SHES 2303 MATHEMATICS IN BIOLOGY

TUTORIAL 2

1. Find the first and second derivatives of the the following functions.
(a). f (x) = x2 + x + 8.
(b). s = 5t3 − 3t5 .
3
(c). y = x x+7 .
= 1/t2 .
(d). g(t) √
(e). y = x.
(f). y = (cos x)−1/5 .

2. Find the derivative of y = max{x, x2 }. (Remark: We write max{1, 2} = 2 to indicate

the fact that 2 > 1.)

3. If y = xn , what is the n-th derivative of y?

4. Find the n-th derivative of y = 1/x.

5. Evaluate
d
(sin(sin x)) ,
dx
at x = π/4.

6. Evaluate the sum

9  j−1
X 1
j .
j=1
2

(Hint: use the finite geometric sum n−1 j n

P
j=0 r = (1 − r )/(1 − r) and your knowledge of
derivative to help you.)

7. A biologist has found that after the addition of an experimental poison, the growth
of bacteria is well-approximated by the function

f (t) = 106 + 104 t − 103 t2 ,

where t is measured in hours.

(a) Sketch the function f (t).
(b) Find the bacterial growth rates at t = 1, 5, 10.
(c) At what time did the bacteria population stop growing?

8. The gills of fish are used for gaseous exchange, and they have a thin, sheet-like shape.
Why don’t we see fish with gills that are spherical?