MATHEMATICS 100, Section 105

Midterm #2 Solutions

1. a) Differentiate the equation: if xey = y + ex then ey + xey y 0 = y 0 + ex . Plug in x = 0,

y = −1: e−1 + 0 = y 0 + 1, y 0 = e−1 − 1.

b) If f (x) = (cos x)ln x then ln f = ln x ln(cos x). Differentiate the last equation:

f 0 (x) 1 1 ln(cos x)
= ln(cos x) + ln x · (− sin x) = + ln x tan x,
f (x) x cos x x

 ln(cos x)   ln(cos x) 
f 0 (x) = f (x) + ln x tan x = (cos x)ln x + ln x tan x .
x x

x
c) Let f (x) = , then
x2 +1

0 1(x2 + 1) − x(2x) x2 + 1 − 2x2 1 − x2

f (x) = = = 2 .
(x2 + 1)2 (x2 + 1)2 (x + 1)2

Thus f 0 (0) = 0 when 1 − x2 = 0, x = ±1. Since x = −1 is not in [0, 4], the only critical
point in [0, 4] is x = 1. We evaluate

1 1 4 4
f (0) = 0, f (1) = = , f (4) = = .
1+1 2 16 + 1 17

The maximum value is 1/2 (at x = 1), and the minimum value is 0 (at x = 0).

x2
2. a) We have cos x ≈ 1 − (you can either remember it or derive it here). Hence
2
(−0.2)2
cos(−0.2) ≈ 1 − = 1 − 0.02 = 0.98.
2

M
b) The error is bounded by (0.2)3 , where M is a constant such that |(cos x)000 | ≤ M for
3!
x between −0.2 and 0. We have (cos x)000 = (− sin x)00 = (− cos x)0 = sin x and | sin x| ≤ 1
1 1
for all x, hence we can take M = 1. Thus the error can be estimated by (0.2)3 = .
3! 150

c) If f (x) = 3x then f 0 (x) = 3x ln 3, f 00 (x) = 3x (ln 3)2 , f 000 (x) = 3x (ln 3)3 . Hence the third
order Maclaurin polynomial is

(ln 3)2 2 (ln 3)3 3

f (x) ≈ 1 + (ln 3)x + x + x .
2! 3!
3. Let y(t) denote the amount of material left after t years, measured in grams. Then
y(t) = 100ekt for some k < 0. We know that y(1) = 80, hence

80
100ek = 80, ek = = .8, k = ln(.8).
100

We wish to find t such that y(t) = 40:

ln .4 ln .4
100ekt = 40, ekt = .4, kt = ln .4, t = = .
k ln .8

4. The water in the container has the shape of an inverted cone with height h cm and
radius 2h cm at the top, where h is measured to be 50 cm. The volume of the water is
V (h) = π(2h)2 h/3 = 4πh3 /3. The error in computing it based on the measured value
of h is bounded by V 0 (50)dh, where dh = 1. We have V 0 (h) = 4π · 3h2 /3 = 4πh2 , so
V 0 (50) = 4 · 502 π = 10000π. Hence the error is at most 10000π · 1 = 10000π cm3 .

5. Let d(t) denote the distance between the boy and the ball, h(t) – the height of the
ball, x(t) – the distance the boy has run from the starting point, where all distances are
measured in meters and t is measured in seconds. Then d2 = h2 + x2 . Differentiate in t:
2dd0 = 2hh0 + 2xx0 , dd0 = hh0 + xx0 . We have h(t) = 38t − 16t2 , h0 (t) = 38 − 32t, x(t) = 3t,
x0 (t) = 3. At t = 1, we have h(1) = 38 − 16 = 22, h0 (1) = 38 − 32 = 6, x(1) = 3, x0 (1) = 3,
and p √ √
d(1) = 222 + 32 = 484 + 9 = 493.
Hence
√ 141
493d0 (1) = 22 · 6 + 3 · 3 = 132 + 9 = 141, d0 (1) = √ .
493
Since d0 (1) > 0, the distance is increasing.