Student Number

2024 Year 12 Trial Examination

Mathematics Standard 2
12/08/2024

General • Reading time – 10 minutes

Instructions • Working time – 2 hours and 30 minutes
• Write using blue or black pen
• Calculators approved by NESA may be used
• A reference sheet is provided
• For questions in Section II, show relevant mathematical reasoning
and/or calculations
• No white-out may be used

Total Marks: Section I - 15 marks (pages 2–10)

100 • Allow about 25 minutes for this section

Section II - 85 marks (pages 11–45)

• Allow about 2 hours and 5 minutes for this section

This question paper must not be removed from the examination room.

This assessment task constitutes 30% of the course.

Section I
15 marks
Attempt Questions 1–15
Allow about 25 minutes for this section.

Use the multiple-choice sheet for Question 1–15.

1 In the following network, what is the degree of vertex 𝑃?

A. 3

B. 4

C. 90°

D. 180°

2 A laptop computer cost $3500. It depreciates by 20% of its value each year using the
declining-balance method of depreciation.

What is its salvage value after 3 years?

A. $700

B. $1400

C. $1792

D. $2240

–3–
3 Which graph is negatively skewed?

A. B.

C. D.

4 Which compass bearing is the same as a true bearing of 305°T?

A. S35°W

B. S55°W

C. N35°W

D. N55°W

–4–
5 Lily wanted to estimate the number of fish in a lake.

She randomly captured 30 fish, then tagged and released them.

One week later she randomly captured 40 fish from the same lake. She found that 12 of these
40 fish were tagged.

What is the best estimate for the total number of fish in the lake?

A. 58

B. 70

C. 82

D. 100

6 Jonah bought a camera while holidaying in Australia. On the way out he is applying to have
the GST he paid be refunded.

If the cost of the camera was $1100 including GST, how much should be refunded?

A. $100

B. $110

C. $990

D. $1000

–5–
7 Which of the following is most likely to have a negative correlation?

A. The number of children in a city, and the number of schools in the city.

B. The size of a file, and the time taken to download the file.

C. The amount of alcohol a person consumes, and the person’s reaction time.

D. The amount of rainfall on a road, and the number of cyclists on the road.

8 Young’s formula for calculating medication dosage for children is

age of child (in years) × adult dosage

Dosage for child =
age of child (in years) + 12

The dosage for a 6 year old child is 14 mg from Young’s formula.

What is the adult dosage?

A. 12 mg

B. 26 mg

C. 42 mg

D. 168 mg

–6–
9 What is the median of the dataset represented in the following stem-and-leaf plot?

Stem Leaf
0 3
1 15555558
2 25578
3 344
4 7

A. 15

B. 18

C. 20

D. 22

10 Which of the following statements about critical paths in networks is always true?

A. The critical path is the shortest path in the network.

B. There may be multiple critical paths through a network.

C. Activities on the critical path may have a non-zero float time.

D. Reducing the time of any activity on a critical path for a project will always reduce the
minimum completion time for the project.

–7–
11 The following graph shows the relationship between the braking distance of a car (in metres)
for different speeds (in km/h).

Which equation represents the graph shown?

A. Braking distance = 0.3 × speed

B. Braking distance = 0.45 × speed

C. Braking distance = 0.086 × (speed)2

D. Braking distance = 0.0075 × (speed)2

–8–
12 The circumference (𝐶) of a circle varies directly with its radius (𝑟).

Which graph represents this relationship?

A. B.

C. D.

–9–
13 A random variable is normally distributed with mean 0 and standard deviation 1. The table
gives the probability that this random variable lies between 0 and 𝑧 for different values of 𝑧.

𝑧 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Probability 0.040 0.079 0.118 0.155 0.192 0.226 0.258 0.288 0.316

The probability values given in the table for different values of z are represented by the
shaded area in the following diagram.

What is the probability that a normally distributed random variable with mean 0 and standard
deviation 1 lies between -0.4 and 1?

A. 0.185

B. 0.34

C. 0.35

D. 0.495

– 10 –
14 The area of the following sector is 6 cm2 .

What is its radius, correct to 3 significant figures?

