MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

MSM 112 - Mathematical Methods II

Tutorial Sheet 4 - Applications for Differentiation - 2021

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1. (a) Find the equation of the tangent and normal to the curve y = 4ex at the point (0, 4). Find also the equations
of the two tangents to the curve which are parallel to the normal.
x2 +1
(b) Find coordinates of all the points on the curve f (x) = x at which the gradient is −3.
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(c) Find the equation of the normal to the curve with equation y = x + x

2. Find the coordinates and nature of the turning points of the curve with the equations
(i) y = x3 − 18 (ii) y = x3 − 18lnx. (ii) y = x(x − 4)2
Hences, in each find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curves at x = 2.
3. Find the relative maximum and relative minimum of the following equations
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(a) f (x) = x + x (b) f (x) = x − x3 (c) f (x) = x3 − 3x + 6
Hence, sketch each of the functions stating clearly the range where f (x) is increasing and decreasing.
4. Find the relative extrema of the following functions using the second derivative test.
16 x
(a) f (x) = x3 − 3x2 − 24x + 32 (b) f (x) = x2 − x (c) f (x) = 1+x2

5. For what value of t is s = t3 − 9t2 + 15t − 10

ds
(a) a maximum (b) a minimum (c) dt a minimum
6. The function y = x3 + ax2 − 7x − 1 has a stationary value where x = 1. Find
(a) the value of a and (b) the type and position of the stationary points.

7. (a) From a rectangular piece of thin cardboard 16cm by 10 cm, the shaded squares each of sides x cm are removed
as shown in the figure below. The remainder is folded up to form a tray.

(i) Show that, the volume V cm3 of this tray is given by V = 4(x3 − 13x2 + 40x).
(ii) Hence, find a possible value of x which will give the maximum value of V .
(b) A piece of wire 48 cm long is divided into two parts. One part is formed into the shape of a circle of radius
rcm while the other part is form into a square of sides x cm.
24−2x
(i) Show that r = π

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 (ii) Find an expression interns of x for the total surface area A of the two shapes and hence calculate the
values of x for which A is a minimum.
(c) The figure below shows a framework in the shape of a rectangular box made from straight pieces of wire. The
total length of these pieces is 60 cm.

(a) Show that y = (15 − 5x)cm

(b) Find an expression for the volume enclosed by the framework in terms of x
(c) Find the value of x which makes this volume maximum
(d) Find the maximum volume
8. A piece of wire, 100 cm in length is divided into two parts. One part is bent to form an equilateral triangle of sides
x cm and the other is bent to form a square of sides y cm.
(a) Express y interns of x and hence, show that A cm2 , the total area enclosed by the two shapes is such that
√
3x (100 − 3x)2
A= +
4 16

(b) Calculate the value of x for which A has a stationary value

(c) Determine whether this value of x makes A maximum or minimum.
9. A cylinder is placed inside a circular cone of radius 18 cm and height 12 cm so that its base is level with the base
of the cone, as show in the figure below

Figure 1:

(a) If the radius of the cylinder is r cm, show that its height h cm is given by h = 23 (18 − r)

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 (b) Hence, find the value of r to give the maximum possible volume of the cylinder and find this volume in terms
of π.
10. A can is in the shape of a closed cylinder with a hemisphere at one end. Its volume is 45π cm3 . Taking r cm as the
radius of the cylinder and h cm as its height,

Figure 2:

Show that
2r 3
(a) r2 h + 3 = 45
(b) the external surface area A of the can is given by

5πr2 90π
A= +
3 r
4πr 3
(Volume of a sphere = 3 and surface are of a sphere = 4πr2 )
11. (a) For a particle moving in a straight line, its displacement s meters from a point O on the line is given by
s = t2 − 5t + 6, where t is the time in seconds from the start. find
(i) the initial distance of the particle form O. (ii) its initial velocity and acceleration.
(iii) when it is at instantaneous rest. (iv) at what time(s) after the start it passes through O.
(v) the distance travel in the first 3 seconds.
(b) A particle moves along the x-axis and its x-coordinate at time t seconds after the start is given by x =
2t3 − 9t + 12t − 1 for t ≥ 0.
(a) Find its x coordinate and velocity at the start.
(b) At what time does the particle move to instantaneous rest?
(c) What is its maximum velocity in the direction of the negative x-axis?
(d) When is its acceleration zero?
12. (a) If y = x2 − x + 1, find the approximate change in y when x is increased from 4 to 4.025.
(b) The radius of a circle is increased by 5%. Calculated the approximate percentage increase in the circumference
and also area of the circle.

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 (c) For the function y = 3x2 + ax + b, where a and b are constants, when x changes from 2 to 2.02, y changes from
2 to 2.12 approximately. Find the values of a and b.
(d) In an experiment to find the values of T form the formula T = x22+4 , the values of x are read from a measuring
device. A value of x is read as 2.04 but should be 2. What is the approximate error in the value of T ?
(e) The y-coordinates of a point in the first quadrant on the curve y = 3x2 − 8x − 1 is 2. Find its x-coordinate.
What is the approximate change in x if the point is moved to a position on the curve where y = 2.04.
x2 −3
13. (a) x and y are connected by the equation y = x . If x is changing at a rate of 0.3 units per second, find the
rate of change of y when x = 3.
(b) A closed cylinder is of fixed length 10cm but its radius is increasing at the rate of 1.5 cms−1 . Find the rate of
increase of its total surface area when the radius is 4cm.
(c) A hollow cone of radius 15 cm and height 25 cm, is held vertex down with its axis vertical. Liquid is poured
into the cone at the rate of 500 cm3 s−1 . How fast is the level of the liquid rising when the radius of its surface
is 10cm?
(d) Liquid escapes from a circular cylinder of radius 5 cm at a rate of 50 cm2 s−1 . How fast is the level of the
liquid in the cylinder falling?