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2018 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=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c)
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Core finding

**WME01/01 October 2018 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 0.15 and a mark split of 36.0% Easy, 53.3% Medium and 10.7% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.29; text density and modelling average 0.48. All five measures use 21 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 21 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 21 parts, algebraic tags 21 and text-density tags 21. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.38 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.15 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 36.0 / 53.3 / 10.7 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.29 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.48 — 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** | 0.38 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.15 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 36.0% Easy / 53.3% Medium / 10.7% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.29 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.48 | 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/) | 6 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=654650bf-5d19-464a-a197-18b84e4ccd78&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [6. Moments](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/moments/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=90198183-a4b7-4ada-86b9-3e8b0132cefe&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q3** 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/) | 7 | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=125967f2-8de0-4977-b5ca-0555333b139f&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q4** 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 | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=13ab29fb-07cf-411d-9d79-76bdd65e78ac&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+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/) | 9 | 0.37 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=bc0848c5-bed7-4619-be3c-ed110a8ecd98&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 11 | 0.36 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.36 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=c91efbd1-b54e-44f5-a15b-63a06ed3bf32&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q7** 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/) | 10 | 0.30 Easy | 0.30 Low | 0.57 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=5b23d4e6-2892-4af8-ad6c-5ffdb3868560&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 17 | 0.48 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.59 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=b1f404a1-32c9-4bf6-a9f5-b1bd730c2f3c&question_id=126b5b15-0650-4a89-8a83-b72cee68fe35&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2018) |

## 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/)
- [6. Moments](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/moments/)
- [1. Mathematical models in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/mathematical-models-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/)
- [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/)

## Related papers

- [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-wme01/2018-january-wme01-01/) — January 2018 — 8 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 0.38 from 21 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 0.15, 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 36.0% Easy, 53.3% Medium and 10.7% 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-october-wme01-01/