A. 𝑟 = 4.146 cm

B. 𝑟 = 4.15 cm

C. 𝑟 = 8.59 cm

D. 𝑟 = 8.594 cm

15 A total of 13 000 people entered a running race. The ratio of professional runners to amateurs
was 1:49.
95% of all the professional runners completed the race, while 390 of the amateurs did not
complete the race.
Which represents the ratio of professional runners to amateurs who finished the race?

A. 1: 47

B. 1: 48

C. 1: 49

D. 1: 50

End of Section I

– 11 –
 Question 16 (2 marks)

A hemispherical bowl has a diameter of 20 cm. It is open at the top. 2

What is the surface area of the outside of the open bowl, correct to the nearest square
centimetre?
Do NOT write in this area.

– 15 –
Question 17 (3 marks)

The scatter plot below represents the relationship between the flying distance between
two cities and the cost of the plane ticket.

Do NOT write in this area.

(a) Draw a line of best fit by eye. 1

(b) From your line of best fit, estimate the cost of a plane ticket for traveling 800 km. 1

(c) Explain why your line of best fit would not be appropriate to estimate the cost of 1
travelling more than 2000 km.

– 16 –
 Question 18 (3 marks)

A business makes puzzles and sells them.

The graphs below show the revenue and cost of the business for 𝑛 puzzles.
Do NOT write in this area.

(a) The coordinate (25, 800) lies on the revenue line. 1

Calculate the revenue made per puzzle sold.

(b) Calculate the coordinates of the break-even point. 2

– 17 –
Question 19 (2 marks)

18-year-old Sam exercises at the gym and wants his target heart rate to sit at 80% of his 2
maximum heart rate.
The following formula can be used to estimate the maximum heart rate (in beats per
minute):

Maximum Heart Rate = 220 – age in years

How many beats should he count in a 10 second period when he has achieved this target
heart rate? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of beats.

Do NOT write in this area.

Question 20 (2 marks)

Isaac has made a table for his results in several subjects. 2

Complete the table by filling in the blank boxes.

Standard
Subject Raw Mark Mean 𝑧-score
Deviation

Economics 70 63 8

Music 67 5.5 −2

PDHPE 84 75 1.2

– 18 –
 Question 21 (2 marks)

In a jar of 21 lollies, 6 are red (R) and the rest are green (G). 2
Gerrard takes two lollies at random, without replacement.
Do NOT write in this area.

By completing the tree diagram above, determine the probability that Gerrard takes two
green lollies.

– 19 –
Question 22 (3 marks)

A radial survey of a local park is shown in this diagram.

Do NOT write in this area.

(a) R is south-west of P. 1
What is the bearing of R from P?

(b) Find the area of triangle RPS to the nearest square metre. 2

– 20 –
 Question 23 (2 marks)

What amount must be invested for 8 years at 4.95% p.a. compounded quarterly to grow to 2
a future value of $15 000? Leave your answer to the nearest dollar.
Do NOT write in this area.

– 21 –
Question 24 (3 marks)

Ursula owns a computer, which consumes on average 100 watts of power. It is run 24
hours per day.
Electricity is charged at the following rates:

Time Tariff Cost per kWh

6am – 10pm Peak $0.55 / kWh

All other times Off-peak $0.225 / kWh

(a) Calculate Ursula’s cost of running the computer for a week. 2

Do NOT write in this area.

(b) Ursula allocates $2000 per year to electricity. 1
What percentage of her allocation does this computer use, correct to 2 decimal
places?

– 22 –
 Question 25 (3 marks)

The water authority wants to lay water pipes along the roads to put a fire hydrant at every 3
vertex on the network shown. The numbers represent the length, in metres, of the pipe
that connects any two vertices.
To minimise the cost of the operation, the water authority wants to minimise the length of
the pipes.
Construct the minimum spanning tree to achieve this and calculate its total length.
Do NOT write in this area.

