# WME01/01 October 2020 > WME01/01 October 2020: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.41, deviation 0.17, algebraic 0.30, text density 0.43. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M1. - Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2020-october-wme01-01/ - Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2020-october-wme01-01/index.md --- Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2020 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=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85) - [All M1 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/) Core finding **WME01/01 October 2020 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 1 (WME01), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.41 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.17 and a mark split of 29.3% Easy, 52.0% Medium and 18.7% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.30; text density and modelling average 0.43. 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**: 0.41 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium - **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.17 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed - **Difficulty Ratio**: 29.3 / 52.0 / 18.7 — % Easy / Medium / Hard - **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.30 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low - **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.43 — 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** | 0.41 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.17 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) | | **Difficulty Ratio** | 29.3% Easy / 52.0% Medium / 18.7% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks | | **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.30 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.43 | 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 | 0.41 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=00b4de8a-835d-4907-b65c-20ef4f53b63e&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **Q2** 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/) | 14 | 0.40 Medium | 0.27 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=77cfc05d-a653-4e19-861f-7c54bdbc20d8&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **Q3** FRQ | [5. Statics of a particle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/statics-of-a-particle/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=2205faf6-5446-4ee6-a1d0-323c68325078&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **Q4** FRQ | [6. Moments](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/moments/) | 8 | 0.75 Hard | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=6340a547-f35d-4de1-a87b-57a8af9808a2&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **Q5** FRQ | [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) | 13 | 0.28 Easy | 0.28 Low | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=c7b6dd34-1cb0-4c18-8f09-32a86532bcd6&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **Q6** 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 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=a6851fc2-8847-433d-8913-00bd74183208&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **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/) | 9 | 0.42 Medium | 0.42 Medium | 0.42 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=f5be67a2-7f12-4d44-a2a9-b2677783ee96&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+2020) | | **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/) | 8 | 0.65 Hard | 0.39 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7c3df809-82ed-440a-b496-b47c6fde7c85&question_id=e8587e40-23ce-48e2-9293-3457f8e6dfbd&source_detail=WME01%2F01+October+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/) - [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/) - [2. Vectors in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/vectors-in-mechanics/) - [1. Mathematical models in mechanics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/mathematical-models-in-mechanics/) ## Related papers - [WME01/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2020-january-wme01-01/) — January 2020 — 7 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 0.41 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 0.17, 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 29.3% Easy, 52.0% Medium and 18.7% 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. --- Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-1-wme01/2020-october-wme01-01/