SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics study guide
SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
General Mathematics is a 20-credit Stage 2 subject in the South Australian Certificate of Education, coded 2MGM20. It extends students' mathematical skills in ways that apply to practical problem solving, and its topics cover a diverse range of applications of mathematics, including personal financial management, the statistical investigation process, modelling using linear and non-linear functions, networks and matrices, and discrete models. The SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics study guide has 5 sections and about 1,518 words.
01Personal Financial Management
Personal finance questions ask you to model money over time. You must be fluent with simple and compound interest , the reducing-balance loan , annuity and amortisation formulas , inflation and purchasing power , and taxation, PAYG and net pay .
318 words, about 2 min02The Statistical Investigation Process
The statistical investigation process is a cycle: pose a question → plan and collect data → process and represent → interpret and conclude → communicate . You must understand populations vs samples , census vs survey , sampling methods (simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster, convenience), bias and confounding , types of data (categorical, discrete, continuous), and the two-variable ideas of association, correlation and causation.
307 words, about 2 min03Modelling Using Linear and Non-linear Functions
You must recognise, fit and interpret linear, quadratic, exponential and logarithmic models. For linear: gradient m and intercept c in y=mx+c .
281 words, about 1 min04Networks and Matrices
Network questions involve vertices, edges, weights, degrees, paths, cycles , and connectivity . You must know Eulerian and Hamiltonian ideas (when a route uses every edge or every vertex exactly once), trees (connected, no cycles, n-1 edges), and shortest path and minimum spanning tree reasoning.
310 words, about 2 min05Discrete Models
Discrete models involve recurrence relations , sequences , difference equations , first-order linear recurrences t n = a\,t {n-1}+b , and logistic growth with a carrying capacity. You must understand steady state / equilibrium solutions, iteration , graphing a recurrence , and modelling populations, loans and savings as recurrences.
302 words, about 2 min