Total length: _________________________________

– 23 –
Question 26 (2 marks)

A man weighs 89 kg and consumes 6 standard drinks. 2

How many hours will it take from the first drink until his blood alcohol concentration
falls below the legal driving limit of 0.05?
Use the following formula to estimate his BAC:
10𝑁 − 7.5𝐻
𝐵𝐴𝐶Male =
6.8𝑀
Where:

• 𝐵𝐴𝐶 is blood alcohol concentration

• 𝑁 is number of standard drinks consumed
• 𝐻 is hours from the first drink
• 𝑀 is mass in kilograms

Do NOT write in this area.

– 24 –
 Question 27 (3 marks)

The table of interest factors below shows the future value of a $1 annuity.

Future value of an annuity of $1

Time Interest rate per period

periods 0.15% 0.16% 0.17% 0.18% 0.19% 0.20%
6 6.0225 6.0241 6.0256 6.0271 6.0286 6.0301
12 12.0995 12.1062 12.1128 12.1195 12.1262 12.1329
18 18.2313 18.2469 18.2625 18.2781 18.2937 18.3093
24 24.4186 24.4468 24.4751 24.5034 24.5318 24.5602
30 30.6617 30.7065 30.7514 30.7963 30.8413 30.8865
36 36.9613 37.0265 37.0919 37.1575 37.2232 37.2890
Do NOT write in this area.

(a) Nia deposits $1500 into an account at the end of each month for 2 years. The 2
account pays 1.8% interest p.a., compounding monthly.
Use the table to find the value of Nia’s investment after 2 years.

(b) Calculate the interest earned on Nia’s investment. 1

– 25 –
Question 28 (2 marks)

A large sample of people were asked about their weekly household income, and the box 2
plot of the dataset is shown below:

The maximum weekly income earned by a household is $5800.

Using calculations to justify your answer, determine whether the income of $5800 can be
considered an outlier.

Do NOT write in this area.

– 26 –
 Question 29 (3 marks)

The table shows the current income tax rates for the 2024 – 2025 financial year. 3

Taxable income Tax on this income

0 – $18,200 Nil
$18,201 – $45,000 16 cents for each $1 over $18,200
$45,001 – $135,000 $4,288 plus 30 cents for each $1 over $45,000
$135,001 – $190,000 $31,288 plus 37 cents for each $1 over $135,000
$190,001 and over $51,638 plus 45 cents for each $1 over $180,000

Theo has a taxable income of $104 600 per annum. Theo also pays the Medicare levy,
which is 2% of his taxable income.
Calculate the total tax Theo pays, including the Medicare levy.
Do NOT write in this area.

– 27 –
Question 30 (3 marks)

A tourist spot has several attractions which can be visited. The network diagram below
shows the various paths tourists can travel to visit the attractions (labelled A to G).

Tourists start at point A and finish at point G.

The numbers on the edges represent the number of tourists that can travel along the path
per hour.

Do NOT write in this area.

(a) By showing a suitable cut on the diagram above, explain why the maximum flow of 2
the tourist spot is less than 250 visitors per hour.

(b) The tourist spot can increase one path by 10 visitors per hour. Which path should be 1
increased so that 250 can pass through each hour?

– 28 –
 Question 31 (2 marks)

A company has a net profit of $10.5 million. The company has chosen to distribute its 2
profits evenly to the owners of its 87.5 million shares.
Calculate the dividend yield if the share price is $7.50.
Do NOT write in this area.

Proceed to Booklet 2 for Questions 32 – 44

– 29 –
 Question 32 (3 marks)

A traveller takes off from Hervey Bay in Queensland at 11:10 am. 3

The traveller lands in Midland, Texas at 10:48 am the same day, local time. Neither city is
using daylight savings time.

The longitude of Hervey Bay, Queensland is 152.9°E, and the longitude of Midland,
Texas is 102.1°W.

What is the duration of the trip from initial take-off until final landing?
You may assume the fact that each 15° difference in longitude corresponds to a time
difference of 1 hour.
Do NOT write in this area.

– 35 –
Question 33 (2 marks)

A pizza shop takes on average 22 minutes to deliver a pizza. 2

If the delivery takes more than 30 minutes, the customer gets the pizza for free. The pizza
shop ends up giving 2.5% of their pizzas away for free.
Assuming delivery times follow a normal distribution, what percentage of the pizzas are
delivered in under 18 minutes?

