High-Probability Exam Topics
A focused breakdown of the 8 most-repeated topics from past papers, with every exact question
asked for each.
Mastering just these 8 topics covers the vast majority of the exam. Each section below lists the core
formula/method (where applicable) and every exact question that has appeared, with the
paper/session noted.
1. Newton–Raphson Method
Module 1 — Universally tested
Formula: xn+1 = xn − f(xn) / f′(xn)
• Evaluate √12 to four places of decimal. (Dec 2025 & Nov 2023)
• Find the real root of f(x) = x³ − x − 10 correct to 4 decimal places. (June 2025)
• Find the real root of 3x = cos x + 1 correct to five decimal places. (Dec 2024)
• What is the rate of convergence of the Newton–Raphson method? (June 2024)
• Find the real root of x³ − 3x − 5 = 0 correct to four places of decimals. (June 2023)
• Find the real root of x■ − x − 10 = 0. (June 2022)
2. Runge–Kutta 4th Order Method
Module 3 — Most critical differential-equation method
• Solve dy/dx = x + y with y(0) = 1, from x = 0 to x = 0.2 with h = 0.1. (Dec 2025)
• Approximate y at x = 0.1 and x = 0.2 given y = 1 at x = 0 and dy/dx = x + y. (June 2024 & June 2022)
• Find y for x = 0.2, given y = 1 at x = 0 (h = 0.1) for dy/dx = x + y². (Nov 2023)
• Find y(1.05) for dy/dx = x² + y², y(1) = 1.2. (June 2025)
• Solve dy/dx = (y² − x²) / (y² + x²), y(0) = 1 at x = 0.4 in steps of 0.2. (Dec 2024)
3. Gauss Elimination & Gauss–Seidel Methods
Module 2 — A system of linear equations is guaranteed
• Gauss–Seidel: Solve 27x + 6y − z = 85, 6x + 15y + 2z = 72, x + y + 54z = 110. (Dec 2024 & June
2023)
• Gauss Elimination: Solve 2x + y + 4z = 12, 8x − 3y + 2z = 23, 4x + 11y − z = 33. (Dec 2025)
• Gauss Elimination: Solve x + y + z = 4, x + 4y + 3z = 8, x + 6y + 2z = 6. (June 2025)
• Gauss Elimination: Solve 3x + y − z = 3, 2x − 8y + z = −5, x − 2y + 9z = 8. (Dec 2024)
• Gauss Elimination: Solve 2x − y + 3z = 9, x + y + z = 6, x − y + z = 2. (June 2024)
4. Simpson’s Integration Rules
Module 2 — The 3/8 rule appears more often than the 1/3 rule
• Apply Simpson’s 3/8 rule to evaluate ∫1.01.30 √x dx. (Dec 2024)
• Use Simpson’s 3/8 rule to solve ∫45.2 loge x dx. (June 2024)
• Find approximately, using Simpson’s 3/8 rule, ∫06 ex / (1 + x) dx. (Nov 2023)
• Use Simpson’s 1/3 and 3/8 rules to evaluate ∫01 dx / (1 + x²). (June 2023)
• Evaluate ∫01 log x cos x dx by (i) Trapezoidal rule (ii) Simpson’s 3/8 rule. (June 2022)
• Evaluate a given table of f(x) values for x from 4 to 5.2 using Simpson’s 3/8 rule. (June 2025)
5. Inverse Laplace Transforms & Convolution
Module 4
• State the Convolution theorem and evaluate L■¹{ s / (s²+a²)² }. (Dec 2025)
• State the Convolution theorem and evaluate L■¹[ s / ((s²+1)(s²+4)) ]. (Dec 2024)
• Find the inverse Laplace transform of F(s) = 1 / ((s+1)(s²+1)). (June 2025)
• Find the inverse Laplace transform of 1 / (p³(p²+a²)). (Dec 2024)
• Find the inverse Laplace transform of (2s+1) / (s(s−1)). (June 2024)
• Evaluate L■¹[ (s+7) / (s²+4s+8) ]. (Nov 2023)
• Find the inverse Laplace transform of (s+4) / (s(s−1)(s²+4)). (Nov 2023)
• Evaluate L■¹[ 1 / (1+s)³ ]. (June 2023)
6. Euler’s and Modified Euler’s Method
Module 3 — The guaranteed secondary ODE question
• Using Euler’s modified method, solve dy/dx = 1 − y with y(0) = 0 for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2, h = 0.1. (Dec 2025)
• Solve dy/dx = 1 − y with y(0) = 0 using Euler’s modified method; tabulate at x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3. (Nov
2023)
• Using modified Euler’s method, find y at x = 0.3, given dy/dx = x + y and y = 1 at x = 0. (June 2025)
• Use Euler’s Modified method to solve dy/dx = x + y, y(0) = 1, h = 0.2; compute y(1). (June 2023)
• Find y(2.2) using Euler’s method for dy/dx = −xy² where y(2) = 1. (Dec 2024)
• Use Euler’s method to compute dy/dx = y² − x² with y(0) = 1 at x = 0.1. (June 2023)
7. Missing Table Values & Interpolation
Module 1
• Find the missing values in: x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and y = 6, 10, __, 17, __, 31. (June 2024 & Nov
2023)
• By Lagrange’s formula, prove: y1 = y3 − 0.3(y5 − y−3) + 0.2(y−3 − y−3). (Dec 2025)
• Using Lagrange’s method, find f(x) as a polynomial in x from a given table. (Nov 2023)
• Find y(301) using Newton’s divided-difference interpolation formula from a given table. (June 2025)
• Derive Newton’s forward interpolation formula and use it to estimate f(1.25) from a given table. (Dec
2024)
• Find f′(0.18) from a given table using Newton’s forward interpolation formula. (June 2024)
8. Binomial and Poisson Distributions
Module 5 — Theoretical properties & fitting are strongly preferred
• Find the mean of the Binomial distribution. (Dec 2025)
• Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the Binomial distribution. (Dec 2024)
• Find the mean of the Poisson distribution. (June 2025 & June 2023)
• Fit a Poisson distribution to a table of deaths (0 to 4) and frequencies; calculate theoretical
frequencies. (Dec 2025)
• Fit a Poisson distribution to a given table of x (0 to 4) and f(x). (Dec 2024)
• The mean and standard deviation of a binomial distribution are 100 and 5. Find the binomial
distribution. (June 2025)
• A binomial variable X satisfies 9P(X=4) = P(X=2) when n = 6. Find p and P(X=1). (June 2024)
Study tip: work through every listed question by hand at least once, then time yourself reproducing the two
most-repeated questions in each topic without notes.