plumiSmall angle approximations: Edexcel A‑Level Maths questions
Edexcel A-Level Maths past-paper questions on 5.3 Small angle approximations, 2010–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available. Add MadAsMaths questions to your practice, or browse them separately by topic and difficulty.
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All 7 questions on Small angle approximations, as a list
- June 2025, Pure 2, Q6 (6 marks): In this question you must show detailed reasoning. (a) Given that x is small and in radians, use the small angle approximation for cos θ to show that 1 – cos 2
- June 2024, Pure 2, Q5 (3 marks): Given that θ is small and in radians, use the small angle approximations to find an approximate numerical value of tan 2 1 cos3 θ θ θ (3)
- June 2023, Pure 1, Q4 (5 marks): In this question you must show all stages of your working. Solutions relying entirely on calculator technology are not acceptable. The curve C has equation y =
- November 2021, Pure 2, Q4 (3 marks): Given that θ is small and measured in radians, use the small angle approximations to show that 4 sin θ 2 + 3 cos2 θ » a + b θ + c θ 2 where a, b and c are integ
- June 2019, Pure 1, Q2 (5 marks): y x O Figure 1 Figure 1 shows a plot of part of the curve with equation y = cos x where x is measured in radians. Diagram 1, on the opposite page, is a copy of
- June 2019, Pure 1, Q14 (7 marks): The curve C, in the standard Cartesian plane, is defined by the equation x = 4 sin 2\ 4 4 π π y − < < The curve C passes through the origin O (a) Find th
- June 2018, Pure 1, Q1 (3 marks): Given that θ is small and is measured in radians, use the small angle approximations to find an approximate value of 1 cos4 2 sin3 θ θ θ − (3)
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