Do NOT write in this area.

– 36 –
 Question 34 (3 marks)

Eliza owns a credit card that charges 19.2% p.a. interest, compounding daily, on all 3
purchases made. The interest is charged from the day of purchase, including the day of
purchase and the date the payment is made.

On the 28th of October, Eliza bought a mobile phone for $899 using her credit card. Eliza
paid her credit card account on the 8th November.

What was the interest charged on the mobile phone by using the credit card?
Do NOT write in this area.

– 37 –
Question 35 (3 marks)

A farmer is building 3 small paddocks against a wall using 30 metres of fencing. The
paddocks are equal in size.

The fencing is used to make 4 parallel sides of length 𝑥 metres, and one long side of
length 30 − 4𝑥 metres, as shown below.

The combined area of the paddocks for different 𝑥 values is given by the quadratic
equation 𝐴 = 30𝑥 − 4𝑥 2 , graphed below.

Do NOT write in this area.

(a) State the values of 𝑥 which make the combined area of 50 m2 . 1

(b) Find the dimensions of a single paddock when its area is at a maximum. 2

– 38 –
 Question 36 (4 marks)

The network below shows the activities that are needed to finish a particular project and
their completion times (in days).

(a) By stating the critical path, determine the minimum completion time for this 2
project.
Do NOT write in this area.

(b) What is the earliest start time for activity 𝑀? 1

(c) Activity 𝐸 is being delayed. What is the maximum duration that activity 𝐸 can be 1
without delaying the overall completion time of the project?

– 39 –
Question 37 (6 marks)

Samantha owns a company that produces candles. Her candles have a diameter of 8 cm
and a height of 10 cm.

(a) Baking paper is used as a label on the candle, indicated by the shaded area on the 3
diagram.

Do NOT write in this area.

The label wraps around the middle of the candle with no overlap. The area of the
baking paper used is 90.5 cm2 .

The distance between the label and the end of the candle is given by 𝑥 cm on both
sides of the label, as shown in the diagram. Calculate the value of 𝑥, correct to 1
decimal place.

– 40 –
 (b) The company wants the candles to burn for a minimum of 60 hours. The candle 3
currently burns at a rate of 1.3 cubic centimetres every ten minutes.
Do the given dimensions allow the candle to burn for 60 hours? Justify your answer
with calculations.
Do NOT write in this area.

End of Question 36

– 41 –
Question 38 (3 marks)

Present value interest factors for an annuity of $1 for various interest rates and time 3
periods are given in the table below.

Table of present value interest factors

Interest rate per period

Time
periods 0.50% 0.55% 0.60% 0.65% 0.70%

180 118.5035 114.0753 109.8845 105.9163 102.1569

240 139.5808 133.0721 127.0084 121.3539 116.0760

300 155.2069 146.7418 138.9683 131.8193 125.2349

360 166.7916 156.5781 147.3214 138.9139 131.2616

Dean takes out a loan of $430 000. The interest charged on the loan is 0.55% per month,
and he intends to repay the loan over 20 years by making equal monthly repayments.

Do NOT write in this area.

Calculate how much Dean pays back in total over the 20 years.

– 42 –
 Question 39 (2 marks)

A lighthouse keeper observes a boat from two observation windows. The angle of 2
depression from upper window to the boat is 33°. The angle of depression from lower
window to the boat is 28°. The distance between two windows is 8 m.
Do NOT write in this area.

Calculate the distance 𝑑 between the boat and the bottom of the lighthouse. Leave your
answer to the nearest metre.

– 43 –
Question 40 (5 marks)

A park in the shape of a trapezium is shown below, with corners at A, B, C and D. It has
been drawn to scale on a 1-cm grid.

(a) Elise is running along three edges of a park. She starts at A, runs to B, then C, and 3
finishes at D.

Do NOT write in this area.

She runs at an average speed of 8 km/h and runs the three edges in 6 minutes

Show that the scale used above is 1: 4000.

(b) In one day, 0.5 cm of rain falls on the trapezium park. 2

How many kilolitres of water falls on the park on this day?

