Minireference Publishing. Third edition, second printing.

Copyright Ivan Savov, 2011, 2012, 2013.

All rights reserved.
hg changeset: 20:4c010a3cac2b + 1.
Contents
Front matter vii
About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Concept map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Placement exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Precalculus 1
1.1 Solving equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Functions and their inverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Basic algebra rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6 Solving quadratic equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.7 Exponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.8 Logarithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.9 Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.10 The number line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.11 Inequalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.12 Cartesian plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.13 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.14 Function reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Square root . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
i
CONTENTS
Absolute value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Cosine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Tangent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Exponential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Natural logarithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Function transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
General quadratic function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
General sin function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Hyperbolic cos and sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
1.15 Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
1.16 Trigonometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
1.17 Trigonometric identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
1.18 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
1.19 Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
1.20 Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
1.21 Solving systems of linear equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
1.22 Compound interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
1.23 Sets and set notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
2 Introduction to physics 103
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
2.2 Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
2.3 Introduction to calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
2.4 Kinematics with calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3 Vectors 123
3.1 Great outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.2 Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.3 Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
3.4 Vector products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
3.5 Complex numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
ii
CONTENTS
4 Mechanics 145
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.2 Projectile motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
4.3 Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
4.4 Force diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
4.5 Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
4.6 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
4.7 Uniform circular motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
4.8 Angular motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
4.9 Simple harmonic motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4.10 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
5 Optics 233
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
5.2 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
5.3 Light rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
5.4 Parabolic shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
5.5 Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
5.6 Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
6 Calculus 255
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
6.2 Denitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
6.3 Innity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
6.4 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
6.5 Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
6.6 Derivative formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
6.7 Derivative rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
6.8 Higher derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
6.9 Optimization: calculus killer app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
6.10 Optimization algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
6.11 Implicit dierentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
6.12 Integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
iii
CONTENTS
6.13 Riemann Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
6.14 Fundamental theorem of calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
6.15 Proof of the Fundamental theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
6.16 Techniques of integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
6.17 Applications of integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
6.18 Improper integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
6.19 Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
6.20 Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
6.21 Calculus exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
End matter 383
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Derivative and integral formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
Mechanics formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
iv
CONTENTS
v
CONTENTS
vi
Front matter
About
This book contains short lessons on topics in math and physics. The coverage
of each topic is at the depth required for a university-level course written in a
style that is short and to the point. A motivated reader can easily learn enough
calculus and mechanics from this book to get an A on the nal exam on
these subjects. It will take you one week to read this book, then you will
need another week to practice exercises. Two weeks and you are done.
Calculus and mechanics can be dicult subjects, but they become easy
when you break down the concepts into manageable chunks. The most im-
portant thing is to learn about the connections between concepts and to un-
derstand what is going on intuitively. Every time you learn about some new
concept, you need to connect it with all your previous knowledge.
Speaking of previous knowledge. . .
In order to get o on the right foot, the book begins with a comprehensive re-
view of math fundamentals like algebra, equation solving and functions. Any-
one can pick up this book and become procient in calculus and mechanics
regardless of their mathematical background. You can skip the rst chapter if
you feel comfortable with high school math concepts, though it might still be
a good idea for you to do a yover for review purposes.
vii
CONTENTS
Why?
The genesis of this book dates back to my days as an undergraduate student
when I was forced to purchase expensive textbooks that were required for
my courses. Not only are these textbooks expensive, but they are also long
and tedious to read. The current edition of Giancoli is 1040 pages long while
Stewart is 1311 pages long. I can tell you for a fact that you dont need to read
2300 pages to learn math and physics, so what is the deal? The reason why
mainstream textbooks are so big is that this allows the textbook publishers
to suck more money out of you. You wouldnt pay 150 dollars for a 300 page
textbook now would you? The fact that a new edition of the textbook comes
out every couple of years with almost no changes to the content shows that
textbook publishers are not really out to teach you stu, but only after your
money.
Looking at this situation, I decided that something must be done! I sat
down to write a modern textbook that explains things clearly and concisely.
The book you have in your hands.
How?
Each section in this book is like a self-contained private tutorial. Indeed, the
lessons you will read grew from my experience as a private tutor. The writing
is chill and conversational, but we keep a quick pace through the material.
Prerequisites topics are introduced as needed. There are a lot of hands-on
explanations through solved examples. We cover the same material as the
400 page textbook in just 40 pages. I call this process information distillation.
Who?
Since this is an about section, I will say something about me. I have been
tutoring math and physics privately for more than ten years. I did my under-
graduate studies at McGill University in Electrical Engineering, then I did a
M.Sc. in Physics and I recently completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science. I
have been developing this book in parallel with my studies and, on the day of
viii
CONTENTS
my graduation, I founded the Minireference Co. to bring democracy to the
textbook industry.
This is the deal. You give me 300 pages of your attention, and I will teach
you everything I know about functions, limits, derivatives, integrals, forces,
acceleration, optics and vectors. The book which you hold in your hands is
the only book you need for the rst year of undergraduate studies in science.
ix
CONTENTS
Concept map
x
CONTENTS
Placement exam
The answers
1
to this placement exam will tell you where to start reading.
1. What is the derivative of sin(x)?
2. What is the second derivative of Asin(x)? (A and are constants)
3. What is the value of x ?
4. What is the magnitude of the gravitational force between two planets
of mass M and mass m separated by a distance r?
5. Calculate lim
x3

1
x 3
.
6. Solve for t in:
7(3 + 4t) = 11(6t 4).
7. What is the component of the weight

W acting in the x direction?
8. A block attached to a spring is undergoing simple harmonic motion. Its
position is: x(t) = Asin(t). What is the value of the maximum acceleration?
1
Ans: 1. cos(x), 2. A
2
sin(x), 3.

3
2
, 4. [

F
g
[ =
GMm
r
2
, 5. , 6.
65
38
, 7. +mg sin,
8. A
2
. Key: If you didnt get Q3, Q6 right, you should read the book starting from
Chapter 1. If you are mystied by Q1, Q2, Q5, read Chapter 6. If you want to learn how
to solve Q4, Q7 and Q8, read Chapter 4.
xi
CONTENTS
xii
Chapter 1
Precalculus
In this chapter we will review the fundamental ideas of mathematics like
numbers, equations and functions. In order to understand college-level text-
books you need to be comfortable with mathematical calculations. A lot of
people have trouble with mathematical calculations, however. Some people say
they hate math. Some people are convinced that they could never learn math.
Many people carry into their adult life complexes about their math skills as a
result of bad grades on math exams they wrote when they were children. If
1
Solving equations
you are carrying any such emotional baggage, you need to drop it right here
and right now.
Do not worry about math! You are an adult now, and you can learn math
much more easily than when you were in high school. In the next fty pages
we will review everything you need to know about math and, by the end of
this chapter, you will see that math is nothing to worry about.
1.1 Solving equations
Most math skills boil down to being able to manipulate equations. To solve
an equation means to nd the value of the unknown in the equation.
Check this shit out:
x
2
4 = 45.
To solve the above equation is to answer the question What is x? More
precisely, we want to nd the number which can take the place of x in the
equation so that the equality holds:
Which number times itself minus four gives 45?
That is quite a mouthful dont you think? To remedy this verbosity, math-
ematicians often use specialized mathematical symbols. The problem is that
often times the specialized symbols used in mathematical notation confuse peo-
ple. Sometimes even the simplest concepts are inaccessible if you dont know
what the symbols mean.
What are your feelings about math, dear reader? Are you afraid of it? Do
you have anxiety attacks because you think it will be too dicult for you? Chill!
Relax my brothers and sisters. There is nothing to it. Nobody can magically
guess what the solution is immediately. You have to break the problem down
into simpler steps.
To nd x, we can manipulate the original equation until we transform it to
a dierent equation (as true as the rst) that looks like this:
x = just some numbers.
2
Solving equations
Thats what it means to solve. The equation is solved because you could
type the numbers on the right hand side of the equation into a calculator and
get the exact value of x.
To get x, all you have to do is make the right manipulations on the original
equation to get it to the nal form. The only requirement is that the manipu-
lations you make transform one true equation into another true equation.
First o, what does = mean? It means that all that is to the left of = is
equal to all that is to the right of =. To keep this statement true, you have
to do everything that you want to do to the left side also to the
right side. In our example from earlier, we want to add 4 to both sides of the
equation:
x
2
4 + 4 = 45 + 4,
x
2
= 49.
You must agree that the expression looks simpler now. No? How did I
know to do this operation? I was trying to undo the eects of the operation
4. We undo an operation by applying its inverse. In the case where the
operation is subtraction of some amount, the inverse operation is the addition
of the same amount.
Now we are getting closer to our goal, namely to isolate x on one side of
the equation and have just numbers on the other side. What is the next step?
Well if you know about functions and their inverses, then you would know that
the inverse of x
2
(x squared) is to take the square root

like this:

