Leaving Cert: applied maths Students were exhausted doing the applied mathematics exam yesterday. Along with Greek, it was the last exam in the Leaving Certificate, and ended at 5 p.m.
At Maynooth Post-Primary School they regarded it as a "fair paper", but were so tired that going home for a sleep was more important than post-exam analysis.
Only 1,200 students in the country do applied mathematics, and of these only 200 are girls.
The 1,200 would be generally recognised as the elite, although the subject is not elitist. These students simply consider applied maths to be enjoyable. A combination of mathematics and physics, applied maths requires sophisticated thinking skills.
The paper was well constructed. The only "tricky" question, in the exam was 5(a), said Mr John McKeon, a teacher at Maynooth Post-Primary.
Some students were confused by the fact that the distance from the sphere to the wall was not given. They actually didn't need this figure, but thought that they did.
Question 1(b) on accelerated linear motion was also a challenge.