IC Aero/EEE Mathematics Aptitude Test

Sample Paper 1
[30 minutes]

There are 30 questions in the test.

The solutions for each question is provided at the end of the question paper.

The questions are based on the standard A-level Maths syllabus. They are designed to test
problem-solving abilities. There are a handful of A-level Further Maths questions. Where
possible, adequate information is provided such that all candidates are able to attempt these
questions. However, IC Aero/EEE MAT papers (as of 2022) will not contain any Further
Maths questions.

© IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON 2022

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 Instructions
1. You are not expected to answer all questions, unanswered questions are not pe-
nalised. Each incorrect answer deducts 25% of the marks available for this question.

2. The test consists of 30 questions — 20 are worth one mark, 10 are worth two marks.
You will be able to see how many marks each question is worth during the test.

3. All questions are multiple choice. Each question presents four choices, only one is
correct.

4. You are allowed to use plain A4 papers for working out your answers.

5. This is a closed-book examination, any access to resources and calculators are not
allowed.

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 Sample Paper

1. What is the value of the following expression? [1 mark]

log5 (64)
log5 (2)

A. 32
B. 3!
C. 23
D. log5 (62)

2. [1 mark]
2x A B C
≡ + +
(x2 − 1)(x + 2) x−1 x+1 x+2
What is A + B + C?
A. −2
B. 0
8
C. 3
D. None of the above

3. Evaluate the following: [1 mark]

log0.5 32 − log0.5 16 + log0.5 4
1
A. 3
B. −3
C. log0 .520
√
D. 2 2

4. Find all real solutions to this equation: [2 marks]

         
4 4 4 3 4 2 4 4
x − x + x − x+ =1
0 1 2 3 4

A. x = 0
B. x = 1
C. x = 1, x = −1
D. x = 0, x = 2

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 Sample Paper

5. Find the gradient of the following function at x = −2: [1 mark]

f (x) = |x2 + 5x + 4|

A. 1
B. −1
C. −2
D. None of the above

6. Evaluate the following: [1 mark]

Z 2a
x2
ln(e ) + ln(x2 ) + 1dx
a
3 6
A. 3a + 6a + a ln(16a )
7 3
B. 3
a − a + a ln(16a2 )
7 3
C. 3
a − a + 2a ln(4a)
D. 3a + 6a + 2a ln(4a3 )
3

7. A curve is defined by the parametric equations: [1 mark]

x = 2 arcsin(t), y = tan(2t), −π ≤ t ≤ π
dx
What is dy
?
√
A. sec2 (2t) 1 − t2
4√
B. sec2 (2t) 1−t2
4 cos2 (2t)
C. √
1−t2
cos(4t)+1
D. √
2 1−t2

8. Compute the following integral: [2 marks]

Z e5
1
dx
e3 x ln x

A. ln 53
B. ln 15
C. ln 35
5
D. 3

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 Sample Paper

9. Consider the following vector equations and evaluate F⃗ at t = 0 and m = 2: [2 marks]

d⃗v
F⃗ = m
dt
d⃗s
⃗v =
dt
 sin(t) 
e
⃗s =  2t 
5
t2
 
2
A. 2 ln 2
0
 
1
B. 2(ln 2)2 
0
 
2
C. 2(ln 2)2 
0
D. None of the above

10. What is the volume of revolution when the graph below has been rotated 360◦ about [1 mark]
the x-axis?

256π
A. 75
64π
B. 3
32π
C. 15
128π
D. 15

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 Sample Paper

11. Given that: [1 mark]

1
cot(x) =
tan(x)
What is the exact value of:  
3π
cot
4
A. 1
B. −1
C. √1
3
−1
D. √
3

12. What is the exact value of tan 15◦ ? [2 marks]

√
A. 2 − 3
√
B. 2 + 3
√
C. −2 − 3
√ √
D. − 3 + 2

13. What are the first 3 terms of the Taylor series of the following function when x = 0? [1 mark]

f (x) = cot(x)
x3 5
A. x − 3
+ x5
1 3
B. x
+ x
+ x5
1 x x3
C. x
− 3
− 45
x3 5
D. x + + 2x
15 3
√
14. Given that z = 3 − i, which of the following is equal to z 4 ? [1 mark]
A. 16 (cos(120◦ ) + i sin(120◦ ))
B. 16 (cos(120◦ ) − i sin(120◦ ))
C. 16 (cos(−240◦ ) + i sin(−240◦ ))
D. 16 (cos(240◦ ) − i sin(240◦ ))
√
7 5t 4t √5t k,
15. Given that a = 7ti − 4tj + 5tk and â = 15
i − √ j
3 5
+ 45
what are the possible [1 mark]
values of t?
√
2
A. ± 2
q
45
B. ± 58
√
C. ± 2
D. ± 21