x
2
=

49.
Notice that I applied the inverse operation on both sides of the equation. If
we dont do the same thing on both sides we would be breaking the equality!
We are done now, since we have isolated x with just numbers on the other
side:
x = 7.
What is up with the symbol? It means that both x = 7 and x = 7
satisfy the above equation. Seven squared is 49, and so is (7)
2
= 49 because
two negatives cancel out.
3
Numbers
If you are wondering how the squiggle killed the power two, then the next
couple of sections are for you. First let me tell you about numbers.
1.2 Numbers
At the beginning of all matters we have to dene the players in the world of
math. These are the basic objects which you can type into a calculator. We
will start the exposition like a philosophy paper and dene precisely what we
are going to be talking about. In math you have to be precise, otherwise you
are bullshitting. If you choose to bullshit at any point in your mathematical
dealings, you will get slapped pretty hard. This is because math is abstract
so if you are not clear about what you are talking about, things can go wrong
very quickly. Lets start from the basics.
After thinking very hard, mathematicians were able to classify all the dif-
ferent kinds of number-like objects into sets:
The Naturals: N = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, . . .,
The Integers: Z = . . . , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .,
The Rationals: Q = 1.5, 1/3, 22/7, 0.125, . . .,
The Reals: R = , e, 1.53929411.., 4.99401940129401.., . . .,
The Complex numbers: C = 1, i, 1 + i, 2 + 3i, . . ..
These categories of numbers should be somewhat familiar to you. Think of
them as neat classication labels for everything that you would normally call
a number. Each item in the above list is a set. A set is a collection of items of
the same kind. Each collection has a name and a precise denition. We dont
need to go into the details of sets and set notation for our purposes, but you
have to be aware of the dierent categories.
Why do you need so many dierent sets of numbers? The answer is partly
historical and partly mathematical. Before Newton, the word number referred
only to the natural numbers N, which are sucient if everything you are going
to do with math is to count things. How many goats? Five goats here and six
4
Numbers
goats there so the total is 11. The sum of any two natural numbers x, y N is
also a natural number.
Very quickly, people realized that if you use the subtraction operation, you
run into negative numbers so natural numbers are not sucient anymore. This
is why mathematicians dened the set of integers Z = . . . , 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, . . ..
If the only mathematical operations you will ever use are addition and subtrac-
tion, then the integers are all the numbers you will ever need. So this is what
number meant during the whole middle ages. The notion of 2.5 goats didnt
make any sense to the people of those days. They would have been totally
confused by the menu at Rotisserie Romados which oers
1
4
of a chicken.
If you want to use division in your mathematical calculations then you will
need the rationals Q. The rationals are the set of quotients of two integers:
Q = all z such that z =
x
y
, x is in Z, y is in N.
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide rational numbers and the result
will always be a rational number. However rationals are not enough!
Using geometrical arguments we can obtain quantities like

2 (the diagonal
of a square with side 1) and 2 (the ratio between a circles radius and its
circumference) which are irrational. There are no integers x and y such that

2 =
x
y
, therefore,

2 is not part of Q. We say that

2 is irrational. If you
add the irrationals numbers to the rationals you get all the useful numbers,
which we call the set of real numbers R.
From here on in the text, if I say number I will mean an element of the set
of real numbers R. The set R contains the integers, the fractions Q, as well as
irrational numbers like

2 = 1.4142135 . . .. You will see that using the reals

you can compute pretty much anything you want. The only thing you cant
do with the reals is take the square root of a negative number: you need the
complex numbers for that. We defer the discussion on C until a later chapter.
5
Numbers
Operations on numbers
Addition
You can add and subtract numbers. I will assume you are familiar with this
kind of stu.
2 + 5 = 7, 45 + 56 = 101, 65 66 = 1, 9999 + 1 = 10000, . . .
The visual way to think of addition is the number line. Adding numbers is
like adding sticks together: the resulting stick has length equal to the sum of
the two constituent sticks.
Addition is commutative, which means that a + b = b + a. It is also
associative, which means that if you have a long summation like a +b +c you
can do it in any order (a + b) + c or a + (b + c), and you will get the same
answer.
Multiplication
You can also multiply numbers together.
ab = a + a + + a
. .
b times
= b + b + + b
. .
a times
.
Note that multiplication is dened in terms of repeated addition. Indeed, on
computers systems which dont have a hardware multiplication circuit, every
time you write ab the computer will repeatedly add the number a for a total
of b iterations.
The visual way to think about multiplication is through the concept of
area. The area of a rectangle of base a and height b is equal to ab. A rectangle
which has height equal to its base is a square, so this why we call aa = a
2
a
squared.
Multiplication of numbers is also commutative ab = ba, and associative
abc = (ab)c = a(bc). In modern notation, no special symbol is used to denote
multiplication; we simply put the two factors next to each other and say that
the multiplication is implicit. Some other ways to denote multiplication are
a b, a b and, on computer systems, a b.
6
Numbers
Division
Division is the inverse of multiplication.
a/b =
a
b
= one b
th
of a.
Whatever a is, you need to divide it into b equal pieces and take one such piece.
Some texts denote division by a b.
Note that you cannot divide by 0. Try it on your calculator or computer. It
will say error divide by zero, because it simply doesnt make sense. What
does dividing into zero equal pieces mean?
Exponentiation
Very often you have to multiply things together many times. We call that
exponentiation and denote that with a superscript:
a
b
= aaa a
. .
b times
.
We can also have negative exponents. The negative in the exponent does
not mean subtract, but rather divide by:
a
b
=
1
a
b
=
1
aaa a
. .
b times
.
An exponent which is a fraction means that it is some sort of square-root-
like operation:
a
1
2

a
2

a, a
1
3

a, a
1
4

a = a
1
2
1
2
=
_
a
1
2
_1
2
=
_

a.
Square root

x is the inverse operation of x
2
. Similarly, for any n we dene
the function
n

x (the nth root of x) to be the inverse function of x

n
.
7
Numbers
It is worth clarifying what taking the nth root means and what this op-
eration can be used for. The nth root of a is a number which, when multiplied
together n times, will give a. So for example a cube root satises
3

a
3

a
3

a =
_
3

a
_
3
= a =
3

a
3
.
Do you see now why
3

x and x
3
are inverse operations?
The fractional exponent notation makes the meaning of roots much more
explicit:
n

a a
1
n
,
which means that nth root is equal to one nth of a number with respect to
multiplication. Thus, if we want the whole number, we have to multiply the
number a
1
n
times itself n times:
a
1
n
a
1
n
a
1
n
a
1
n
a
1
n
a
1
n
. .
n times
=
_
a
1
n
_
n
= a
n
n
= a
1
= a.
The n-fold product of
1
n
fractional exponents gives an exponent of one.
The commutative law of multiplication ab = ba implies that we can see any
fraction
a
b
in two dierent ways
a
b
= a
1
b
=
1
b
a. First we multiply by a and then
divide the result by b, or rst we divide by b and then we multiply the result
by a. This means that when we have a fraction in the exponent, we can write
the answer in two equivalent ways:
a
2
3
=
3

a
2
= (
3

a)
2
, a

1
2
=
1
a
1
2
=
1

a
, a
m
n
=
_
n

a
_
m
=
n

a
m
.
Make sure the above notation makes sense to you. As an exercises try to
compute 5
4
3
on your calculator, and check that you get around 8.54987973.. as
an answer.
Operator precedence
There is a standard convention for which mathematical operations on numbers
have to be performed rst. The three basic operations have the following
precedence:
8
Variables
1. Exponents and roots.
2. Products and divisions.
3. Additions and subtractions.
This means that the expression 53
2
+13 is to be interpreted as rst take the
square of 3, then multiply by 5 and then add 13. If you want the operations
to be carried out in a dierent order, say you wanted to multiply 5 times 3
rst and then take the square you should use parentheses: (5 3)
2
+13, which
now shows that the square acts on (5 3) as a whole and not on 3 alone.
Other operations
We can dene all kinds of operations on numbers. The above three are special
since they have a very simple intuitive feel to them, but we can dene arbitrary
transformations on numbers. We call those functions. Before we learn about
functions, let us talk about variables rst.
1.3 Variables
In math we use a lot of variables, which act as placeholders for any number or
unknown.
Example Your friend has some weirdly shaped shooter glasses and you cant
quite tell if it is 25[ml] of vodka in there or 50[ml] or somewhere in between.
Since you cant say how much booze there is in each shot glass we will say
there was x[ml] in there. So how much alcohol did you drink over the whole
evening? Say you had three shots then you drank 3x[ml] of vodka. If you want
to take it one step further, you can say that you drank n shots then the total
amount of alcohol you drank is nx[ml].
As you see, variables allow us to talk about quantities without knowing
the details. This is abstraction and is very powerful stu: it allows you to get
drunk without knowing how drunk exactly!
9
Variables
Variable names
There are common naming patterns for variables:
x: general name for the unknown in equations. Also used to denote the
input to a function and the position in physics problems.
v: velocity.
, : the Greek letters theta and phi are often used to denote angles.
x
i
, x
f
: Denote initial and nal position in physics problems.
X: A random variable in probability theory.
C: Costs in business along with P prot, and R revenues.
Variable substitution
We often need to change variables and replace some unknown variable with
another. For example, say you dont feel comfortable with square roots. Every
time you see a square root, you freak out and you nd yourself on an exam
trying to solve for x in the following:
6
5