– 44 –
 Question 41 (4 marks)

Some friends are planning to go on a popular trail from point A to point C. Starting at 4
point A, they plan to walk 6.5 km directly west to point B, and then walk 5.3 km on a
bearing of 195°T.

After walking 4.1 km from A to B, there is a blockage on the path. They choose to walk
directly from the blockage to the destination at C.
Find the true bearing they must walk on to reach point C, correct to the nearest degree.
Do NOT write in this area.

– 45 –
Question 42 (3 marks)

A group of 10 people were given tests to determine their reaction time. Their results are
plotted against the number of hours of sleep they had the night before in the scatter plot
below.

Do NOT write in this area.

The least-squares regression line for this data is 𝑦 = 5.725 − 0.475𝑥.

(a) Interpret the value of the gradient for this line in the context of the data. 2

(b) A new person is tested, and gets a reaction time of 2.4 seconds, after having 7 hours 1
of sleep. This point lies exactly on the least-squares regression line.
How would the correlation coefficient change after the new person is added?

– 46 –
 Question 43 (4 marks)

Chris takes out a loan of $400 000 in 2025, to be paid back over 30 years. He pays back 4
$2796 at the end of each month, after interest has been added.
At the end of the first month, Chris owes $399 704. (You may use this to calculate the
interest rate).
The table shows the monthly repayment needed per $1000 borrowed.

Interest Rate Term of Loan (years)

(per annum) 10 15 20 25 30
7% 11.61 8.99 7.75 7.07 6.65
7.5% 11.87 9.27 8.06 7.39 6.99
8% 12.13 9.56 8.36 7.72 7.34
8.5% 12.40 9.85 8.69 8.05 7.69

After 5 years of paying off the loan, Chris still owes $378 532. (Do not show this)
Do NOT write in this area.

He then decides to increase his monthly payment so that he can pay back the loan in 2050.
Calculate the total amount of interest Chris has paid on the loan in total after making this
change, correct to the nearest whole number.

– 47 –
Question 44 (3 marks)

For a normal distribution with a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1, it is known that 3
approximately 90% of the data lies below the z-score of 1.28.

A company sells chocolate bars. Currently, the mass of the chocolate bars is normally
distributed with a mean of 150.6 g and a standard deviation 𝜎. It is known that 10% of
these bars weigh less than 149 g.
The bars cannot fit in their packaging if their mass exceeds 153 g.
The company is changing the mean mass of their chocolate bars so that only 2.5% of
them weigh less than 149 g. The standard deviation of the masses is staying the same.
By making this change, determine whether at least 90% of the chocolate bars produced

Do NOT write in this area.

will still fit in their packaging. Justify your answer with appropriate calculations.

End of paper

– 48 –
 Mathematics Standard 2
Year 12 2024
Trial Solutions & Feedback

General Feedback

▪ Doing past trials/HSC exams is the best way to prepare from now on, and it was clear that a
number had not been doing this consistently.
▪ The key topics that many students need to review are Non-right-angled Trigonometry,
Perimeter, Area and Volume, as well as The Normal Distribution.
▪ Students need to make sure they are confident and quick with the routine questions, which will
give them more time to try the harder problems.
▪ Critical paths and float times needs to be reviewed.
▪ Working with time zones (from year 11) needs to be refreshed.
▪ Working with annuity tables needs to be more confident.

Section 1 – Multiple Choice

Question Answer
1 A
2 C
3 B
4 D
5 D
6 A
7 D
8 C
9 C
10 B
11 D
12 A
13 D
14 B
15 D
Section 2 – Short Answer

Sample Solutions Marking Criteria

Question 16

Criteria Marks
Correct solution
2
(rounding not important)
Attempting to use the
1
correct SA formula

Feedback:
Done pretty well. An open bowl does not have a top.
Question 17

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
A reasonable line with
about half the points
1
above and below (can be
generous)

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
A reasonable estimate
based off the line drawn
1
(don’t need lines on the
graph)

Part (c)
Criteria Marks
An explanation
mentioning the data 1
finishes before 2000 km

Feedback:
Mostly done well.
Question 18

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Calculates the revenue
1
with working

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Calculates the coordinate
2
of the break-even point
Indicates that 12 puzzles
need to be sold to break- 1
even

Feedback:
Part (b) was often done by eye, when calculations were needed. Part (a) lets you calculate the value for part (b).
Question 19

Criteria Marks
Calculates the correct
number of beats 2
(rounding not important)
▪ Finds target heart
rate
OR
1
▪ Finds the number of
beats from the
maximum heart rate

Feedback:
Mostly done well.

