# WPH13/01 October 2020

> WPH13/01 October 2020: 4 questions, 50 marks. Difficulty 0.39, deviation 0.15, algebraic 0.26, text density 0.34. Edexcel IAL Physics U3.

- Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2020-october-wph13-01/
- Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2020-october-wph13-01/index.md

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Edexcel IAL · Physics · 2020 October

This Physics Unit 3 (WPH13) paper contains 4 questions worth 50 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
- U3
- 4 questions
- 50 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e560e478-0590-40db-8356-fbf3e745b587)
- [All U3 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/)

Core finding

**WPH13/01 October 2020 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Physics Unit 3 (WPH13), with 4 questions worth 50 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.39 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.15 and a mark split of 32.0% Easy, 62.0% Medium and 6.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.26; text density and modelling average 0.34. All five measures use 25 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 25 parts carrying 50 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 25 parts, algebraic tags 25 and text-density tags 25. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.15 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 32.0 / 62.0 / 6.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.26 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.34 — 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** | 0.39 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.15 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 32.0% Easy / 62.0% Medium / 6.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.26 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.34 | 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 | [U3 Planning](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/planning/) | 9 | 0.31 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e560e478-0590-40db-8356-fbf3e745b587&question_id=0a42d8db-8bc1-4e4a-824e-45bb4d232d41&source_detail=WPH13%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [U3 Processing Results](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/processing-results/) | 12 | 0.44 Medium | 0.26 Low | 0.37 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e560e478-0590-40db-8356-fbf3e745b587&question_id=0e22a8b7-5e0c-4318-a820-5bc17cd416be&source_detail=WPH13%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [U3 Planning](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/planning/) | 15 | 0.37 Medium | 0.25 Low | 0.37 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e560e478-0590-40db-8356-fbf3e745b587&question_id=f7c0a9f9-d9b8-4f77-b472-ec8feb8b1f47&source_detail=WPH13%2F01+October+2020) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [U3 Planning](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/planning/) | 14 | 0.41 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e560e478-0590-40db-8356-fbf3e745b587&question_id=cffd5014-be49-4f43-994c-c812467e644b&source_detail=WPH13%2F01+October+2020) |

## Topics in this paper

- [U3 Planning](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/planning/)
- [U3 Processing Results](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/processing-results/)
- [U3 Implementation and measurements](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/implementation-and-measurements/)

## Related papers

- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2020-january-wph13-01/) — January 2020 — 5 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2021-october-wph13-01/) — October 2021 — 4 questions · 50 marks — Pro
- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2021-june-wph13-01/) — June 2021 — 4 questions · 50 marks — Pro
- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2021-january-wph13-01/) — January 2021 — 5 questions · 50 marks — Pro
- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2019-october-wph13-01/) — October 2019 — 5 questions · 50 marks — Free
- [WPH13/01](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2019-june-wph13-01/) — June 2019 — 4 questions · 50 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 0.39 from 25 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 0.15, 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 32.0% Easy, 62.0% Medium and 6.0% 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/physics/physics-unit-3-wph13/2020-october-wph13-01/