x
=

x.
Needless to say that you are freaking out big time! Substitution can help with
your root phobia. You just write down Let u =

x and then you are allowed

to rewrite the equation in terms of u:
6
5 u
= u,
which contains no square roots.
The next step when trying to solve for u is to undo the fraction by multiply
both sides of the equation by (5 u) to obtain:
6 = u(5 u) = 5u u
2
.
10
Functions and their inverses
This can be rewritten as a quadratic equation u
2
5u+6 = (u2)(u3) = 0,
for which u = 2 and u = 3 are the solutions. The last step is to convert our
u-answers into x-answers by using u =

x, which is equivalent to x = u
2
.
Thus our nal answers are x = 2
2
= 4 and x = 3
2
= 9.
Compact notation
Symbolic manipulation is very powerful, because it allows you to manage com-
plexity. Say you are solving a physics problem in which you are told the mass
of an object is m = 140[kg]. If there are many steps in the calculation, would
you rather use the number 140[kg] in each step, or the shorter variable m? It
is much better to use the variable m throughout your calculation, and only
substitute the value 140[kg] in the last step when you are computing the nal
answer.
1.4 Functions and their inverses
As described in solving equation, it is sucient to know how to undo func-
tions when solving equations of the form:
f(g(x)) = 5,
where x is the unknown variable and f and g are two known functions. The
goal is to nd x.
The material on this page will give you the ability to transfer the com-
plexity of the problem from the left side of the equation to the right side.
First we will do:
f
1
(f(g(x))) = f
1
(5) .
Focus your eyes on the left hand side. Magic stu is about to go down! The
f
1
will cancel the f and we get the simpler version:
g(x) = f
1
(5),
11
Functions and their inverses
and then to solve for x we will have to undo the g function as well:
x = g
1
_
f
1
(5)
_
.
By denition the inverse functions f
1
, g
1
do the opposite of the functions
f, g do so together they cancel each other out.
Provided everything is kosher (the function f
1
must be dened for the
input 5 and g
1
must be dened for the input f
1
(5)), we have made a valid
manipulation and obtained the answer. Note that you have to manually check if
there could also be multiple solutions, like in the case of f(x) = x
2
which maps
two input values (x and x) to the same output value x
2
= f(x) = f(x). In
those cases, f
1
returns multiple candidates.
Here is a table of common functions, and their inverses:
function f(x) inverse f
1
(x)
x + 2 x 2
2x
1
2
x
x x
x
2

x
2
x
log
2
(x)
3x + 5
1
3
(x 5)
a
x
log
a
(x)
exp(x) = e
x
ln(x) = log
e
(x)
sin(x) arc sin(x) = sin
1
(x)
cos(x) arc cos(x) = cos
1
(x)
The function-inverse relationship is reexive. This means that if you see a
function on one side of the above table (no matter which), then its inverse is
on the opposite side.
Example 1
Lets say your teacher doesnt like you and right away on the rst day of classes,
he gives you a serious equation and wants you to nd x:
log
5
_
3 +
_
6

x 7
_
= 34 + sin(5.5) (1).
12
Functions and their inverses
Do you see now what I meant when I said that the teacher doesnt like you?
First note that it doesnt matter what is, since x is on the other side
of the equation. We can just keep copying (1) from line to line and throw
the ball back to the teacher: My answer is in terms of your variables dude.
You have to gure out what the hell is since you brought it up in the rst
place. The same goes with sin(5.5). If you dont have a calculator, dont
worry about it. We will just keep the expression sin(5.5) instead of trying to
nd its numerical value. In general, you should try to work with variables as
much as possible and leave the numerical computations for the last step.
OK, enough beating about the bush. Lets just nd x and get it over
with! On the right side of the equation, we have the sum of a bunch of terms
and no x in them so we will just leave them as they are. On the left hand side,
the outer most function is a logarithm base 5. Cool. No problem. Looking
in the table of inverse functions we nd that the exponential function is the
inverse of the logarithm: a
x
log
a
(x). To get rid of the log
5
we must apply
the exponential function base ve to both sides:
5
log
5

3+

x7

= 5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
,
which simplies to:
3 +
_
6

x 7 = 5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
.
From here on its like if Bruce Lee walked into a place with lots of bad guys.
Addition of 3 is undone by subtracting 3 on both sides:
_
6

x 7 = 5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
3.
To undo a square root you take the square
6

x 7 =
_
5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
3
_
2
.
Add 7 to both sides
6

x =
_
5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
3
_
2
+ 7.
13
Functions and their inverses
Divide by 6:

x =
1
6
_
_
5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
3
_
2
+ 7
_
,
and then we square again to get the nal answer:
x =
_
1
6
_
_
5
34+sin(5.5)(1)
3
_
2
+ 7
_
_
2
.
Did you see what I was doing in each step? Next time a function stands
in your way, hit it with its inverse, so that it knows not to ever challenge you
again.
Discussion
The recipe I have outlined above is not universal. Sometimes x isnt alone on
one side. Sometimes x appears in several places in the same equation so just
throwing complications from one side to the other wont help you. You need
other techniques for solving equations like that.
The bad news is that there is no general formula for solving complicated
formulas. The good news is that the above technique of digging towards x
is sucient for 80% of what you are going to be doing. You can get another
10% if you learn how to solve the quadratic equation:
ax
2
+ bx + c = 0.
Solving third order equations ax
3
+bx
2
+cx +d = 0 with pen and paper is
also possible, but at this point you really might as well start using a computer
to solve for the unknown.
There are all kinds of other equations which you can learn how to solve:
equations with multiple unknowns, equations with logarithms, equations with
exponentials, and equations with trigonometric functions. The essential prin-
ciple of digging towards the unknown is the most powerful techniques, so be
sure to practice it.
14
Basic algebra rules
1.5 Basic algebra rules
When manipulating equations, it is important to know the general manipula-
tions what you are allowed to carry out.
For a, b, c, d R we have the following algebra rules:
1. Associative property: a + b + c = (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) and abc =
(ab)c = a(bc).
2. Commutative property: a + b = b + a and ab = ba.
3. Distributive property: a(b + c) = ab + ac.
Combining the distributive and the associative property we can get this:
(a + b)(c + d) = a(c + d) + b(c + d) = ac + ad + bc + bd.
Example This is useful when you are dealing with polynomials:
(x + 3)(x + 2) = x(x + 2) + 3(x + 2) = x
2
+ x2 + 3x + 6.
Now for polynomials, we can use the commutative property on the second term
x2 = 2x, and then combine the two x terms into one to obtain:
(x + 3)(x + 2) = x
2
+ 5x + 6.
This kind of calculation happens so often that it is good idea to see it in
more abstract form:
(x + a)(x + b) = x
2
+ (a + b)x + ab.
My high school teacher used to repeat this to us all the time a binomial times
a binomial gives a trinomial. The only exception to this rule is when we have
(x +a)(x a) = x
2
a
2
which is known as the dierence of two squares. The
middle term is zero because ax xa = 0.
15
Basic algebra rules
Factoring
When an expression contains multiple parts added together, we call those com-
ponents terms. Furthermore, if we have a term composed of many parts mul-
tiplied together, we call those parts factors.
Factoring means to take out some common part in a complicated expression
so as to make it more compact. Suppose you are given the expression 6x
2
y +
15x and you are asked to simplify it by taking out common factors. The
expression has two terms and when we split each terms into it constituent
factors we obtain:
6x
2
y + 15x = (3)(2)(x)(x)y + (5)(3)x.
We see that the factors x and 3 appear in both terms. This means we can
factor them out to the front like this:
6x
2
y + 15x = 3x(2xy + 5).
Now is this simpler? On the left there are 8 characters and on the right there
are 7 characters so we are saving space. More signicant savings can occur in
expressions like this:
2x
2
y + 2x + 4x = 2x(xy + 1 + 2) = 2x(xy + 3).
Example You are asked to solve for t in
7(3 + 4t) = 11(6t 4).
As you can see, t is on both sides. We dont like that. We have to bring all
the t terms to one side and all the constant terms to the other side. First lets
expand the two brackets:
21 + 28t = 66t 44.
Now we move things around to get:
21 + 44 = 66t 28t.
16
Basic algebra rules
If we factor out t on the right hand side we get:
21 + 44 = (66 28)t,
so t =
21+44
6628
=
65
38
.
Quadratic factoring
When dealing with a quadratic function, it is often useful to rewrite it as a
product of two terms. If I give you the quadratic expression
x
2
+ 5x + 6,
you cant really tell what its properties are. What are its roots, i.e., where does
this function cross the x axis? For which values of x is this function positive
and for which values is it negative?
We can factor this expression, that is express it as a product of two things
(x?)(x?) as follows:
x
2
+ 5x + 6 = (x + 2)(x + 3),
and you see immediately that x = 2 and x = 3 are the solutions (roots).
You can also see that for x > 2 the expression is positive, since both terms
will be positive. For x < 3 both terms will be negative, but negative times
negative gives positive, so the expression will be positive again. For values of
x such that 3 < x < 2, the rst term will be negative, and the second
positive so the overall expression will be negative.
For some simple quadratics you can guess what the factors are. For more
complicated ones, you need the quadratic formula.
Quadratic functions that never cross the x-axis cannot be factored.
Completing the square
Any quadratic equation Ax
2
+Bx+C can be written in the form A(xh)
2
+k.
This is because all quadratic functions with the same quadratic coecient are
17
Solving quadratic equations
essentially shifted version of each other. By completing the square we are
making these shifts explicit. The value of h is how much the function is shifted
to the right and the value k is the vertical shift.
Lets try to nd the values A, k, h for the quadratic expression discussed in
the previous section:
x
2
+5x +6 = A(x h)
2
+k = A(x
2
2hx +h
2
) +k = Ax
2
2Ahx +Ah
2
+k.
By focussing on quadratic terms on both sides of the equation we see that
A = 1, so we have
x
2
+ 5x + 6 = x
2
2hx + h
2
+ k.
Next we look at the terms multiplying x, and we see that h = 2.5, so we
obtain
x
2
+ 5x + 6 = x
2
2(2.5)x + (2.5)
2
+ k.
Finally we pick value of k which would make the constant terms match
k = 6 (2.5)
2
= 6 (2.5)
2
= 6
_
5
2
_
2
= 6
4
4