Question 20

Criteria Marks
All three values correct 2
One value is correct 1

Feedback:
A bit mixed. Some students skipped this question.
Question 21

Criteria Marks
Correct working from a
2
correct tree diagram
▪ A correct tree
diagram
OR
▪ Correctly
1
multiplying the GG
branch, but an
incorrect tree
diagram

Feedback:
This question was poorly done and needs to be a focus for revision. Students should know how to complete tree
diagrams and use the probabilities from the branches.
Question 22

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Stating the correct
bearing, either true
1
bearing or compass
bearing

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Finding the area
correctly (rounding not 2
important)
▪ A correct angle for
∠𝑅𝑃𝑆
OR
▪ Using the area 1
formula correctly
from an incorrect
angle

Feedback:
Part (a) caused a lot of confusion, which made part (b) a bit difficult.
Question 23

Criteria Marks
Correct answer form
2
incorrect working
▪ Working
backwards using
the future value
formula
OR
1
▪ Correctly
substituting into the
FV formula and
adjusting the rate
and time periods

Feedback:
Many students did not make both changes to the FV formula (dividing the rate by 4 and multiplying the time
period by 4).

Question 24

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Finding the weekly cost 2
Converting watts into
kilowatts, and
1
multiplying by an hour
amount

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Correct working to find
the percentage (rounding 1
not important)

Feedback:
This question was not well done and needs to be reviewed by students. Students need to know how to use units
of energy, and when to convert watts to kilowatts. Some students also did not read the questions carefully, and
didn’t find the weekly cost.
Question 25

Criteria Marks
Finds the correct total
length with a correct
minimum spanning tree
3
drawn (don’t need to
show adding the
numbers)
▪ Finds a correct
minimum spanning
tree
OR
▪ Finding a total
length from an
2
incorrect spanning
tree
OR
▪ Finds the correct
length, but tree is
unlabelled
Draws a spanning tree 1

Feedback:
Some students need to review the process for finding the minimum spanning tree. Students need to remember
the units for their final answer.
Question 26

Criteria Marks
Finds the correct time
from correct working
2
(either 3.96… or 4 hours
is fine)
Correctly substitutes into
1
the formula

Feedback:
Many students knew to let the BAC equal 0.05 but found solving the equation difficult. Solving equations
should be something students review as it is helpful for many topics in the course.
Question 27

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Finds the correct future
value from correct 2
working
Uses the wrong interest
1
factor (24.5034)

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
A correct solution to find
1
the interest amount

Feedback:
Too many students were using the future value formula here. Annuities questions will give a table, and if one is
given, then it should be used. Students need to review Annuities, as this question was very stock-standard and
should have been done better.
Question 28

Criteria Marks
A correct justification
2
from correct working
Finds the IQR and
attempts to find the 1
upper fence

Feedback:
Many students did well here and executed the process to justify an outlier correctly.
Question 29

Criteria Marks
6 *’s 3
4 *’s 2
2 *’s 1

There were 6 key things we were

looking for in the this question:

*correct row in the table

*correctly applying the 0.3*( -45000)

*adding the 4288

*using taxable income for medicare

levy

*calculating the medicare levy

*adding two separate tax together

Feedback:
Tax table questions are common and should come naturally to students. It was clear that some student knew
how to do this comfortably, and a number did not. If you are not sure with these types of questions, you should
make sure you practise these.
Question 30

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
A correct explanation
with the minimum cut 2
shown
A correct justification
1
without the correct cut

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Stating edge BE, DE or
1
FG

Feedback:
This question was mixed. A number of students found the minimum cut, but did not explain this in the context
of the maximum flow. Part (a) needed more than just saying what the minimum cut was,
Question 31

Criteria Marks
Finding the dividend
yield, expressed as a 2
percentage
▪ Finding the
dividends/share
OR
1
▪ Correct working to
find the dividend
yield as a decimal

Feedback:
This question was done reasonably well – a big improvement from task 3. A number were still not sure how to
find dividend yield and need to review shares.

