ECON 104: Mathematics for Economics

SMU School of Economics; Fall 2024

Homework Assignments
Instructor: Takashi Kunimoto
September 17, 2024

You are supposed to upload your work (in pdf file) under “Assignments”
on our class website (on eLearn) by 17:00 on the date specified below. You
only need to submit your answer to the odd numbered questions. For example,
in HW#1, we have Questions 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7. You are
only required to answer Questions 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7. Of course, you are
strongly encouraged to answer “all” of the questions (including even-numbered
questions), as they are the good proxies for the types of questions you will have
in the midterm and final exams.

1 Homework 1 (Due Date: Aug 29 (Thu), 2024

Question 1.1 (30 points) In each of the following implications, where x, y,
and z are real numbers, decide: (i) if the implication is true; and (ii) if the
converse implication is true.
√
1. x = 4 ⇒ x = 2.

2. (x = 2 and y = 5) ⇒ x + y = 7.

3. (x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3) = 0 ⇒ x = 1.

4. x2 + y 2 = 0 ⇒ x = 0 or y = 0.

5. (x = 0 and y = 0) ⇒ x2 + y 2 = 0.

6. xy = xz ⇒ y = z.

Question 1.2 Determine which of the following formulas are true. If any
formula is false, find a counter-example to demonstrate this.

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 1. A ⊆ B ⇔ A ∪ B = B.

2. A ⊆ B ⇔ A ∩ B = A.

3. A ∩ B = A ∩ C ⇒ B = C.

4. A ∪ B = A ∪ C ⇒ B = C.

5. A = B ⇔ (x ∈ A ⇔ x ∈ B).

Question 1.3 (25 points) Let f (x) = x/(1+x2 ). Answer the following ques-
tions.
√ √
1. Compute f (−1/10), f (0), f (1/ 2), f ( π), and f (2).

2. Show that f (−x) = −f (x) for all x and that f (1/x) = f (x) for x ̸= 0.

Question 1.4 Let f (x) = 3x2 + 2x − 1. Answer the following questions.

1. Show that for all h ̸= 0,

f (x + h) − f (x)
= 6x + 2 + 3h,
h
′
and use this result to find f (x).
′ ′ ′
2. Find the value of f (0), f (−2), and f (3).

Question 1.5 (20 points) A firm’s profit function is π(q) = 24q − q 2 − 5,

where q denotes the quantity of the good supplied. Find the marginal profit,
′
i.e., π (q), and the value of q which maximizes profits.

Question 1.6 Find the derivatives of the following:

1. x6 .

2. 3x11 .

3. x50 .

4. −4x−7 .
x12
5. 12
.
−2
6. x2
.
3
7. 3 x.
√

2
 −2
8. √ .
x x

Question 1.7 (25 points) Differentiate the following functions.

√
1. f (x) = 8x4 + 2 x.
√
2. f (x) = x−1 (x2 + 1) x.

3. f (x) = √1 .
x3
√
x−2
4. f (x) = √
x+1
.
x2 +x+1
5. f (x) = x2 −x+1
.

2 Homework 2 (Due Date: Sep 5 (Thu), 2024)

Question 2.1 (20 points) Use the chain rule to find dy/dx for the following:

1. y = 5u4 , where u = 1 + x2 .

2. y = u − u6 , where u = 1 + 1/x.

Question 2.2 Compute the following limits.

1. limx→2 (x2 + 3x − 5).

1
2. limy→−3 y+8
.
x3 −2x−1
3. limx→0 x5 −x2 −1
.
x3 +3x2 −2x
4. limx→0 x
.
(x+h)3 −x3
5. limh→0 h
, where h ̸= 0.

Question 2.3 (20 points) Compute the second derivatives of the following:

1. y = x5 − 3x4 + 2
√
2. y = x.

3. y = (1 + x2 )10 .
√
4. y = 1 + x2 .