25
4
=
24 25
4
=
1
4
.
This is how we complete the square, to obtain:
x
2
+ 5x + 6 = (x + 2.5)
2

1
4
,
which tells us that our function is equivalent to the basic x
2
, shifted 2.5 units
to the left, and 1/4 units downwards. This would be really useful information
if you ever had to draw this function, since it is easy to plot the basic x
2
graph,
and then shift it appropriately.
1.6 Solving quadratic equations
If you are asked to nd x in the equation
x
2
= 45x + 23,
18
Solving quadratic equations
what would you do? In math this happens a whole lot, so people came up with
a general formula for solving quadratic equations.
To apply the formula you need to put the equation into the standard form
ax
2
+ bx + c = 0,
where we have moved all the numbers and xs to one side and left just 0 on
the other side.
For our numerical example above this would mean that we subtract 45x+23
on both sides of the equation to obtain
x
2
45x 23 = 0.
What are the values of x that satisfy this formula?
Claim
The solutions to the equation
ax
2
+ bx + c = 0,
are
x
1
=
b +

b
2
4ac
2a
and x
2
=
b

b
2
4ac
2a
.
Using the quadratic formula, solving the above complicated equation x
2

45x23 = 0 becomes a mechanical task of plugging in the appropriate numbers

into the formula:
x
1
=
45 +
_
45
2
4(1)(23)
2
= 45.5054 . . . ,
x
2
=
45
_
45
2
4(1)(23)
2
= 0.5054 . . .
19
Solving quadratic equations
Proof of claim
This is an important proof. You should know how to derive the quadratic
formula in case your brother asks you one day to derive the formula from rst
principles. To understand the proof, all you need to know is how to complete
the square, which we just saw, so you cant say that you are not prepared.
We start with
ax
2
+ bx + c = 0.
As a rst step we move c to the other side
ax
2
+ bx = c,
and then we divide by a on both sides
x
2
+
b
a
x =
c
a
.
Now we complete the square on the left hand side, which is to say we ask
the question: what are the values of h and k for this equation to hold?
(x h)
2
+ k = x
2
+
b
a
x =
c
a
.
The answer is h =
b
2a
, because if when expand the left hand side you get
(x h)
2
+ k = x
2
2hx + h
2
+ k and then you can identify h by looking at
the two numbers that appear in front of x. We must have 2h =
b
a
and hence
h =
b
2a
. This kind of calculation happens very often, so I just remember that
to complete the square you have to use half of the linear term inside
the bracket.
So what do we have so far:
_
x +
b
2a
_
2
=
_
x +
b
2a
__
x +
b
2a
_
= x
2
+
b
2a
x +x
b
2a
+
b
2
4a
2
= x
2
+
b
a
x +
b
2
4a
2
.
If we want to gure out what k is, we just have to move that last term to the
other side:
_
x +
b
2a
_
2

b
2
4a
2
= x
2
+
b
a
x.
20
Solving quadratic equations
Remember where we left o in the proof?
x
2
+
b
a
x =
c
a
.
We replace the left hand side by the completed square expression:
_
x +
b
2a
_
2

b
2
4a
2
=
c
a
.
From here on it is standard stu from solving equations. We put all the
constants on the same side
_
x +
b
2a
_
2
=
c
a
+
b
2
4a
2
,
Since the square function maps both positive and negative numbers to the
same value, there will be two solutions:
x +
b
2a
=
_

c
a
+
b
2
4a
2
.
Lets take a moment to cleanup the mess on the right hand side:
_

c
a
+
b
2
4a
2
=

(4a)c
(4a)a
+
b
2
4a
2
=
_
4ac + b
2
4a
2
=

b
2
4ac
2a
.
Thus we have:
x +
b
2a
=

b
2
4ac
2a
,
which is just one step away from the nal answer
x =
b
2a

b
2
4ac
2a
=
b

b
2
4ac
2a
,
which completes the proof.
21
Exponents
Alternative proof of claim
To have a proof we dont necessarily need to show the derivation of the formula
as we did. The claim was that x
1
and x
2
are solutions, so to prove the claim
we could simply plug x
1
and x
2
into the quadratic equation and verify that we
get zero. Verify on your own.
Applications
The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio, usually denoted = 1.6180339 . . . is a very important pro-
portion in geometry, art, aesthetics, biology and mysticism. It comes about
from the solution to the equation
x
2
+ x 1 = 0.
Using the quadratic formula we get the two solutions which are
x
1
=
1 +

5
2
=
1

, x
2
=
1

5
2
= .
You can read more about the golden ratio to learn about the various con-
texts in which it appears.
1.7 Exponents
We often have to multiply together the same number many times in math so
we use the notation
x
n
= xxx xx
. .
n times
to denote some number x multiplied together n times.
22
Exponents
Denitions
b
x
: b exponent x:
b: is called the base.
x: is the exponent or power of b.
exp(x) = e
x
: the natural exponential function base e Eulers number.
2
x
: exponential function base 2, very important in computer science.
b
0
= 1: by denitions, the zeroth power of any number is one.
Formulas
The number e = 2.7182818 . . . is a special base that has lots of applications.
We call e the natural base. Another special base is 10 because we use the
decimal system for our numbers. The log
10
of a number corresponds to how
many digits there are in the number.
The following properties follow from the denition of exponentiation as
repeated multiplication.
Property 1
b
m
b
n
= b
m+n
,
Property 2
b
n
=
1
b
n
,
Property 3
b
m
b
n
= b
mn
,
Property 4
(b
m
)
n
= b
mn
,
23
Exponents
Property 5.1
(ab)
n
= a
n
b
n
,
Property 5.2
_
a
b
_
n
=
a
n
b
n
,
Property 6
b
1/n
=
n

b,
in particular b
1/2
=

b.
n

ab =
n

a
n

b,
n
_
_
a
b
_
=
n

a
n

b
.
If n is odd
_
n

b
_
n
=
n

b
n
= b.
If n is even and b is positive
_
n

b
_
n
=
n

b
n
= [b[,
but if b is negative then we cant evaluate
n

b (there is no real number which

multiplied times itself an even number of times gives a negative number) so
only the second part of the above equation holds
n

