Answer format preferred by VCAA

[ressie]

Is there an official VCAA format for answering questions?
For example, to use root or exponent, and to use negative or positive power.
I attached 2 images that show the same answer but in a different form.

[colline]

IIRC my methods teacher said to give your answer depending on the form given in the question. When there isn't a major difference, you should use whatever is easiest to read/understand (eg. for your second image I would absolutely go for the second option).

[james.358]

Hey Ressie,

Not at all! As long as your answers are  mathematically equivalent to the official answers, it would be accepted. (UNLESS they ask for you to write it in a specific form.

If you're not sure if your answer is equivalent, you can check on the CAS by letting the two forms equal to each other. If the CAS outputs "TRUE", that means it would be fine.

The only thing you would have to be careful of is following the question requirements. For example, if it asks for exact values, you can't give a rounded answer. If it asks for an answer to the nearest whole number, you can't give it to 2 decimal places.

Hope this helps!
James

[ressie]

Thanks guys