Revision Tips for GCSE/IGCSE Maths Exams 5:Maths Facts (GCSE Foundation Level)

Revision Tips for GCSE/IGCSE Maths Exams 5: Maths Facts (GCSE Foundation Level)


[latexpage]

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

See more by

Stay Connected