b
n
= [b[,
where [b[ is the absolute value.
24
Logarithms
1.8 Logarithms
The word logarithm makes most people think about some mythical math-
ematical beast. Surely logarithms are many headed, breathe re and are ex-
tremely dicult to understand. Nonsense! Logarithms are simple. It will take
you at most a couple of pages to get used to manipulating them, and that is a
good thing because logarithms are used all over the place.
For example, the strength of your sound system is measured in logarith-
mic decibels [dB], which is because your ear is sensitive only to exponential
dierences in sound. Logarithms allow us to compare very large numbers and
very small numbers on the same scale. If we were measuring sound in linear
units instead of logarithmic then your sound system volume control would have
to go from 1 to 1048576. That would be weird no? This is why we use the
logarithmic scale for the volume notches and each notch from 1 to 20 doubles
the sound intensity instead of increasing it by a xed amount.
Denitions
You are probably familiar with these concepts already:
b
x
: the exponential function base b.
exp(x) = e
x
: the exponential function base e, Eulers number.
2
x
: exponential function base 2, very important in computer science.
f(x): some function.
f
1
(x): the inverse of the function f(x). It is dened in terms of f(x)
such that the following holds f
1
(f(x)) = x, i.e., if you apply f to some
number and get the output y, and then you feed y into f
1
the output
of f
1
will be x.
In this section we will play with the following new concepts:
log
b
(x): logarithm of x base b. This is the inverse function of b
x
.
ln(x); the natural logarithm base e. This is the inverse of e
x
.
log
2
(x): logarithms base 2.
25
Logarithms
Formulas
The main thing to realize is that logs dont really exist on their own. They
are dened as the inverses of the corresponding exponential function. The
following statements are equivalent:
log
b
(x) = m b
m
= x.
For logarithms with base e one writes ln(x) for logarithme naturel because
e is the natural base. This is a subject for another lesson, but I wanted also
to mention that e
x
is actually related to sin(x) and cos(x).
Another special base is 10 because we use the decimal system for our num-
bers. log
10
(x) tells you roughly the size of the number x: how many digits it
has. When a system pawn with a high paying nancial sector job boast about
his or her six-gure salary, they are really talking about the log of how much
money they make. What wankers!
Let us now discuss the two properties that you need to know for dealing
with logs.
Property 1
log(x) + log(y) = log(xy),
from which we can derive two other useful ones:
log(x
k
) = k log(x),
and
log(x) log(y) = log
_
x
y
_
.
Proof: For all three equations above we have to show that the expression on
the left is equal to the expression on the right. We have only been acquainted
with logarithms for a very short time, so we dont know each other that well.
In fact, the only thing we know about logs is the inverse relationship with the
exponential function. So the only way to prove this property is to use this
relationship.
26
Logarithms
The following statement is true for any base b:
b
m
b
n
= b
m+n
,
which follows from rst principles. Exponentiation means multiplying together
the base many times. If you count the total number of bs on the left side you
will see that there is a total of m + n of them, which is what we have on the
right.
If you dene some new variables x and y such that b
m
= x and b
n
= y then
the above equation will read
xy = b
m+n
,
if you take the logarithm of both sides you get
log
b
(xy) = log
b
_
b
m+n
_
= m + n = log
b
(x) + log
b
(y).
In the last step we used the denition of the log function again which states
that b
m
= x m = log
b
(x) and b
n
= y n = log
b
(y).
Next we discuss the rule for changing from one base to another. What is
the relation between log
10
(S) and log
2
(S)?
Property 2
log
B
(x) =
log
b
(x)
log
b
(B)
.
This means that:
log
10
(S) =
log
10
(S)
1
=
log
10
(S)
log
10
(10)
=
log
2
(S)
log
2
(10)
=
ln(S)
ln(10)
.
This property is very useful in case when you want to compute log
7
, but
your calculator only gives you log
10
. You can simulate log
7
(x) by computing
log
10
(x) and dividing by log
10
(7).
27
Fractions
1.9 Fractions
The set of rational numbers Q is the set of numbers that can be written as a
fraction of two integers:
Q
_
m
n

m Z, n N
_
,
where Z denotes the set of integers Z = . . . , 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . and N

denotes
the set of positive natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, . . .. The interpretation is that
some whole is cut into a total of n pieces and that we are given m of these
pieces.
We read
1
4
either as one over four or one quarter, which is also equal to
0.25, but as you can see the notation
1
4
is more compact and nicer. Why nicer?
Well lets take a look at some simple fractions:
1
1
= 1.0
1
2
= 0.5
1
3
= 0.33333 . . . = 0.3
1
4
= 0.25
1
5
= 0.2
1
6
= 0.166666 . . . = 0.16
1
7
= 0.14285714285714285 . . . = 0.142857
Note a line on top of some numbers means that they are repeated until innity.
The fractional notation on the left is preferable, because it shows the underlying
structure of the number and it avoids the need to write innitely long decimals.
Writing down rational numbers as fractions allows us to do precise mathe-
matical calculations easily on pen and paper without the need for a calculator.
28
Fractions
Example
Calculate the sum of
1
7
and
1
3
.
If we use the decimal notation we would have to write our answer as
ans = 0.142857 + 0.3
= 0.142 857 142 857 . . . + 0.333 333 333 333 . . .
= 0.476 190 476 190 476 . . .
= 0.4761904.
Wow that was complicated! And complicated for nothing too. Let us see how
much simpler this calculation is if we use fractions:
1
7
+
1
3
=
3 1
3 7
+
1 7
3 7
=
3
21
+
7
21
=
3 + 7
21
=
10
21
.
Denitions
The fraction a over b can be written in three dierent ways:
a/b a b
a
b
.
The two constituents of the fraction have special names:
b is the denominator of the fraction and tells you how many parts there
are in the whole.
a is the numerator and tells you how many of these parts are given.
Addition
Consider the two fractions
a
b
and
c
d
which we want to add together. If the
denominators the same, then we can simply add the numerators:
1
5
+
2
5
=
3
5
.
29
Fractions
If the denominators are dierent however, before we can add the fractions we
have rewrite the fractions so that they have a common denominator. An easy
way to do this is to cross-multiply:
a
b
+
c
d
=
ad
bd
+
bc
bd
=
ad + bc
bd
.
The common denominator bd is obtained by multiplying the rst fraction by
d
d
= 1 and the second fraction by
c
c
= 1. Because we multiply both the top
and the bottom of the fraction by the same number, this operation does not
change the fractions.
More generally, in order to add two fractions we need to nd the least
common multiple (LCM) to use in the common denominator. This is a num-
ber obtained by myltiplying the numbers together but removing the common
factors:
LCM(b, d) =
b d
GCD(b, d)
,
where GCD is the greatest common divisor: the largest number that divides
both b and d.
For example if we wanted to add
1
6
and
1
15
, we could put both fractions on
the common denominator 615 (the product of the two denominators), but we
could also see that 6 = 3 2 and 15 = 3 5, which means that 3 is a common
divisor of both 6 and 15. The least common multiple is then
615
3
= 30, and
so we write:
1
6
+
1
15
=
5 1
5 6
+
1 2
15 2
=
5
30
+
2
30
=
7
30
.
Note that all this LCM and GCD business is not required: it is simply the
most ecient way of adding the fractions so that you dont get excessively
large numbers. If you simply use the product denominator b d you will get
the same answer after simplication:
1
6
+
1
15
=
15 1
15 6
+
1 6
15 6
=
15
90
+
6
90
=
21
90
=
7
30
.
30
Fractions
Multiplication
Fraction multiplication involves multiplying together of the numerators and
the denominators:
a
b

c
d
=
a c
b d
=
ac
bd
.
Division
To divide two fractions, we compute the product of the rst fraction times the
second fraction ipped:
a/b
c/d
=
a
b

c
d
=
a
b

d
c
=
a c
d c
=
ad
bc
.
The multiplicative inverse of something times that something should give
1 as the answer. We obtain the multiplicative inverse of a fraction by inter-
chaning the roles of the numerator and the denominators:
_
c
d
_
1
=
d
c
.
Thus any fraction times its multiplicative inverse gives 1:
c
d

_
c
d
_
1
=
c
d

d
c
=
cd
cd
= 1.
The ip and multiply rule for division comes from the fact that division by
a numbers x is the same as multiplicaiton by x
1
.
Innite fractions
1
3
= 0.33333 . . . 0.

