Using the SPM Additional Mathematics formula list well

Both written papers come with a printed formula list, and using it well is a skill in itself. Some students never look at it and try to memorise everything; others rely on it so heavily that they cannot recognise which formula a question is asking for.

The list is best treated as a reference that removes memory load for a fixed set of results, freeing you to concentrate on choosing and applying the right tool. This page sets out what the list gives you, grouped by topic, which important formulas are not on it and must be memorised, and how to substitute into the given ones without slipping on the letters.

Paper 1 is 2 hours (80 marks, Sections A and B) and Paper 2 is 2 hours 30 minutes (100 marks, Sections A, B and C); there is no Paper 3, and you work with a non-programmable scientific calculator.

The given formulas are organised under a few familiar headings. Knowing they are printed means you should not spend revision time drilling them into memory, spend it on recognising when each applies.

For instance, these two are printed for you, so you can quote them straight from the sheet:

A great deal of everyday Add Math is not on the sheet. These you have to carry in your head:

• The laws of logarithms: $\log(mn)=\log m+\log n$, $\log\frac{m}{n}=\log m-\log n$, and $\log m^{k}=k\log m$.
• The sum and product of the roots of $ax^{2}+bx+c=0$: $\alpha+\beta=-\frac{b}{a}$ and $\alpha\beta=\frac{c}{a}$.
• Coordinate geometry: the gradient $\frac{y_{2}-y_{1}}{x_{2}-x_{1}}$, the distance and midpoint formulas.
• Differentiation: $\frac{d}{dx}(x^{n})=nx^{n-1}$, and the product, quotient and chain rules.
• Integration of $x^{n}$, and using it for area under a curve and volume of revolution.
• Kinematics along a line: $v=\frac{ds}{dt}$ and $a=\frac{dv}{dt}$.

Having a formula in front of you is not the same as using it correctly. The commonest error is mismatching the letters, for example, in the cosine rule the angle must be the one opposite the side you are finding.

1. 1

   Read the letters

   Check what each symbol stands for and match it to the quantities in your question.

2. 2

   Substitute carefully

   Write the formula, then the substituted version, before you press a single calculator key.

3. 3

   Mind the angle mode

   Set the calculator to degrees or radians as the question requires before evaluating any trig value.

Our teachers keep a copy of the formula list beside you from the start, so it becomes familiar long before the exam. In a one-to-one lesson we sort every topic into given and must-memorise, so your revision time goes to the results that are not printed.

We drill the letter-matching that trips students up, the angle opposite the right side, the correct $a$, $d$ and $r$ in a progression, and the habit of writing the substituted formula before touching the calculator. Because the marks reward a correctly quoted and substituted formula, this turns the list from a safety net into a scoring tool.

Teachers at spmaddmath.com.my are experienced, and lessons are online and taught in English. Message us on WhatsApp to arrange a one-hour paid class from RM50/hr at the teacher's rate.