ECON203 MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS

TUTORIAL 1 - ANSWER

Part B:
Exercise 1
a) y = 3 - x + x2;
b) x = 3 and -3 (or  3 );
c) x = -0.5, y = -0.5.

Exercise 2
a) x=9
a 2 1 0.5 0.25 0 -0.5 -1 -2
a
x 81 9 ±3 ± 3 1 1 1 1
±3 9 81
(Emphasize the positive root).

b) x=9
a b xaxb
9 -8 9
9 -9 1
2 2 6561

c) x=9
a b xa
xb
9 8 9
9 9 1
(a-b)
a a 9 .

Exercise 3
a) 3 + x3 + 4 x2y + 12xy2 + 8y3 - x2 - x2y2 = 0.
b) x = -0.25.
x z5
c) = 3 .
y 3z  12

Exercise 4

y = x2 :
x = 0, y = 0; x = 2, y = 4; x = 1, y = 1;
x = 4.5, y = 20.25; x = 3.5, y = 12.25; x = 3, y = 9.

1
 y = x2
25.00

20.00 20.25

15.00

y 12.25
10.00
9.00

5.00
4.00
1.00
0.00 0.00
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
x

y = 1 + 3x:
x = 0, y = 1; x = 2, y = 7; x = 1, y = 4;
x = 4.5, y = 14.5; x = 3.5, y = 11.5; x = 3, y = 10.

y = 1+ 3x
16
14 14.5

12 11.5
10 10
y 8
7
6
4 4
2
1
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
x

2
Exercise 5
Note that the curves are the same in Exercises 4 and 5 when y is the vertical axis and x is the
horizontal axis.

y  x2  x   y
y = 0, x = 0 ; y = 4, x =  2 ; y = 1, x =  1 ;
y = 20.25, x =  4.5 ; y = 12.25, x =  3.5 ; y = 9, x =  3

x  y

-4.5 21 4.5

18
15
-3.5 12 3.5
y
-3 9 3

6
-2 2
3
-1 1
00 0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
x

y =1  3x  x =  y  1 / 3
y = 1, x = 0; y = 7, x = 2; y = 4, x =1;
y = 14.5, x = 4.5; y = 11.5, x = 3.5; y = 10, x = 3.

3
 x = (y-1)/3
14 4.5
12 3.5
10 3
8
y 2
6
4 1
2
0
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
x

Exercise 6
dy
y = 3(x3 + x -1)2, = 6(x3 + x-1)(3x2 – x-2) ;
dx
dy dy
y = 5, =0; y = 5x, = 5;
dx dx
dy dy
y = 5x3, = 15x2 ; y = 5x -3, = -15x -4 ;
dx dx
dy
y = (x2 + 2x)2(2x+1), = 2(x2 + 2x)(2x+2)(2x+1) + 2(x2 + 2x)2
dx

At equilibrium, D=S=Q, so we have P = 4, Q = 2 ;

P dD 4
The elasticity of demand: = *(-2) = -4.
Q dP 2

Exercise 7
z z
z = x -2y2, = -2x -3y2, = 2yx -2 ;
x y
z z
z = x + y, = 1, = 1;
x y
z z
z = 3x3 + xy, = 9x2 + y, =x;
x y
x z 1 z x
z= , = , =- 2
y x y y y

Exercise 8
dz = dx + dy.
4