3
31
The number line
1.10 The number line
The number line is a useful graphical representation of the real numbers R.
You can clearly see the ordering of the numbers from the smallest on the
left, to largest on the right. The line extends indenitely on both sides: on the
left it goes all the way to negative innity and on the right to positive
innity .
Intervals
We can represent subsets of the real numbers by setting in bold some section
of the real line. For example, the set of numbers that lie strictly between 2
and 4,
x R[2 < x < 4,
is represented graphically as follows.
Note that this subset is described by strict inequalities, which means that it
does not contain its endpoints 2 and 4. It contains 2.000000001 and 3.99999999
but not the limits 2 and 4. We say call this kind of endpoints open and use
an empty dot to denote them on the number line so that it is clear that the
limit is not included in the set.
We denote intervals on the number lines which consist of disjoint sets by
using the union () notation. For example, the set of numbers
x R[ 3 x 0 x R[1 x 2,
can be represented graphically as:
32
Inequalities
This time we have less-than-or-equal limits so the intervals contain their
endpoints. We call these endpoints closed and denote them with a dot that is
lled-in on the number line.
Links
http://www.sosmath.com/algebra/inequalities/ineq02/ineq02.html
1.11 Inequalities
To solve an equation we have to nd the one (or many) values of x which
satisfy the equation. The solution set for an equation consists of a discrete set
of values. For example, the solutions to (x 3)
2
= 4 are x = 1 and x = 5.
In this section, we will learn how to solve equations which involve inequal-
ities. The solution to an inequality is usually an entire range of numbers. For
example the inequality (x 3)
2
4 is equivalent to asking the question for
which values of x is (x3)
2
less than or equal to 4. The answer is the interval
[1, 5] x R [ 1 x 5.
The techniques used to deal with inequalities are roughly the same as the
techniques which we learned for dealing with equations: we have to perform
simplifying steps to both sides of the inequality until we obtain the answer.
Denitions
The dierent type of inequality conditions are:
f(x) < g(x): a strict inequality. The function f is always strictly less
than g.
f(x) g(x): the function f is less than or equal to the function g.
33
Inequalities
f(x) > g(x): f is strictly greater than g.
f(x) g(x): f is greater than or equal to g.
The solutions to an inequality correspond to subsets of the real line. De-
pending on the type of inequality we are dealing with, the answer will be either
a closed or open interval:
[a, b]: the closed interval from a to b. This corresponds to the set of
numbers between a and b on the real line, including the endpoints a and
b. [a, b] = x R [ a x b.
(a, b): the open interval from a to b. This corresponds to the set of
numbers between a and b on the real line, not including the a and b.
(a, b) = x R [ a < x < b.
[a, b): the mixed interval which includes the left endpoint a, but not the
right endpoint b.
Sometimes the we will have to deal with intervals which consists of two
disjoint parts:
[a, b] [c, d]: The set of all numbers that are either between a and b
(inclusive) or between c and d (inclusive).
Formulas
The main idea for solving inequalities is the same as solving equations except
for one small special step. When multiplying by a negative number on both
sides, the direction of the inequality must be ipped:
f(x) g(x) f(x) g(x).
34
Inequalities
Examples
Intro example
To solve (x 3)
2
4 we must dig towards the x and undo all the operations
that stand in our way:
(x 3)
2
4
2 (x 3) 2
1 x 5,
where in the rst step we took the square root operation (the inverse of the
quadratic function) and then we added 3 to both sides.
Two parts
Now let us try to solve 1 < (x 3)
2
< 4. We are looking for the values of
x for which the function (x 3)
2
has outputs between 1 and 4. The steps
are similar to the above example, but when we compute the inverse of the
quadratic function we will get two separate intervals:
2 <(x 3) < 1 1 < (x 3) < 2
1 < x < 2, 4 < x < 5.
We can write the answer as (1, 2) (4, 5).
Discussion
As you can see, solving inequalities is not more complicated than solving equa-
tions. Indeed, the best way to think about an inequality is in terms of the end
points which correspond to the equality condition.
35
Cartesian plane
1.12 Cartesian plane
The Cartesian plane, named after Rene Descartes, the famous philosopher and
mathematician, is the graphical representation of the space of pairs of real
numbers.
We generally call the horizontal axis the x axis and the vertical axis
the y axis. We put notches at regular intervals on each axis so that we
can measure distances. The gure below is an example of an empty Cartesian
coordinate system. Think of the coordinate system as an empty canvas. What
can you draw on this canvas?
Vectors and points
A point P in the Cartesian plane has an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate. We
say P = (P
x
, P
y
). To nd this point, we start from the origin (the point (0,0))
and move a distance P
x
on the x axis, then move a distance P
y
on the y axis.
Similar to points, a vector v = (v
x
, v
y
) is a pair of displacements, but unlike
points, we dont have to necessarily start from the origin. We draw vectors as
arrows so we see explicitly where the vector starts and where it ends.
Here are some examples:
36
Cartesian plane
Note that the vectors v
2
and v
3
are actually the same vector the displace
downwards by 2 and leftwards by one vector. It doesnt matter where you
draw this vector, it will always be the same.
Graphs of functions
The Cartesian plane is also a good way to visualize functions
f : R R.
Indeed, you can think of a function as a set of input-output pairs (x, f(x)),
and if we identify the output values of the function with the y-coordinate we
can trace the set of points
(x, y) = (x, f(x)).
For example, if we have the function f(x) = x
2
, we can pass a line through
the set of points
(x, y) = (x, x
2
),
to obtain:
37
Functions
When plotting functions by setting y = f(x), we use a special terminology
for the two axes. The x axis is the independent variable (the one that varies
freely), whereas the y is the dependent variable since y = f(x) depends on x.
Dimensions
Note that a Cartesian plot has two dimensions: the x dimension and the y
dimension. If we only had one dimension, then we would use a number line. If
we wanted to plot in 3D we can build a three-dimensional coordinate system
with x, y and z axes.
1.13 Functions
Your function vocabulary determines how well you will be able to express
yourself mathematically, the same way your English vocabulary determines
how well you can express yourself in English.
The purpose of the following pages is to embiggen your vocabulary a bit so
you wont be caught with your pants down when the teacher tries to pull some
trick on you at the nal. I give you the minimum necessary, but I recommend
38
Functions
you explore these functions on your own via wikipedia and by plotting their
graphs on Wolfram alpha.
To know a function you have to understand and connect several dierent
aspects of the function. First you have to know its mathematical properties
(what does it do, what is its inverse) and at the same time have a good idea
of its graph, i.e., what it looks like if you plot x versus f(x) in the Cartesian
plane. It is also really good idea if you can remember the function values for
some important inputs.
Denition
A function is a mathematical object that takes inputs and gives outputs. We
use the notation
f : X Y,
to denote a functions from the set X to the set Y . In this book, we will study
mostly functions which take real numbers as inputs and give real numbers as
outputs: f : R R.
We now dene some technical terms used to describe the input and output
sets:
The domain of a function is the set of allowed input values.
The image or range of the function f is the set of all possible output
values of the function.
The codomain of a function is the type of outputs that the functions has.
To illustrate the subtle dierence between the image of a function and its
codomain, let us consider the function f(x) = x
2
. The quadratic function is of
the form f : R R. The domain is R (it takes real numbers as inputs) and the
codomain is R (the outputs are real numbers too), however, not all outputs
are possible. Indeed, the image the function f consists only of the positive
numbers R
+
. Note that the word range is also sometimes used refer to the
function codomain.
39
Functions
A function is not a number, it is a mapping from numbers to numbers. If
you specify a given x as input, we denote as f(x) is the output value of f for
that input. Here is a graphical representation of a function with domain A and
codomain B.
The function corresponds to the arrow in the above picture.
We say that f maps x to y = f(x) and use the following terminology to
classify the type of mapping that a function performs:
A function is one-to-one or injective if it maps dierent inputs to dierent
outputs.
A function is onto or surjective if it covers the entire output set, i.e., if
the image of the function is equal to the function codomain.
A function is bijective if it is both injective and surjective. In this case
f is a one-to-one correspondence between the input set and the output
set: for each input of the possible outputs y Y there exists (surjective
part) exactly one input x X, such that f(x) = y (injective part).
The term injective is a 1940s allusion inviting us to think of injective
functions as some form of uid ow. Since uids cannot be compressed, the
output space must be as large as the input space. A modern synonym for
injective functions is to say that they are two-to-two. If you imagine two specks
of paint inserted somewhere in the input uid, then an injective function will
lead to two distinct specks of paint in the output uid. In contrast, functions
which are not injective could map several dierent inputs to the same output.
For example f(x) = x
2
is not injective since the inputs 2 and 2 both get
mapped to output value 4.
40
Functions
Function names
Mathematicians have dened symbols +, , (usually omitted) and (usu-
ally denoted as a fraction) for most important functions used in everyday life.
We also use the weird surd notation to denote nth root
n

and the superscript

notation to denote exponents. All other functions are identied and used by
their name. If I want to compute the cosine of the angle 60

(a function which
describes the ratio between the length of one side of a right-angle triangle and
the hypotenuse), then I would write cos(60

), which means that we want the

value of the cos function for the input 60

.
Incidentally, for that specic angle the function cos has nice value:
cos(60

) =
1
2
. This means that seeing cos(60

) somewhere in an equation
is the same as seeing 0.5 there. For other values of the function like say
cos(33.13

), you will need to use a calculator. A scientic calculator will have

a cos button on it for that purpose.
Handles on functions
When you learn about functions you learn about dierent handles onto these
mathematical objects. Most often you will have the function equation, which
is a precise way to calculate the output when you know the input. This is an
important handle, especially when you will be doing arithmetic, but it is much
more important to feel the function.
How do you get a feel for some function?
One way is to look at list of input-output pairs input = x
1
, output =
f(x
1
), input = x
2
, output = f(x
2
), input = x
3
, output = f(x
3
), . . ..
A more compact notation for the input-output pairs (x
1
, f(x
1
)), (x
2
, f(x
2
)),
(x
3
, f(x
3
)), . . .. You can make a little table of values for yourself, pick some
41
Functions
random inputs and record the output of the function in the second column:
input = x f(x) = output
0 f(0)
1 f(1)
55 f(55)
x
4
f(x
4
)
Apart from random numbers it is also generally a good idea to check the
value of the function at x = 0, x = 1, x = 100, x = 1 and any other important
looking x value.
One of the best ways to feel a function is to look at its graph. A graph
is a line on a piece of paper that passes through all input-output pairs of the
function. What? What line? What points? Ok lets backtrack a little. You
need to take a piece of paper and draw a coordinate system.
The horizontal axis will be used to measure x, this is also called the abscissa.
The vertical axis will be used to measure f(x), but because writing out f(x)
all the time is long and tedious, we will invent a short single-letter alias to
denote the output value of f as follows:
y f(x) = output.
42
Functions
Now you can take each of the input-output pairs for the function f and
think of them as points (x, y) in the coordinate system. Thus the graph of a
function is a graphical representation of everything the function does. If you
understand the simple drawing on this page, you will basically understand
everything there is to know about the function.
Another way to feel functions is through the properties of the function:
either the way it is dened, or its relation to other functions. This boils down
to memorizing facts about the function and its relations to other functions. An
example of a mathematical fact is sin(30