Question 2.4 Find the first and second derivatives of the following:

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 1. y = e−3x
3
2. y = 2ex

3. y = e1/x
2 −3x+1
4. y = 5e2x

Question 2.5 (20 points) Determine the domains of the following functions:

1. y = ln(x + 1)

2. y = ln 3x−1


1−x

3. y = ln |x|

Question 2.6 Find the intervals where the following functions are nondecreas-
ing:

1. y = (ln x)2 − 4

2. y = ln(ex + e−x )

3. y = x − 32 ln(x2 + 2)

Question 2.7 (20 points) Consider the following macroeconomic model:

1. Y = C + I

2. C = f (Y − T )

3. T = α + βY ,

where Y is GDP; C is consumption, T denotes taxes, and α and β are con-

′
stants. Assume that f ∈ (0, 1) and β ∈ (0, 1). Answer the following questions.

1. From the three equations above, derive the equation Y = f ((1 − β)Y −
α) + I.

2. Examine the sign of dY /dI.

Question 2.8 The function f is defined over all x ∈ [−2, 2] by the formula
1 √
f (x) = x3 4 − x2 .
3
Answer the following questions.

4
 1. Find the intervals where f non-decreases, and the intervals where f non-
increases.

2. Sketch the graph of f .

√
3. Explain why f has an inverse g on [0, 3].
′ √
√
4. Find g 13 3 . (Hint: f (1) = 13 3).

Question 2.9 (20 points) Let f (x) = (1 + x)m , where m is any real number.
Answer the following questions.

1. Prove that f (x) ≈ 1 + mx for x close to 0.

2. Use the formula above, find approximations to the following numbers:

√
3 1 1/3


(a) 1.1 = 1 + 10
√
5 1 1/5


(b) 33 = 2 1 + 32
√
3
√
(c) 9= 38+1
(d) (0.98)25 .

Question 2.10 For what value of a is the following function continuous for
all x? 
ax − 1 if x ≤ 1
f (x) =
3x2 + 1 if x > 1

3 Homework 3 (Due Date: Sep 12 (Thu), 2024)

Question 3.1 (20 points) Evaluate the following limits:

1. limx→0+ (x2 + 3x − 4)
x+|x|
2. limx→0− x

x+|x|
3. limx→0+ x
−1
4. limx→0+ √
x
x
5. limx→3+ x−3
x
6. limx→3− x−3

Question 3.2 Evaluate the following limits. You are required to be clear about
the whole process of how you come to your evaluation for each limit.

5
 1.
x−4
lim
x→∞ x2 + 1

2. r
2 + 5x
lim
x→−∞ x−1
3.
(ax + b)2
lim ,
x→∞ (a − x)(b − x)

where a, b are some constants.

Question 3.3 (20 points) Find the (global) maximum or minimum points
for the following functions.

1.
8
f (x) =
3x2 +4
2.
f (x) = 5(x + 2)4 − 3

3.
1
f (x) =
1 + x4
for x ∈ [−1, 1]
4.
−2
f (x) =
2 + x2
5. √
f (x) = 2 − 1−x

6.
2
f (x) = 100 − e−x

Question 3.4 Find possible extreme (i.e., local maximum or minimum) points
for f (x) = x3 ln x, for x ∈ (0, ∞).

Question 3.5 (20 points) Answer the following questions regarding a single
firm’s behavior.
√
1. A firm produces Q = 2 L units of a commodity when L units of labor
are employed. If the price obtained per unit is $160, and the price per
unit of labor is $40, what value of L maximizes profits π(L)?

6
 2. A firm produces Q = f (L) units of a commodity when L units of labor are
′ ′′
employed. Assume that f (L) > 0 and f (L) < 0. If the price obtained
per unit is 1 and price per unit of labor is w, what is the first-order
condition for maximizing profits at L = L∗ ?

3. By implicitly differentiating the first-order condition in the previous ques-

tion with respect to w, find how L∗ changes when w change.

Question 3.6 Let f be a single variable function defined as follows:

 
1 1+x
f (x) = ln .
2 1−x

Answer the following questions.

