skip to content

STEP Support Programme

STEP Support - Assignment 15

Introduction

This STEP support module includes some work on sequences, some notation which you may not have seen before and a problem about crossing the desert. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

STEP questions are difficult, they are supposed to be and you should expect to get stuck. However, as you tackle more and more STEP questions you will develop a range of problem solving skills (and spend less time "being stuck").

About this assignment

The assignment is published as a pdf file below. Each STEP Support assignment module starts with a warm-up exercise, followed by preparatory work leading to a STEP question. Finally, there is a warm-down exercise.

The warm up for this assignment practises algebraic manipulation and then introduces the product notation (very similar to sigma notation for summations!)

The main STEP question (2006 STEP 2 Question 1) is about sequences, and whether they are periodic or converge.

The final question is a problem about crossing the desert if your car can only hold a certain amount of petrol.

Assignment PDF: 
Hints and Partial Solutions: 

Useful Links

Underground Mathematics: Selected worked STEP questions

STEP Question database

University of Cambridge Mathematics Faculty: What do we look for?

University of Cambridge Mathematics Faculty: Information about STEP

University of Cambridge Admissions Office: Undergraduate course information for Mathematics

Stephen Siklos' "Advanced Problems in Mathematics" book (external link)

MEI: Worked solutions to STEP questions (external link)

OCR: Exam board information about STEP (external link)

AMSP (Advanced Maths Support programme): Support for University Admission Tests (external link)