# WME02/01 October 2020

> WME02/01 October 2020: 8 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.46, deviation 0.13, algebraic 0.44, text density 0.55. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M2.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2020 October

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=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445)
- [All M2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/)

Core finding

**WME02/01 October 2020 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 2 (WME02), with 8 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.46 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.13 and a mark split of 10.7% Easy, 72.0% Medium and 17.3% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.44; text density and modelling average 0.55. All five measures use 14 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 14 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 14 parts, algebraic tags 14 and text-density tags 14. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.46 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.13 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 10.7 / 72.0 / 17.3 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.44 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.55 — 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** | 0.46 | 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** | 10.7% Easy / 72.0% Medium / 17.3% 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** | 0.55 | 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. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 5 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=c14f6334-eba5-45f8-b740-bdbbc0cf361f&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q2** 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/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=0cc47063-5e9e-46a4-a2b5-2b214a2c7e3c&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/statics-of-rigid-bodies/) | 9 | 0.75 Hard | 0.75 High | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=bf87845d-dd7d-440b-befd-da01bcba5e85&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=64c2c2d5-035c-461a-baa6-c74e99dbab11&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+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 | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=f940e645-7c15-4c1f-85b1-5b4794cc5eac&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [3. Work and energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/work-and-energy/) | 10 | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=0309f2e3-d426-459e-846b-fd0fbd5bf309&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/) | 10 | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=9f3f0b85-bff0-4857-9762-96495e795fbb&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |
| **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 | 0.52 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=624d3ca7-4776-48d4-82f7-28a6fdde3445&question_id=17ce48c3-f8da-41ab-aee4-914a06481cff&source_detail=WME02%2F01+October+2020) |

## Topics in this paper

- [4. Collisions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/collisions/)
- [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/)
- [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/statics-of-rigid-bodies/)
- [2. Centres of mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/centres-of-mass/)

## Related papers

- [WME02/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-2-wme02/2020-january-wme02-01/) — January 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 0.46 from 14 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 10.7% Easy, 72.0% Medium and 17.3% 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-october-wme02-01/