Question 32

Criteria Marks
A correct solution 3
▪ Finding the time
difference and
2
adding/subtracting
from a given time
▪ Calculates the
longitude difference 1

Feedback:
Quite a few students did subtraction between two longitudes, instead of addition for finding the time difference.
Working with time zones needs to be an area of review for quite a number of students.
Question 33

Criteria Marks
A correct solution to
give the correct 2
percentage
Finding a standard
1
deviation of 4

Feedback:
Done quite well. One mark was given for using a normal distribution graph to find 16% as part of the working.

Question 34

Criteria Marks
Finding the interest using
the future value formula 3
correctly
▪ Finding the future
value using the
correct number of
days
2
OR
▪ Finding the interest
using 11 days instead
of 12
▪ Finding the interest
using the simple
interest formula
OR
▪ Finding the future 1
value using 11 days
OR
▪ Stating that 12 days
is used for the charge

Feedback:
A few students did not convert interest rate as daily interest rate.
Question 35

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Stating both values
(no working needed 1
from graph)

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Finding the dimensions
2
correctly
▪ Finding the 𝑥 value
of 3.75 and
attempting to 1
substitute into a
formula

Feedback:
a) A few students only have one x value as 2.5m, instead of two of two values.
b) A lot of students finding the area of the paddocks, instead of dimensions of a single paddock.
Question 36

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Finds the minimum
completion time and 2
states the critical path
Finds the minimum
completion time OR 1
states the critical path

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
Stating the correct
1
number of days

Part (c)
Criteria Marks
Calculating the float
1
time with working

Feedback:
A few students did not correctly calculate EST and LST, as a result leads to the incorrect critical path.
Question 37

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
A correct solution for the
3
value of 𝑥
Finding the height of the
2
label
Using the surface area of
1
a cylinder formula

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
A correct justification
based on correct 3
calculations
▪ Calculating the
volume of the
candle and
attempting to use
the rates to find the
2
time
OR
▪ Use the rate to find
the volume being
burnt in 60 hours
▪ Calculating the
volume of the
candle
1
OR
▪ Calculating the burn
rate per hour

Feedback: - next page

For part (a), some students included the ends of the candle in their surface area calculation. These students got
a mark for a correct calculation, however if they didn’t adjust for this in their subsequent calculations then they
didn’t earn further marks.

For part (b) some students used surface area instead of volume. Quite a few students used formula for volume
of a cone or a sphere. The formula reference sheet is not comprehensive, and picking formulas from that sheet
without understanding what they are for can lead to losing marks.

Question 38

Criteria Marks
Finding the paid back
amount with units
(Either $775519.44 or
3
775519.20 – this
depends on rounding
earlier)
Finding the monthly
2
repayments
Identifying the interest
1
factor

Feedback:
Most students correctly identified the interest factor.

Some students attempted to use the compound interest formula – this cannot be used with annuities.

Many students multiplied by the interest factor instead of dividing. Remember

𝑃𝑉 = 𝑎𝑋, so 𝑎 = 𝑃𝑉/𝑋
Question 39

Criteria Marks
Finding the length 𝑑
2
(rounding not important)
▪ Finding the angle
∠𝑈𝐵𝐿
OR
▪ Setting up a tan
equation using the 1
two triangles
OR
▪ Finding 𝐵𝐿

Feedback:
- Many students found the length of the horizontal line segment from 𝐿 to where in intersects 𝑈𝐵. This
alone was not enough to earn a mark.
- To earn one mark, students needed to find length 𝐵𝑈 or 𝐵𝐿, and then use sine or cosine to get 𝑑.
- One student set up two equations with tan and solved simultaneously, this approach also earned full
marks.
- Quite a few students used sine rule with right-angle triangles instead of using SOHCAHTOA. This is
not wrong, but unnecessarily complicates the algebra.
Question 40