) =
1
2
. An example of a mathematical
relation is the equation sin
2
x+cos
2
x = 1, which is a link between the sin and
the cos functions.
The last part may sound contrary to my initial promise about the book
saying that I will not make you memorize stu for nothing. Well, this is not
for nothing. The more you know about any function, the more paths you
have in your brain that connect to that function. Real math knowledge is not
memorization but an establishment of a graph of associations between dierent
areas of knowledge in your brain. Each concept is a node in this graph, and
each fact you know about this concept is an edge in the graph. Analytical
thought is the usage of this graph to produce calculations and mathematical
arguments (proofs). For example, knowing the fact sin(30

) =
1
2
about sin and
the relationship sin
2
x + cos
2
x = 1 between sin and cos, you could show that
cos(30

) =

3
2
.
To develop mathematical skills, it is therefore important to practice this
path-building between related concepts by solving exercises and reading and
writing mathematical proofs. My textbook can only show you the paths be-
tween the concepts, it is up to you to practice the exercises in the back of each
chapter to develop the actual skills.
Example: Quadratic function Consider the function from numbers (R)
to numbers (R),
f : R R
given by
f(x) = x
2
+ 2x + 3.
43
Functions
The value of f when x = 1 is f(1) = 1
2
+ 2(1) + 3 = 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. When
x = 2, we have f(2) = 2
2
+ 2(2) + 3 = 4 + 4 + 3 = 11. What is the value of f
when x = 0?
Example: Exponential function Consider the exponential function with
base two:
f(x) = 2
x
.
In computer systems this function is of crucial importance. When x = 1,
f(1) = 2
1
= 2. When x is 2 we have f(2) = 2
2
= 4. The function is therefore
described by the following input-output pairs: (0, 1), (1, 2), (2, 4), (3, 8), (4, 16),
(5, 32), (6, 64), (7, 128), (8, 256), (9, 512), (10, 1024), (11, 2048), (12, 4096), etc.
(RAM memory comes in these sizes, and the memory size is exponential in
the number of address bits on the chip.) Some important input-output pairs
for the exponential function are (0, 1), because by denition any number to
the power 0 is equal to 1, and (1,
1
2
1
=
1
2
), (2,
1
2
2
=
1
4
), because negative
exponents tells you that you should dividing by that number this many times
instead of multiplying.
Function inverse
Recall that a bijective function is a one-to-one
correspondence between the set of inputs and
the set of output values. If f is a bijective
function, then there exists an inverse function
f
1
, which performs the inverse mapping of f.
Thus, if you start from some x, apply f and
then apply f
1
, you will get back to the origi-
nal input x:
x = f
1
( f(x) ) .
This is represented graphically in the diagram on the right.
44
Functions
Function composition
We can combine two simple functions to build a
more complicated function by chaining them to-
gether.
We call the resulting function:
z = f g (x) z = f( g(x) ) .
The diagram on the left shows a function g : A
B acting on some input x to produce an intermedi-
ary value y B, which is then input to the function f : B C to produce
the nal output value z = f(y) = f(g(x)).
Discussion
In the next sections, we will look into the dierent functions that you will be
dealing with. What we present here is far from and exhaustive list, but if you
get a hold of these ones, you will be able to solve any problem a teacher can
throw at you.
Links
[ Tank war game where you specify the function of the projectile trajectory ]
http://www.graphwar.com/play.html
[ Gallery of function graphs ]
http://mpmath.googlecode.com/svn/gallery/gallery.html
45
Function reference
1.14 Function reference
Line
Denition
The equation of a line consists of a multiple of x plus some constant:
f(x) = mx + b.
Parameters
m is the slope.
b is the y-intercept. The value of the function when x = 0.
b/m is the x-intercept. Another word for x-intercept is root, i.e., a value
where f(x) = 0.
Properties
There is a unique linear function that passes through any two points
(x
1
, y
1
) and (x
2
, y
2
) if x
1
,= x
2
.
The inverse function of f(x) =
1
m
(x b).
Graph
Here is the graph of
f(x) = 2x 3.
46
Function reference
A line can also be described in a more symmetric form.
Ax + By = C,
This is known as the general equation of a line. We have b =
C
B
and m =
A
B
.
Square
Also known as the quadratic function, or function of second degree.
Denition
The bare quadratic function has the form:
f(x) = x
2
.
47
Function reference
Properties
Inverse of

x.
Always positive: x
2
0, for all x R.
The quadratic function is two-to-one since it sends both x and x to
x
2
= (x)
2
.
Square root
Denition
The function returns a number y such that y
2
= x:
f(x) =

x x
1
2
.
Graph
The graph of the square root function looks like this:
48
Function reference
Properties
The inverse of x
2
.
Since there is no real number y such that y
2
is negative, the function
f(x) =

x is not dened for negative inputs x.

Parameters
2: the degree of the square root. More generally you can have nth root
n

x which is the inverse function to x

n
. Ex: We The inverse function for
the cubic function f(x) = x
3
is the cube root:
f(x) =
3

x x
1/3
.
So we have
3

8 = 2 since 2 2 2 = 8.
49
Function reference
Applications
The hull speed is the maximum speed that a sailboat can reach. It can be
calculated using the empirical formula:
v
hull
1.34

LWL,
where LWL is the length of the waterline in feet and v
hull
is the hull speed of
the vessel in knots. For a 20 foot boat, the hull speed is about 6 knots. For a
30 foot boat, the hull speed is about 7.3 knots.
Absolute value
The abs function is used when you need to get the size of a number, and you
dont care if the number is positive or negative. The absolute value just ignores
the sign of a number.
Denition
f(x) = [x[ = x if x > 0 or x if x < 0
Properties
Always returns a non-negative number.
The combination of squaring followed by square-root is equivalent to the
absolute value function:

x
2
[x[.
Sine
Contrary to what religious leaders might lead you to believe, there is nothing
wrong with sin. At least not with the mathematical sin. The sinus, sine or sin
function tells you the ratio of the lengths of two sides in a right angle triangle.
50
Function reference
Denition
Let us not talk about triangles, angles and lengths of sides for now, but think
of the sin function as a generic function of x:
f(x) = sin(x).
Properties
The sin function is odd, which the mathematical term for saying:
f(x) = f(x).
The function is periodic, with period 2, that is:
f(x) = f(x + 2).
Relation to cos: sin
2
x + cos
2
x = 1.
Relation to csc: csc(x)
1
sin x
(csc is read cosecant).
The inverse function is sin
1
(x) = arc sin(x), and is not to be confused
with (sin(x))
1
=
1
sin(x)
csc(x).
51
Function reference
Graph
The function starts from zero sin(0) = 0, then goes up all the way to 1,
then falls down until it crosses the x-axis at x = :
So we have sin() = 0, which you should remember. The function then
goes down to 1 when x =
3
2
, and then back up again to repeat the cycle.
Cosine
Denition
f(x) = cos(x).
52
Function reference
Graph
Properties
The cos function is even, which means it doesnt care about the sign of
the input:
cos(x) = cos(x).
The cosine function is a shifted version of the sine function
cos(x) = sin(x +

2
).
Tangent
Denition
f(x) = tan(x)
sin(x)
cos(x)
.
53
Function reference
Graph
Properties
The function tan is periodic with period , not 2 like sin and cos.
The tan function has asymptotes at all values of x for which the denom-
inator (cos) goes to zero.
The values of the symptotes are x =

2
,

2
,

2
,
3
2
, . . ..
At those values, tan approaches from the left, and from the
right.
Value at 0: tan(0) = frac01 = 0.
The angle x =

4
is special since both sin and cos are equal and we get:
tan
_

4
_
=
sin
_

4
_
cos
_

4
_
=

2
2

2
2
= 1.
54
Function reference
Exponential
Denition
f(x) = Ae
x
.
Graph
The exponential function graph:
Parameters
A: the initial value, A = f(0).
: the rate of the exponential. For > 0 the function is increasing. for
< 0 the function is decreasing and tends to zero for large values of x.
The case = 0 is special since e
0
= 1, and so the exponential becomes
the constant function f(x) = A.
55
Function reference
Properties
The exponential function is its own derivative:
f(x) = e
x
f

