Revision Tips for GCSE/IGCSE Maths Exams 5: Maths Facts (GCSE Foundation Level)
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This is the 5th in a new series of blogs for students revising GCSE Maths, or IGCSE Maths in preparation for the AQA GCSE Mathematics or Edexcel IGCSE Mathematics exams.
Mathematical Facts to Memorise (GCSE Foundation Level)
Although most of your maths revision should involve doing maths there are some facts you just have to memorise. Here is a list of some of the most important ones for Foundation level along with a few ideas on how to learn them. It is not meant to be exhaustive and you should also refer to your exam specification.
Number Facts
Test yourself by writing the question (e.g. 4³) on one side of a small piece of card and the answer (e.g. 64) on the other. Do this with lots of them, shuffle your cards and see how many you can get right within a certain time.
Squares and Cubes
11X11=121
12X12=144
13X13=169
14X14=196
15X15=225
2³=8, 3³=27, 4³=64, 5³=125,10³=1000
½=0.5 ¼=0.25 ¾=0.75 ⅓=0.333… ⅔=0.666… ⅕=0.2 ⅖=0.4 ⅛=0.125
Angles, Areas, etc.
Try writing these on post-it notes and sticking them around the house where you will see them regularly (on the fridge, by the telephone, on the bathroom door etc)
Angles on a straight line add up to 180°
Angles round a point add up to 360°
Area of a rectangle = base X height
Area of a triangle =½ base X height
Area of a parallelogram = base X height
Pythagoras’ Rule : For any right angled triangle $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$ (c is the longest side)
The names of parts of a circle : chord, radius, diameter, circumference, tangent, arc, sector, segment
Circumference of a circle : $C = \pi D$
Area of a circle : $\pi r^2$
Compound Measure Formulae
Learn to write these out as shown below. Cover over what you want to calculate with your finger and you are left with the formula. For example if you want to calculate the time you cover the T in the first formula and you are left with $\frac{D}{S}$ . If you want to calculate mass in the second formula, cover the $M$ and you are left with $D \times V$.
Speed, distance, time formulae \[
\frac{D}{S \times T}
\]
Density, mass and volume formulae\[
\frac{M}{D \times V}
\]
Statistics
Here take the clues from the letters
meAn = “average”
MOde = “MOst”
MeDian= “MiDdle”
Range = “biggest – smallest”
Units of Measurement
Try writing these out several times in different colours or even make up a song about them!
Metric Units
10mm=1cm
100cm=1m
1000m=1km
1000g=1kg
1000kg=1 tonne
1000ml=1 litre
Metric/imperial conversions
1 inch ≈2.5 cm
1kg ≈ 2 pounds
1 ounce ≈ 30g
8 km ≈ 5 miles
1 gallon ≈ 5 litres
