# WME03/01 January 2017

> WME03/01 January 2017: 7 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.43, deviation 0.14, algebraic 0.40, text density 0.52. Edexcel IAL Mathematics M3.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2017 January

This Mechanics 3 (WME03) 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
- M3
- 7 questions
- 75 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e)
- [All M3 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/)

Core finding

**WME03/01 January 2017 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Mechanics 3 (WME03), with 7 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.43 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.14 and a mark split of 18.7% Easy, 68.0% Medium and 13.3% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.40; text density and modelling average 0.52. 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**: 0.43 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.14 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 18.7 / 68.0 / 13.3 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.40 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.52 — 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** | 0.43 | 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** | 18.7% Easy / 68.0% Medium / 13.3% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.40 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.52 | 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 | [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/statics-of-rigid-bodies/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=8c1c5034-0574-4a48-8adc-f8fad33389d7&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [1. Further kinematics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/further-kinematics/) | 7 | 0.38 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=0a7191f5-fcba-4e39-aa83-efa6ddc72df0&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/statics-of-rigid-bodies/) | 6 | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=8b438fef-30d5-4a82-b995-c2b7ef7dd2aa&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [4. Motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/motion-in-a-circle/) | 12 | 0.45 Medium | 0.41 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=dfa51854-0717-40ac-adb1-b2bb1f370d63&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [2. Elastic strings and springs](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/elastic-strings-and-springs/) | 9 | 0.45 Medium | 0.34 Medium | 0.62 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=0a423779-c99e-446d-b967-fae8680da483&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [2. Elastic strings and springs](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/elastic-strings-and-springs/) | 17 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.38 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=72b523b3-4555-45af-ba33-6ad36fef0a35&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [4. Motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/motion-in-a-circle/) | 17 | 0.52 Medium | 0.45 Medium | 0.75 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=152a3f08-1154-4581-aa15-2df2fae6734e&question_id=ab943695-e439-4522-94fc-4da96c927cb5&source_detail=WME03%2F01+January+2017) |

## Topics in this paper

- [5. Statics of rigid bodies](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/statics-of-rigid-bodies/)
- [1. Further kinematics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/further-kinematics/)
- [4. Motion in a circle](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/motion-in-a-circle/)
- [2. Elastic strings and springs](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/elastic-strings-and-springs/)
- [3. Further dynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/further-dynamics/)

## Related papers

- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2017-june-wme03-01/) — June 2017 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2018-june-wme03-01/) — June 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2018-january-wme03-01/) — January 2018 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2016-june-wme03-01/) — June 2016 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2016-january-wme03-01/) — January 2016 — 7 questions · 75 marks — Free
- [WME03/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/mechanics-3-wme03/2019-june-wme03-01/) — June 2019 — 7 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 0.43 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 0.14, 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 18.7% Easy, 68.0% Medium and 13.3% 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-3-wme03/2017-january-wme03-01/