1. What is the domain of f ?

2. Show that f is a strictly increasing function over the domain you found
in the previous question.

3. Show that the range of f is (−∞, ∞).

4. Argue why f has an inverse function g.

5. Derive the inverse function g explicitly.

′
6. Find g 12 ln 2 .

Question 3.7 (20 points) Consider the monopolist who faces the inverse de-
mand function P (Q) = a − Q. Assume that k is the cost of producing one unit
of output and 0 < k < a. Answer the following questions.

1. Find the profit maximizing output Q∗ and the associated monopoly profit
π(Q∗ ).

2. How does the monopoly profit react to changes in k? (Hint: Find

dπ(Q∗ )/dk)

3. The government argues that the monopoly produces too little. It wants
to induce the monopolist to produce Q̂ = a − k units by granting a
subsidy s per unit of output. Calculate the subsidy s required to reach
the target.

Question 3.8 Let f (x) = 4x2 − 40x + 80 for x ∈ [0, 8]. Answer the following
questions

7
 1. Draw the graph of f (x).

2. Find the maximum and minimum of f (x) over [0, 8].

Question 3.9 (20 points) Consider the function f defined for all x ∈ R by
f (x) = x3 − 12x. Find the stationary points of f , and classify them by using
both the first- and second-order conditions.

Question 3.10 Consider the function f defined for all x ∈ [−1, 1] by


x if x ∈ (−1, 1)
f (x) =
0 if x = −1 or x = 1

Answer the following questions.

1. Is this function continuous? If so, verify it. If not, argue why.

2. Does the function f attain maximum or minimum? If so, provide them

explicitly. If not, argue why?

4 Homework 4 (Due Date: Sep 19 (Thu), 2024)

Question 4.1 (20 points) Decide where the following functions are convex
and determine possible inflection points:

1.
x
f (x) =
1 + x2
2.
1−x
f (x) =
1+x
Question 4.2 Let
1 1
f (x) = ln(x + 1) − x + x2 − x3 .
2 6
Answer the following questions.

1. Find the domain of the function f .

2. Prove that for x in the domain,

′ x2 − x3
f (x) =
2(x + 1)

8
 3. Find all possible extreme points and inflection points.
4. Check f (x) as x → (−1)+ and sketch the graph on the interval (−1, 2].

Question 4.3 (15 points) Let

   
0 1 −1 1 −1 5
A= and B = .
2 3 7 0 1 9
Evaluate A + B, A − B, and 5A − 3B.

Question 4.4 Compute the products AB and BA, if possible, when A and B
are given as follows:

1.    
0 −2 −1 4
A= and B =
3 1 1 5
2.  
  2 −2
8 3 −2
A= and B =  4 3 
1 0 4
1 −5
3.  
  3 1
−1 0
A= and B =  −1 1 
2 4
0 2
4.  
0

A =  −2  and B = 0 −2 3
4

Question 4.5 (15 points) We say that a square matrix A is idempotent if

A2 = A. Show that the matrix
 
2 −2 −4
 −1 3 4 
1 −2 −3
is idempotent.

Question 4.6 Consider the general 2 × 2 matrix

 
a b
A= .
c d
Answer the following questions.

9
 1. Prove that A2 = (a + d)A − (ad − bc)I2 .

2. Find an example of a 2 × 2 matrix A such that A2 = 0 but A ̸= 0.

Question 4.7 (15 points) An n × n matrix P is said to be orthogonal if

P T P = In . Answer the following questions.
√
1. For λ = ±1/ 2, show that the matrix
 
λ 0 λ
P =  λ 0 −λ 
0 1 0

is orthogonal.

2. Show that the 2 × 2 matrix

 
p −q
q p

is orthogonal if and only if p2 + q 2 = 1.

Question 4.8 Use Cramer’s rule to solve the following system of equations.

1.

x1 − x2 = 0
x1 + 3x2 + 2x3 = 0
x1 + 2x2 + x3 = 0

2.

x + 3y − 2z = 1
3x − 2y + 5z = 14
2x − 5y + 3z = 1

Question 4.9 (15 points) Define the matrix

 
1 t 0
At =  −2 −2 −1  ,
0 1 t

where t is a real number. Answer the following questions.

