Which courses does AscentIQ cover?

IB Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL, Applications and Interpretation SL, and Applications and Interpretation HL — exercises generated for each course's syllabus and marked against the IB mark scheme. Analysis and Approaches HL isn't available yet; it's on our roadmap. We add courses one at a time rather than several superficially.

How does the marking actually work?

Your work is transcribed, then evaluated against the exercise's mark scheme one mark at a time. Each Method, Answer, and Reasoning mark is awarded or withheld with a written reason. Follow-through is applied, so an early error doesn't automatically cost you the marks that depend on it.

Can the AI get the maths wrong?

The maths isn't generated by AI. Every number in every exercise is computed deterministically before the AI is involved — the AI only writes the wording around values it's been given, and is blocked from producing numbers of its own.

Do I have to write by hand?

You don't have to, but the whiteboard is where the marking is worth most. Writing out formula, substitution, and answer lets each method mark be awarded or withheld on its own. Typing takes final answers only — quicker, but there's no working to mark, and nothing to review afterwards.

What do I need to use it?

A tablet with a stylus is the best experience — the whiteboard is built for it. A laptop or desktop works fully too. We wouldn't recommend a phone: the whiteboard needs more room than a phone screen gives it.

Seven days of full access — every chapter of your course, unlimited generated exercises, and per-mark feedback on the work you write out. No card required to start.

What happens when the trial ends?

If you'd like to continue afterwards, leave your details at ascentiq.io/continue or write to renzo@ascentiq.io, and you'll hear back by email — including about the asynchronous tutoring we're building on top of your results.

What is the asynchronous tutoring?

It's a tutoring method built on your results in the exercise mode — where your marks are lost, which topics are slipping, what to work on next — followed up at your own pace, without having to coordinate a live session. It's still in development, so there's no fixed format yet. If you'd like to hear how it will work, write to renzo@ascentiq.io.

← IB Math AA SL

IB Math AA SL · Topic 3

Geometry and trigonometry

Two courses in one topic. The first three sections are measurement — distances, solids, triangles — and are shared with the other SL course, in degrees. From SL 3.4 the topic turns to radians, the unit circle and identities, which is where the topic becomes algebraic and where exact, no-calculator working matters most.

What the syllabus covers

Eight assessed sections, SL 3.1 to 3.8 — measurement first, then the circular functions.

SL 3.1Distance, midpoint, volume and surface area in 3DDistance and midpoint in three dimensions; volume and surface area of pyramids, cones, spheres and combinations; angles between lines, and between a line and a plane.

SL 3.2Triangles: ratios, sine rule, cosine rule, areaSine, cosine and tangent for right-angled triangles; the sine and cosine rules; the area of a triangle as ½ab sin C.

SL 3.3Applications of trigonometryAngles of elevation and depression, and building a labelled diagram from a written statement.

SL 3.4The circle: radians, arc length and sector areaRadian measure, the length of an arc and the area of a sector.

SL 3.5The unit circle, exact values and the ambiguous caseSine and cosine defined on the unit circle, exact values at the standard angles, and the ambiguous case of the sine rule.

SL 3.6The Pythagorean and double angle identitiescos²θ + sin²θ = 1, the double angle identities for sine and cosine, and the relationships between the ratios.

SL 3.7Circular functions and their transformationsThe graphs of sin, cos and tan; amplitude and period; functions of the form a sin(b(x − c)) + d and the contexts they model.

SL 3.8Solving trigonometric equationsEquations on a finite interval solved graphically and analytically, including those that reduce to a quadratic in sin x, cos x or tan x.

How it is examined

The topic splits cleanly across the two papers: exact values and identities with no calculator, triangles and sectors with one.

From SL 3.4 onwards the guide's convention is that radian measure is assumed on examination papers unless degrees are indicated. SL 3.1 to 3.3 are shared with the other SL course and are normally in degrees — read the unit before you read the numbers.
Paper 1 (no calculator) tests the unit circle and the identities in exact form: the exact value of sin(π/3), or cos 2θ given sin θ = 3/5, without ever finding θ. Decimals from a calculator are not what is being asked for.
Paper 2 (technology) sets triangle and sector problems with measurements: the sine and cosine rules, the area formula, the ambiguous case, arc length and sector area. The GDC must be in the right angle mode.
Equations are solved on a stated interval, and every solution in that interval is a separate mark. Finding one solution of sin x = ½ and stopping is a common way to lose an accuracy mark.
Equations that reduce to a quadratic — 2sin²x − sin x − 1 = 0 — are solved as a quadratic first, in sin x, and then as trigonometric equations; rejecting a value that is outside the range of sine is part of the answer.
In SL 3.1 the volume and surface-area formulae are given in the formula booklet, but not which length plays which role: separating height from slant height is where the work is.

A marked question, mark by mark

A trigonometric equation on an interval: the method is right, and the second solution is the mark that disappears.

Rehearse both papers' styles, on fresh exercises

From SL 3.1 solids to SL 3.8 equations, every generated exercise is written in the style of Paper 1 or Paper 2 as the question demands — with radians stated where they apply — and comes back mark by mark.

Start your trial

New to the codes? M1, A1, R1 explained →

Trigonometric equations · SL 3.8

Seed 5N60

Solve the equation 2 sin x = 1 for 0 ≤ x ≤ 2π.

(a)Find all solutions in the given interval, giving exact answers.

Your work

sin x = 1/2

x = π/6

Marks awarded

M1Mark awarded. Rearranged to sin x = 1/2 and recognised the exact value.
A1Mark awarded. x = π/6, an exact solution in the interval.
A1Mark not awarded. The second solution in the interval, x = 5π/6 (π − π/6), is missing.

Where marks are actually lost

Trigonometry rewards accuracy of setting more than accuracy of calculation.

Leaving the GDC in the wrong angle mode — degrees for a radian question, or the reverse.

CostEvery value is wrong at once. The method marks may survive; each accuracy mark that depended on a calculator value does not.

Stopping at the first solution of a trigonometric equation.

CostEach solution in the interval carries its own mark, so a missing solution costs an accuracy mark even when the first one is exact.

Ignoring the ambiguous case when the sine rule is used with two sides and a non-included angle.

CostThe second triangle, with the obtuse angle, is part of what the question tests; giving only the acute angle earns only part of the accuracy marks.

Replacing exact values with calculator decimals when the question asks for an exact answer.

Cost√3/2 and 0.866… are not interchangeable on an exact-value question; the method mark remains, the answer mark does not.