# WME02/01 January 2017

> WME02/01 January 2017: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.42, deviation 0.13, algebraic 0.36, text density 0.38. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M2.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2017 January

This Mechanics 2 (WME02) 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
- M2
- 8 questions
- 75 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74)
- [All M2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/)

Core finding

**WME02/01 January 2017 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 2 (WME02), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.42 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.13 and a mark split of 18.7% Easy, 73.3% Medium and 8.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.36; text density and modelling average 0.38. All five measures use 17 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 17 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 17 parts, algebraic tags 17 and text-density tags 17. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.42 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.13 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 18.7 / 73.3 / 8.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.36 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.38 — 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** | 0.42 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.13 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 18.7% Easy / 73.3% Medium / 8.0% 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** | 0.38 | 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 | [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/) | 10 | 0.35 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=cbfc8ab5-f4cf-4fb3-8c77-ff51740e4240&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.37 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=6b459cdd-2f60-46c5-ae51-e4b3766862ba&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [1. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line-or-plane/) | 6 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=2a4361ee-ae4a-401b-a933-9218f9c702f2&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 9 | 0.31 Easy | 0.31 Low | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=78e946fd-3565-4604-b619-4197fad5f67f&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 10 | 0.45 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=9fba7ae4-44f4-45b0-8707-72b3f9775e37&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=8a04def6-b50f-46f7-ae08-f9f90f991d99&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/statics-of-rigid-bodies/) | 13 | 0.49 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=fa04fb45-ec07-490c-b78c-2d668ad7ca89&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [1. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line-or-plane/) | 13 | 0.41 Medium | 0.41 Medium | 0.41 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5877323e-c517-4439-b311-49adbcd3cd74&question_id=e4ba389b-d2df-435f-8246-ad95373b674e&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2017) |

## Topics in this paper

- [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/)
- [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/)
- [1. Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/kinematics-of-a-particle-moving-in-a-straight-line-or-plane/)
- [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/)
- [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/statics-of-rigid-bodies/)

## Related papers

- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2017-october-wme02-01/) — October 2017 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2017-june-wme02-01/) — June 2017 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2018-october-wme02-01/) — October 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2018-june-wme02-01/) — June 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2018-january-wme02-01/) — January 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2016-october-wme02-01/) — October 2016 — 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 0.42 from 17 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 0.13, 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 18.7% Easy, 73.3% Medium and 8.0% 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-2-wme02/2017-january-wme02-01/