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 Sample Paper

16. Given that 3a − 2b is parallel to c, what is k? [1 mark]

a = ki − 2kj

b = 3i + 2j
c = i + 2j
1
A. 3
7
B. 3
C. -1
2
D. 3

17. Two sides of triangle ABC are given as: [2 marks]

−→
AB = i − 2j
−−→
BC = 3i + 4j
−−→ −→ −→ −→
Point D is such that AD = 2AB and point E is such that AE = 2AC. What is the
area of ADE?
A. 5units2
B. 1units2
C. 15units2
D. 20units2

18. Matrix M is defined as:   [2 marks]

1 x
−1 2x
What value of x satisfies det(M 2 ) = det(I)?
A. ± 19
B. ± 13
C. ±1
D. ± 12

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 Sample Paper

19. ⌊x⌋ represents the floor function: this rounds the input down to the nearest inte- [2 marks]
ger. e.g. ⌊0.9⌋ = 0. Consider the following equation and determine which of the
statements below are true:

π
sin (⌊x⌋ ) − 1 = 0
2
1. When x is a solution, ⌊x⌋ is odd.
2. If ⌊x⌋ is odd, it is a solution.
Given that x1 and x2 are both solutions
3. ⌊x1 − x2 ⌋ is always a multiple of 4
4. ⌊x1 ⌋ − ⌊x2 ⌋ is always a multiple of 4.
A. 1 only
B. 1, 3 and 4 only
C. 1 and 4 only
D. All of the statements

20. Find the range of values of k for which the following function has no real roots. [1 mark]

f (x) = 2x2 + 3kx − 6k

16
A. 0 < k < 3
16
B. 0 ≤ k ≤ 3
−16
C. 3
<k<0
−16
D. 3
≤k≤0

21. Two functions are defined as: [1 mark]

f (x) =| x2 − 4 |, x ∈ R

g(x) = x + 2, x ∈ R
Which range of values satisfy the inequality f (x) < g(x)?
A. −2 < x < 3
B. −2 < x < 1
C. 1 < x < 3
D. x < 1 and x > 3

22. Calculate the gradient of the line perpendicular to: [1 mark]

7
C3 2
y = (5 )x
C3
−4
A. 49
49
B. 16

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 Sample Paper

−4
C. 25
−36
D. 49

23. Find the value of x that satisfies : [1 mark]

∞ 
X √ r−1
3x =2
r=1
√
3
A. 6
B. √1
3
√
3
C. 2
D. √2
3

9
24. The third term of an arithmetic series is 10 x and the sixth term is 32 x. What is the [1 mark]
difference between the sum of the first 50 terms and the sum of the first 10 terms?
A. 14x
B. 256x
C. 270x
D. 284x

25. [1 mark]
1 1 1
1 + 1 + + + ...∞ = c
2! 3! 4!
Determine ln c ?
A. 1
B. e
C. 0
D. None of the above

26. Estimate the value of 0.86 using the first four terms of the binomial expansion of [1 mark]
(1 − x2 )6 .
6
A. 250
24
B. 100
C. 0.0024
D. 0.026

27. In the expansion of (4 + kx)−2 , the coefficient of the x term is 1

16
. What is the [1 mark]
coefficient of the x3 term?
1
A. 2
1
B. 32

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 Sample Paper

C. 2
1
D. 8

28. [2 marks]
(2n)!
f (n) = n
2 n!
Which of the following is f (n) equivalent to?
A. f (n) = (2n − 1)(2n − 3)(2n − 5)...1
B. f (n) = (2n + 1)(2n − 1)(2n − 3)...1
C. f (n) = (2n)(2n − 1)(2n − 2)...1
D. f (n) = (2n)(2n − 2)(2n − 4)...1

29. Evaluate the following expression: [2 marks]

ln 2(1 + ln 2(1 + ln 2(1 + ln 2(1 + ...∞ ))))

1
A. 1−ln 2
ln 2
B. 1−ln 2
C. Does not converge
D. None of the above

30. At places A and B, the elevation angles of a flying object are measured as α and β. [2 marks]
s is the distance between A and B.
Given that α = 30◦ and β = 60◦ , find the altitude h.

Figure 1: Question 30
√
3 3
A. 2
s
√
B. 3s
√
3
C. 2
s
√
3
D. 3
s

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 Sample Paper

Question Points Answer

1 1 B
2 1 B
3 1 B
4 2 D
5 1 B
6 1 C
7 1 D
8 2 A
9 2 C
10 1 D
11 1 B
12 2 A
13 1 C
14 1 B
15 1 A
16 1 D
17 2 D
18 2 B
19 2 C
20 1 C
21 1 C
22 1 A
23 1 A
24 1 B
25 1 A
26 1 B
27 1 B
28 2 A
29 2 B
30 2 C

End of test