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Scotland · SQAQ&A
Applications of MathematicsQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every Scotland Applications of Mathematics syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Course Assessment
Finance
- Applying personal financial planning skills, including income tax and national insurance, the effect of inflation on purchasing power, and analysing insurance premiums, excess and risk.3Q&A pairs
- Analysing loans, credit cards and other borrowing, calculating repayments and outstanding balances, understanding APR as a measure of the true cost of credit, and comparing borrowing options.3Q&A pairs
- Calculating the future value of a sum or of regular savings under compound interest, and the present value of a future payment, including comparing savings products and the effect of compounding frequency.3Q&A pairs
Mathematical Modelling
- Modelling real-life situations with variables, formulae and graphs, including linear, piecewise linear and exponential growth and decay models, and using the model to make predictions.3Q&A pairs
- Using a spreadsheet to support modelling: entering formulae with relative and absolute cell references, filling down a recurrence, using built-in functions, and using goal seek to find an input for a target output.2Q&A pairs
- Working with units and dimensional consistency, converting between units, rounding appropriately, and using tolerance, absolute error and percentage error to judge whether a result is acceptable.3Q&A pairs
Planning and Decision Making
- Calculating expected values to compare decisions under risk, using decision tables and decision trees, and justifying a choice while recognising the limits of an expected-value approach.3Q&A pairs
- Representing project activities over time with Gantt charts and PERT, scheduling activities and resources, and using the schedule to track progress and manage deadlines.3Q&A pairs
- Modelling a project with an activity network, finding the critical path and minimum completion time, and calculating the float (slack) of non-critical activities.3Q&A pairs
Statistics and Probability
- Measuring linear association with Pearson's correlation coefficient, fitting a simple linear regression line, interpreting its slope and intercept, and using it to predict while distinguishing interpolation from extrapolation.3Q&A pairs
- Carrying out and interpreting hypothesis tests (t-tests and z-tests), using the p-value and significance level to reach a conclusion, constructing and interpreting confidence intervals, and recognising errors in statistical testing.3Q&A pairs
- Calculating probabilities of single and combined events using the addition and multiplication rules and tree diagrams, working with conditional probability, and finding the expected value of a situation with uncertain outcomes.3Q&A pairs
- Selecting and interpreting statistical diagrams, comparing data sets using measures of centre and spread, identifying outliers and misleading graphs, and choosing an appropriate sampling method.4Q&A pairs