Week 3 PYQs

Mathematics for Data Science - 1

April 2025

Instructions:
• There are some questions which have functions with discrete valued domains (such as
day, month, year etc).

• For NAT type questions, enter only one right answer even if you get multiple answers
for that particular question.

• Notations:

• R= Set of real numbers

• Q= Set of rational numbers
• Z= Set of integers
• N= Set of natural numbers

• The set of natural numbers includes 0.

1
Quiz 1 Jan 25
1. If x + a is one of the factors of p(x) = kx2 + kax + 5x + 15, then find the value of a.
[Ans: 3]

2. Aman and Prakash want to solve a quadratic equation. Aman made a mistake in
writing down the constant term and ended up in getting roots as 3 and 4. Prakash
made a mistake in writing down the coefficient of x and got the roots as 2 and 3.
Consider the leading coefficient to be 1 in all cases. The correct roots of the quadratic
equation are:

(a) 1 and 5
(b) 2 and 6
(c) 1 and 6
(d) 2 and 5

[Ans: (c)]

Quiz 2 Jan 25
NO QUESTIONS

End Term Jan 25

NO QUESTIONS

2
Quiz 1 Sep 24
1. If α and β are the roots of the equation x2 + 4x + 1 = 0, then the equation whose roots
are α2 and β 2 is:

(a) x2 − 14x + 1 = 0
(b) x2 − 18x + 16 = 0
(c) x2 − 10x + 2 = 0
(d) x2 − 8x + 5 = 0

[Ans: (a)]

Quiz 2 Sep 24
NO QUESTIONS

End Term Sep 24

NO QUESTIONS

3
Quiz 1 May 24
1. Consider the parabola y = x2 + 4x + 12. Which of the following option(s) are true?

(a) The co-ordinates of vertex is (−8, 2).

(b) The given equation attains its minima at x = −2.
(c) y-intercept of parabola is 12.
(d) The minimum value for the given equation is 8.

[Ans: (b), (c), (d)]

2. Consider the quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 where a, b, c are integers with a ̸= 0.

Which of the following option(s) are true?

(a) If b2 −4ac > 0 and a perfect square then there exists a rational root of the quadratic
equation.
(b) If b2 − 4ac > 0 and not a perfect square then there exists a rational root of the
quadratic equation.
(c) If b2 −4ac < 0 and a perfect square then there exists a rational root of the quadratic
equation.
(d) If b2 − 4ac < 0 and not a perfect square then there exists a rational root of the
quadratic equation.

[Ans: (a)]

Quiz 2 May 24
NO QUESTIONS

End Term May 24

1. Which of the following statements is/are true about the function f (x) = x2 + 2x − 8?

(a) f is one-one on its domain.

(b) f has an inverse on its domain.
(c) The vertex of this parabola is at (−1, −9).
(d) y-intercept of the given parabola is −8.

[Ans: (c), (d)]

4
Quiz 1 Jan 24
1. Which of the following options is/are true?

(a) The point at which the slope of the equation x2 + 2x − 5 equals 10 is (4, 17)
(b) x = 2 is the axis of symmetry of the quadratic function f (x) = x2 + 4x + 5
(c) If two different quadratic equations have same discriminant then the roots of both
equations can be same.
(d) The point at which the slope of the equation x2 + 2x − 5 equals 10 is (4, 19)

[Ans: (c), (d)]

If the slope of parabola y = Ax2 + Bx + C, where A, B, C ∈ R at points (3, 2) and

(2, 3) are 16 and 12 respectively.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

2. Calculate the value of A

[Ans: 2]

3. Calculate the value of B

[Ans: 4]

4. Ram and Shyam want to solve a quadratic equation. Ram made a mistake in writing
down the constant term and ended up in getting roots as 3 and 4. Shyam made a
mistake in writing down the coefficient of x and got the roots as 2 and 3. Consider the
leading coefficient to be 1 in all cases. The correct roots of the quadratic equation are:

(a) 1 and 5
(b) 2 and 6
(c) 1 and 6
(d) 2 and 5

[Ans: (c)]

Quiz 2 Jan 24
NO QUESTIONS

End Term Jan 24

NO QUESTIONS

5
Quiz 1 Sep 23
1. Consider a function f (x) = |x| + x2 + 2. Which of the following options is true?

(a) Domain of f is R \ {0}.

(b) The minimum value of f is 2.
(c) f is one-one function.
(d) Range of f is the interval (0, ∞).

[Ans: (b)]

2. Consider a quadratic function q(x) = ax2 + 20x + 15, where a ∈ R \ {0}. If slope of
q(x) at x = 2 is equal to the slope of the line y = 40x + 5, then which of the following
options is true?

(a) a = 5
(b) a = 8
(c) q(x) has a unique root.
(d) q(x) has the minimum value at x = 2.