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Correctly showing the
scale provides consistent
results for distance
3
calculated from scale
diagram and distance
calculated from speed.
▪ Find the actual length
of the three edges
based on some
working, and makes 2
significant attempt to
find the distance from
speed
▪ Find the scaled length
of the three edges
based on some
working 1
OR
▪ Calculates the
distance run in 6 min

Part (b)
Criteria Mar
ks
Calculates the correct
2
volume of the water
▪ Finds the actual
volume of the
trapezium
OR
▪ Finds and incorrect 1
volume for the
trapezium, but has
converted to Kl
correctly

Feedback:
Part (a) - Generally well done
Very few students wrote that the scaled distance was 20 cm with no working or justification at all – this did not
earn a mark.
Some students incorrectly calculated scaled distance, and so were unable to demonstrate that the scale is 1:4000

In part (b), quite a few students calculated scaled area correctly, but then tried to convert it to real area by
multiplying by scale factor 4000 and therefore did not secure the mark. Remember, when working with areas,
you need to multiply by the scale factor squared.
Some students mixed scale and real measurements in their volume calculation, which led to an incorrect answer
and didn’t earn the mark.
Question 41

Criteria Marks
Provides correct solution 4
▪ Finds the angle
∠𝐵𝐷𝐶
OR 3
▪ Finds the angle
∠𝐴𝐷𝐶
▪ Finds the length 𝐶𝐷 2
▪ Uses the bearing to
1
state ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶

Feedback:
This question was very mixed. A number of students approached it comfortably and used the most efficient
method to find the bearing. A number also achieved 3 out of 4 but need to remember how to find the bearing
after finding the correct angle in the new triangle.

Some students need to thoroughly review Non-Right-Angled Trigonometry. This is an important topic and has
been the most heavily assessed in the HSC over the last 5 years.
Question 42

Part (a)
Criteria Marks
Interprets correctly using
the variables and noting
2
the decrease, referring to
the number itself
▪ Notes the gradient
and attempts to
explain with a
variable
OR
1
▪ Explains that an
increase in sleep
hours leads to a
decrease in reaction
time

Part (b)
Criteria Marks
▪ Stating it gets closer
to −1 (or smaller, or
the magnitude gets
bigger) 1
OR
▪ Stating it would stay
the same

Feedback:
Part (a) caused a bit of confusion, with a lot of students confusing the gradient with the correlation. You answer
here needed to interpret the value of the gradient, which means they needed to refer to the number, and
explain what it meant in terms of the variables.

Part (b) had two answer that were accepted: either the correlation coefficient gets closer to –1 or stays the same.
Ordinarily the correlation will strengthen when a point on the least-squares regression is added (in this case,
decrease), however, for this particular point it doesn’t change.
Question 43

Criteria Marks
Provides correct solution 4
▪ Finds the annual
interest rate and the
correct interest
factor to find the
new monthly
payments
OR
▪ Finds the correct 3
interest rate and
factor, but uses it
wrong to find the
new monthly
payment, along with
the correct total paid
in the first 5 years
▪ Finds the annual
interest rate and the
correct interest
factor (8.06)
OR
2
▪ Finds the annual
interest rate and
uses the wrong
interest factor
correctly (7.39)
▪ Finds the monthly
interest rate
(0.625%)
1
OR
▪ Multiplies 2796 by
5 and 12

Feedback:
This proved to be the most difficult question in the paper. Well done to the several students who achieved 3 or
4 marks here.

The most common cause of concern here is using the table once an interest rate is found. Many students were
dividing 378,532 by the factor. Reviewing loan tables and interest from them is important for many students.
Question 44

Criteria Marks
Correctly justifies the
answer with correct 3
working
▪ Calcualtes the new
2
mean
▪ Finds the standard
1
deviation

Feedback:
This question proved challenging, but a number of students were successful or got close. This one relied on a
strong conceptual understanding of the normal distribution, 𝑧-scores and probabilities. This is a good aim for
students as this topic often has some harder questions in the HSC.