# WME02/01 January 2020

> WME02/01 January 2020: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.47, deviation 0.16, algebraic 0.44, text density 0.50. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M2.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2020 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=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39)
- [All M2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/)

Core finding

**WME02/01 January 2020 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 2 (WME02), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.47 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.16 and a mark split of 12.0% Easy, 62.7% Medium and 25.3% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.44; text density and modelling average 0.50. All five measures use 18 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 18 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 18 parts, algebraic tags 18 and text-density tags 18. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.47 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.16 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 12.0 / 62.7 / 25.3 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.44 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.50 — 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** | 0.47 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.16 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 12.0% Easy / 62.7% Medium / 25.3% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.44 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.50 | 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 | [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/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=4fa5d68d-f65b-4f03-89c2-b09b45ae3d4c&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/) | 6 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=7f034d49-2323-4a57-a74f-2f4d2e2b1685&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 7 | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=fd37d915-518c-4b21-bb0f-22e0dc3ac5ba&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/) | 10 | 0.60 Medium | 0.63 High | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=bb2b0b91-a2d6-4124-bd68-5c22014e2a47&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q5** 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/) | 10 | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=b0216dd8-bd50-4e90-9082-46c0cbb2b0c5&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/statics-of-rigid-bodies/) | 11 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=17d79831-6a9c-4c08-90dc-5f8ae8ae98e3&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q7** 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/) | 14 | 0.42 Medium | 0.25 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=82c141ed-ecac-4128-81b9-0da3d61fb37f&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 12 | 0.67 Hard | 0.66 High | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=3cdbc820-8469-4273-a45d-f2117368ed39&question_id=97f02f3d-ad14-4934-b600-34179a765bde&source_detail=WME02%2F01+January+2020) |

## Topics in this paper

- [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/)
- [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/)
- [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/)
- [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/)
- [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-wme02/2020-october-wme02-01/) — October 2020 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2021-october-wme02-01/) — October 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2021-june-wme02-01/) — June 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2021-january-wme02-01/) — January 2021 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Pro
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2019-october-wme02-01/) — October 2019 — 8 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2019-june-wme02-01/) — 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 0.47 from 18 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 0.16, 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 12.0% Easy, 62.7% Medium and 25.3% 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-wme02/2020-january-wme02-01/