[ans: (a)]

3. A retail shopkeeper is interested in purchasing clothes from a wholesale supplier. The

price per clothing item is 1800 if the purchase quantity is 150 items or less. However,
if the shopkeeper buys more than 150 items, the cost per clothing item decreases by
10 for each item exceeding the initial 150. For instance, if the shopkeeper acquires 160
items, the cost per clothing item would be 1800 − (10 × (160 − 150)) = 1700. Let x
represent the number of items he buys. Determine the value of x such that the amount
paid by the retail shopkeeper to the wholesale supplier is maximum.
[ans: 165]

6
Quiz 1 May 23
1. Consider a polynomial p(x) = 0.3x3 (x2 − 1)(x − 2)2 (x − 3).
Which of the figure represents the polynomial p(x)?

(a)

(b)

(c)

7
 (d)

[ans: (c)]

2. Consider two polynomials p(x) = x4 + 3x3 − 9x + 8 and q(x) = (x2 + x)(x + 3). Let
r(x) be the remainder obtained when p(x) is divided by q(x). Let l(x) be the line
that passes through the y-intercept and the minimum point in the graph of r(x). For
reference, see Figure: M1Q1-1.

Which of the following options is/are true?

(a) r(x) = x2 − 6x + 9
(b) l(x) ≡ y = −3x + 8
(c) l(x) ≡ y = −2x + 8
(d) The number of turning points in q(x) is 2

[ans: (b), (d)]

8
3. A company’s profit function, given by P (x) = −2x2 +8x−6, represents the relationship
between the quantity (x) of the raw material used in the manufacturing process and
the resulting profit. Use this information to answer the given subquestions.

(a) Find the quantity of the raw material such that the company has the maximum
profit.

[ans: 2]
(b) Find the quantity of the raw material (x > 1) such that the company has no profit.

[ans: 3]

9
Quiz 1 Jan 23
1. Assume that a ball was thrown from the point (0, 4) on the XY -plane as shown in the
Figure 1. The ball reaches a maximum height of 6 meters and it returns to a height of
4 m after 2 seconds. Let h(t) = at2 + bt + c be the quadratic function that represents
the height (in meters) of the ball after t seconds, where a, b, c ∈ Z \ {0}.

Find the value of a + b + c.

[ans: 6]

2. Which of the following functions may represent the graph given in Figure 2?

10
 (a) f (x) = x2 − 8x + 12
(b) f (x) = x2 + 10x − 21
(c) f (x) = 2x2 + 8x + 4
(d) f (x) = x2 − 6x + 4

[ans: (a),(d)]

3. Ankit is located at (3, 3). He called Ajay to ask his location. Ajay describes the path
he had taken from home (located at the origin) as: ”I walked three units towards East
and then nine units towards North. And I repeated the same pattern thrice.” Now
Ankit wants a direct path to reach Ajay, then choose the correct options. (Note that
North represents the direction along the positive y-axis.)

(a) Ankit should follow 4x − y − 9 = 0.

√
(b) Ankit will have to walk a distance of 6 17 units.
(c) Ajay has walked a distance of 36 units from his home.
√
(d) Ajay has walked a distance of 9 10 units from his home.

[ans: (a), (b), (c)]

11
End Term Jan 23
1. If x + a is one of the factors of p(x) = 2x2 + 2ax + 5x + 10, then find the value of a.
[ans: 2]

2. Consider a polynomial p(x) = 4x3 + 9x2 + 3x + 2. If p(x) = (x + 2)(ax2 + bx + c), then

find the value of a + b + c.

[ans: 6]

3. Consider a quadratic function f (x) := ax2 + bx + c which is symmetric about the line
x = −3. The maximum value of f is 12 and it passes through the point (0, 0). What
is the value of 3a + b + c?
[ans: -12]

12
Quiz 1 Sep 22
1. Consider two quadratic functions, p(x) and q(x), whose x-intercepts are shown in
Figure 1. The leading coefficients of both p(x) and q(x) are 1 and the y-intercepts are
−27. The axis of symmetry of q(x) is x = 3, which also passes through one of the
zeroes of p(x). The line y = d passes through the vertices of p(x) and q(x).

(a) Enter the value of a.

[ans: -9]
(b) Enter the value of b + c + d.
[ans: -30]
(c) Choose the set of correct option(s):
i. The axis of symmetry of p(x) is x = −3.
ii. The slopes of both p(x) and q(x) are same at (0, −27).
iii. The slope of p(x) is 6 but the slope q(x) is −6 at (0, −27).
iv. The discriminant of both the quadratic equations p(x) = 0 and q(x) = 0 are
same.
[ans: (a), (c), (d)]

2. Ritwik wrote 12 mock tests. His score in each mock test M (n) is represented as
 2 
n
M (n) = − (n3 − 15n2 + 50n) + 40,
1000
where n represents the mock test number, i.e., n ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 12}. He should score 40
or above to pass the assignment.

13
 Based on this information, answer the given sub-questions:

(a) How many times did Ritwik score exactly 40?

[ans: 2]
(b) In total, how many mock tests did Ritwik pass?

[ans: 6]

3. Figure 2 shows the graph of a polynomial p(x). Choose the set of correct option(s).

(a) The degree of p(x) is at least 9.

(b) p(x) represents an odd degree polynomial.
(c) Total number of turning points of p(x) are 9.
(d) Multiplicities of zero and one of the negative root could be the same.

[ans: (a), (b), (d)]

14