# WME01/01 January 2020

> WME01/01 January 2020: 7 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.38, deviation 0.14, algebraic 0.39, text density 0.41. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M1.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2020 January

This Mechanics 1 (WME01) paper contains 7 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
- 7 questions
- 75 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b)
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Core finding

**WME01/01 January 2020 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 1 (WME01), with 7 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.38 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.14 and a mark split of 33.3% Easy, 60.0% Medium and 6.7% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.39; text density and modelling average 0.41. All five measures use 22 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 22 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 22 parts, algebraic tags 22 and text-density tags 22. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.38 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.14 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 33.3 / 60.0 / 6.7 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.41 — 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** | 0.14 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 33.3% Easy / 60.0% Medium / 6.7% 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** | 0.41 | 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/) | 8 | 0.29 Easy | 0.29 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=3000fa38-6e37-4981-a079-36241e2fcf9f&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [6. Moments](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/moments/) | 7 | 0.41 Medium | 0.41 Medium | 0.41 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=552cb40c-78a8-4ac8-ac6c-8a56834b1b39&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **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/) | 11 | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | 0.38 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=4e938ce7-4d77-4a10-ba9a-0abaf306f2cc&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 10 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=8b0108fa-d387-433d-8c73-5d7c48190c41&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **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/) | 10 | 0.35 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=1da50c49-ee21-48b6-a8cf-9cd167211cef&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 11 | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=50e7e47b-55b2-428b-9690-92a8e5eb48f8&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |
| **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/) | 18 | 0.47 Medium | 0.49 Medium | 0.52 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f02464b6-5367-4300-a45a-5973d60f845b&question_id=b472360e-191b-442c-aa23-2cbd3dcb34f0&source_detail=WME01%2F01+January+2020) |

## 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-wme01/2020-october-wme01-01/) — October 2020 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2021-october-wme01-01/) — October 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2021-june-wme01-01/) — June 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2021-january-wme01-01/) — January 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [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

## 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 22 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 33.3% Easy, 60.0% Medium and 6.7% 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-wme01/2020-january-wme01-01/