SHES 2303 MATHEMATICS IN BIOLOGY

TUTORIAL 3

1. Our body reacts to a dose of medicine approximately according to the following equation:
 
2 C M
R=M − ,
2 3
where C > 0 is a constant, M is the amount of medicine in blood circulation, and R is the
response variable (blood pressure, body temperature, etc.). If we define sensitivity to medicine
as dR/dM , for what value of M is sensitivity highest?

2. When we cough, the trachea contracts so that the velocity of air going out is increased. It
is therefore interesting to find out how much it should contract to maximise the velocity, and
if experimental data support the prediction. Under reasonable assumptions about the physical
properties of the tracheal wall, and about how the air near the wall is slowed by friction,
biophysicists have come up with the model

v = c(r0 − r)r2 cm/sec,

with r0 /2 ≤ r ≤ r0 , where r0 is the radius of the trachea in rest, and c > 0 is a constant
partially dependent on the length of the trachea.
Show that v is greatest when r = 2r0 /3 - that is, when the trachea is about 33% contracted.
Remarkably, X-ray photographs support the findings of this model, so it has applied value in
medical work.

3. Find the solutions of the following differential equations.

(a).
f 0 (x) = log x.

(b).
2
f 0 (x) = xe−x .

(c).
x
f 0 (x) = .
1 + x2

(d).
1
f 0 (x) = √ .
1 − x2

(e).
f 0 (x) = x−3/2 .

(f).
f 0 (x) = tan x.
KTF 2009/2010(2)
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