As D-Day draws nearer, Miss Loi’s Question of the Day gets longer … kekeke.
Besides the arrows and symbols looking exactly the same, there are few differences between E-Maths and A-Maths vector questions. In some schools vectors are even taught exclusively in E-Maths classes, much to the annoyance of the A-Maths student who happens to hate his/her E-Maths teacher!
Take the question below for example. This typical but tedious question is designed to test your elementary vector knowledge like Addition of Vectors, Difference of Two Vectors, Negative Vectors, Scalar Multiple of a Vector, Parallel Vectors, Position Vectors, and always a little bit more. *stops to catch breath*
Wow. That mouthful of words above already constitutes roughly 75% of your A-Maths vectors syllabus!
In the diagram, 
= a and 
= b. The points P and Q lie on AB and OB respectively so that AP/PB = 1/3 and OQ/QB = 3/4. The lines OP and AQ intersect at the point R.- Express
in terms of a and b. - Show that
(3a + b). - Given that
, show that = (1 – k)a + 
kb. - Given also that
, find the value of h. - Find the numerical value of
= (1 – k)a + 
IMPORTANT: At this stage of the game, it is imperative that students to the scene appreciate the fact that long-ish vector questions have this evil tendency to ask for something a little off-tangent (like ratios and areas – can you spot this in the question?) that will usually require something beyond your vector abilities.
So approach all questions with a pure and open mind and don’t blindly Vector See Vector Do. 不要走火入魔! (literally: don’t keep firing when you’re already misfiring!)
You get the idea.