10
 1. Calculate the determinant of At .

2. Confirm that |At | =

̸ 0.

3. Show that for a certain value of t, one has A3t = I3 .

Question 4.10 Evaluate the determinant of each of the following matrices as

simply as possible:

1.  
3 0 1
A =  1 0 −1 
2 0 5

2.  
1 2 3 4
 0 −1 2 4 
B= 
 0 0 3 −1 
−3 −6 −9 −12

3.  
a1 − x a2 a3 a4
 0 −x 0 0 
C= ,
 0 1 −x 0 
0 0 1 −x
where a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 and x are real numbers.

Question 4.11 (15 points) For what values of x is the inner product of
(x, x − 1, 3) and (x, x, 3x) equal to 0?

Question 4.12 Let a = (1, 2, 1) and b = (−3, 0, −2). Answer the following
questions.

1. Find numbers x1 and x2 such that x1 a + x2 b = (5, 4, 4).

2. Prove that there are no real numbers x1 and x2 satisfying x1 a + x2 b =

(−3, 6, 1).

5 Homework 5 (Due Date: Sep 26 (Thu), 2024)

Question 5.1 (20 points) The line L is given by (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (−t + 2, 2t −
1, t + 3) where t ∈ R. Answer the following questions.

1. Verify that the point a = (2, −1, 3) lies on L.

11
 2. Verify that the point (1, 1, 1) does not lie on L.

3. Find the equation for the plane passing through a that is orthogonal to
L.

4. Find the point P where L intersects the plane 3x1 + 5x2 − x3 = 6.

Question 5.2 Calculate the inverses of the following matrices, if they exist.

1.  
2 3
A= .
4 5
2.  
1 0 2
B =  2 −1 0 
0 2 −1
3.  
1 0 0
C =  −3 −2 1 
4 −16 8

Question 5.3 (20 points) Let

   
1 0 t 1 0 0
At =  2 1 t  and B =  0 0 1  .
0 1 1 0 1 0

Answer the following questions.

1. For what values of t does At have an inverse?

2. Find a matrix X such that B + XA−1 −1

1 = A1 .

Question 5.4 Find all first- and second-order partial derivatives (including
cross derivatives) for the following functions:

1. z = 3x + 4y

2. z = x3 y 2

3. z = x5 − 3x2 y + y 6

4. z = x/y

5. z = (x − y)/(x + y)

12
 p
6. z = x2 + y 2
′ ′
Question 5.5 (15 points) Prove that if z = (ax + by)2 , then xzx + yzy = 2z,
where a, b are constants.
2 2
Question 5.6 Show that x2 − y 2 = c is a level curve of f (x, y) = ex e−y +
x4 − 2x2 y 2 + y 4 for all values of the constant c.

Question 5.7 (15 points) Find the distances between the following pairs of
points.

1. (−1, 2, 3) and (4, −2, 0)

2. (a, b, c) and (a + 1, b + 1, c + 1)
′ ′
Question 5.8 Let F (x, y, z) = x2 exz + y 3 exy . Calculate Fx (1, 1, 1), Fy (1, 1, 1),
′
and Fz (1, 1, 1).

Question 5.9 (20 points) Let

g(x, y, z) = 2x2 − 4xy + 10y 2 + z 2 − 4x − 28y − z + 24

for all (x, y, z) ∈ R3 . Answer the following questions.

1. Calculate g(2, 1, 1), g(3, −4, 2), and g(1, 1, a + h) − g(1, 1, a).

2. Find all partial derivatives of the first and second orders (including cross-
derivatives).

Question 5.10 Let x and y be the populations of two cities and d the distance
between them. Suppose that the number of travellers T between the cities is
given by
kxy
T = n ,
d
where k and n are positive constants. Answer the following questions.

1. Find ∂T /∂x, ∂T /∂y, and ∂T /∂d.

2. Propose the appropriate signs of the first derivatives (as you can make
sense of it).

6 Homework 6 (No Need for Submission)

13