(x) = e
x
.
Applications
Links
[ the exponential function 2
x
for the naturals x N can easily be evaluated by
drawing ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4MSN6IImpI
Natural logarithm
Denition
f(x) = ln(x) = log
e
(x).
Graph
The natural logarithm function:
56
Function reference
Parameters
e: the natural logarithm is the logarithm base e.
Properties
Inverse of the exponential function e
x
.
Polynomials
Denition
f(x) = a
0
+ a
1
x + a
2
x
2
+ a
3
x
3
+ + a
n
x
n
,
where the a
i
s are the coecients.
Parameters
n: the degree of the polynomial. A polynomial of degree n has n + 1
coecients a
i
.
57
Function reference
a
0
: the constant term.
a
1
: the linear coecient, or rst order coecient.
a
2
: the quadratic coecient.
a
3
: the cubic coecient.
a
n
: the nth order coecient.
Function transformations
It is often required to adjust the shape of a function by scaling to it or moving it
so as to make it pass through certain points. For example, if we wanted to have
a function g with the same shape as the absolute value function f(x) = [x[,
but for which g(0) = 3, we would use the function g(x) = [x[ + 3.
In this section, we will discuss the four basic transformations you can do
on any function f to obtain a transformed function g:
Vertical translation: g(x) = f(x) + k.
Horizontal translation: g(x) = f(x h).
Vertical scaling: g(x) = Af(x).
Horizontal scaling: g(x) = f(ax).
By using these transformations we can
move and stretch a generic function to
give it any desired shape. We will illus-
trate all of the above transformations on
the following function:
f(x) = 6.75(x
3
2x
2
+ x).
This function is chosen because it has dis-
tinctive features in both the horizontal
and vertical directions. By observing the
graph of this function, we see that its x-
intercepts are at x = 0 and x = 1. The function f also has a local maximum
58
Function reference
at x =
1
3
and the height of the function there is f(
1
3
) = 1. We can conrm the
rst observation mathematically by factoring the function as follows:
f(x) = 6.75x(x
2
2x + 1) = 6.75x(x 1)
2
,
where we see clearly that f(x) = 0 if x = 0 (the x factor kills it) or x = 1 (the
(x 1) factor kills it).
Vertical translations
If we want to move a function f up by k
units, we simply add k to the function:
g(x) = f(x) + k.
The function g(x) will have exactly
the same shape as f(x) but it will be
translated (the mathematical term for
moved) upwards by k units.
Recall the function f(x) = 6.75(x
3

2x
2
+x). If we wanted to move the func-
tion up by k = 2 units, we would obtain:
g(x) = f(x)+2 = 6.75(x
3
2x
2
+x)+2,
and the graph of g(x) will be as shown
on the right. The original function f(x)
crossed the x-axis at x = 0, so we had
f(0) = 0. The transformed function must therefore obey g(0) = 2. The
maximum at x =
1
3
has similarly shifted in value from f(
1
3
) = 1 to g(
1
3
) = 3.
59
Function reference
Horizontal translation
We can move a function f to the right by h units
by subtracting h from x and using that as the
input argument:
g(x) = f(x h).
The point (0, f(0)) on f(x) will now correspond
to the point (h, g(h)) on g(x).
Consider the graph on the right which shows
the function f(x) = 6.75(x
3
2x
2
+x) as well as
the function g(x) which is shifted to the right by
h = 2 units:
g(x) = f(x 2) = 6.75
_
(x 2)
3
2(x 2)
2
+ (x 2)

.
The original function f had f(0) = 0 and f(1) = 0 so the new function
g(x) must have g(2) = 0 and g(3) = 0. The maximum at x =
1
3
has similarly
shifted by two units to the right g(2 +
1
3
) = 1.
Vertical scaling
To stretch or compress the shape of a function vertically, we can multiply it
by some constant A and obtain:
g(x) = Af(x).
If [A[ > 1, the function will be stretched, and if [A[ < 1 the function will be
compressed. If A is negative, the function will also be ipped upside down
(reection through the x-axis).
60
Function reference
There is an important dierence between
vertical translation and vertical scaling. Trans-
lation moves all the points of the function the
same amount, whereas scaling moves each point
proportionally to how far it is from the x axis.
On the right, we see the graph on the func-
tion f(x) = 6.75(x
3
2x
2
+x) and the function
g(x) which is equal to f(x) stretched vertically
by a factor of A = 2:
g(x) = 2f(x) = 13.5(x
3
2x
2
+ x).
The x-intercepts f(0) = 0 and f(1) = 0 didnt move: g(0) = 0 and g(1) = 0.
The maximum at x =
1
3
has now doubled in value g(
1
3
) = 2. Indeed, all values
of f(x) have been stretched upwards by a factor of 2, as can be veried with
the point f(1.5) = 2.5 which has become g(1.5) = 5.
Horizontal scaling
To stretch or compress a function horizontally we can multiply the input value
by some constant a to obtain:
g(x) = f(ax).
If [a[ > 1, the function will be compressed, and if [a[ < 1 the function will be
stretched. Note that the behaviour here is the opposite of the vertical case. If
a is a negative number, the function will also be ipped horizontally (reection
through the y-axis).
The graph on the right shows the function
f(x) = 6.75(x
3
2x
2
+ x) and the function
g(x) which is f(x) compressed horizontally by
a factor of a = 2:
g(x) = f(2x) = 6.75
_
(2x)
3
2(2x)
2
+ (2x)

.
61
Function reference
The x-intercept f(0) = 0 didnt move since
it is on the y-axis. The x-intercept f(1) = 0
did move however and we now have g(0.5) = 0. The maximum at x =
1
3
has
now moved to g(
1
6
) = 1. All values of f(x) have been compressed towards the
y-axis by a factor of 2.
General quadratic function
Denition
The general quadratic function has the following form:
f(x) = A(x h)
2
+ k,
where x is the input and A, h and k are the parameters.
Parameters
A: slope multiplier.
The larger the value of A the steeper the slope.
If A < 0 (negative), then the function opens downwards.
h: horizontal displacement of the function centre. Notice that subtracting
a number inside the bracket ( )
2
(i.e. positive h) makes the function go
to the right.
k: vertical displacement of the function.
If a quadratic crosses the x-axis, then it can be written in factored form
f(x) = (x a)(x b),
where a and b are the two roots.
Another very common way of writing a quadratic function is
f(x) = Ax
2
+ Bx + C.
62
Function reference
Properties
There is a unique parabola that passes through any three points (x
1
, y
1
),
(x
2
, y
2
) and (x
3
, y
3
) if the points have dierent x coordinates x
1
,= x
2
,
x
2
,= x
3
and x
1
,= x
3
.
The derivative of f(x) = Ax
2
+ Bx + C is f

(x) = 2Ax + B.
Graph
When h = 1 (one unit shifted to the right) and k = 2 (two units shifted
downwards), we get the following graph:
General sin function
Parameters
Introducing all possible parameters into the sine function we get:
f(x) = Asin(kx ),
where A, k and are the parameters.
63
Function reference
A is the amplitude, which tells you the distance the function will go above
and below the x axis as it oscillates.
k is the wave number and decides how many times the graph goes up
and down within one period of 2. For the bare sine, k = 1 and the
function makes one cycle as x goes from 0 to 2. If k = 2 the function
will go up and down twice.
is a phase shift, analogous to the horizontal shift h which we have seen.
This is a number which dictates where the oscillation starts. The default
sine function has zero phase shift ( = 0), so it starts from zero with an
increasing slope.
Instead of counting how many times the function goes up and down, we
can instead talk about the wavelength of the function:
wavelength = the distance form one peak to the next .
The bare sine has wavelength 2, but when we introduce some wave number
multiplier k, the wavelength becomes:
=
2
k
.
When the input variable for the function is the time, t, we usually write
the sin function as follows:
g(t) = Asin(t ),
where instead of k we have , which is called the angular frequency and f =

2
is called the frequency. Instead of , we have T =
2

=
1
f
, which is called the
period.
Hyperbolic cos and sin
If we follow the x and y coordinates of a point P that is on the unit circle, we
will see that the x = cos() and y = sin(), where is the angle of the point.
This is called circular trigonometry.
64
Function reference
We can also have hyperbolic trigonometry, if we replace the circle with
a hyperbola. The x-coordinate of a point Q that traces out the shape of a
hyperbola will have the formula cosh and its y coordinate will be sinh.
Denition
We can dene the hyperbolic functions in terms of the exponential function:
cosh x =
e
x
+ e
x
2
, sinh x =
e
x
e
x
2
.
Graph
65
Polynomials
Parameters
Properties
cosh is an even function, while sinh is odd. In fact you can think of cosh x
as the even part of e
x
, and sinh x as the odd part of e
x
since
e
x
= cosh x + sinh x.
The equivalent of the circular-trigonometric identity cos
2
+ sin
2
= 1, is the
following:
cosh
2
x sinh
2
x = 1.
Applications
A long wire suspended between two lamp posts will sag in the middle producing
a curved shape. The exact equation that describes the shape of the cable is
the hyperbolic cosine function: cosh x.
1.15 Polynomials
Polynomials are a very simple and useful family of functions. For example the
quadratic polynomial:
f(x) = 3x
2
+ x 23,
could be the description of some phenomenon in physics.
Denitions
x: the variable.
f(x): the polynomial, sometimes denoted p(x) to distinguish from an
arbitrary function f(x).
degree of f(x): the largest power of x that appears in the polynomial.
roots of f(x): are the values of x which satisfy f(x) = 0.
66
Polynomials
Polynomials
The most general polynomial of the rst degree is a line:
f(x) = mx + b,
where m and b are arbitrary constants.
The most general polynomial of second degree is:
f(x) = a
2
x
2
+ a
1
x + a
0
,
where again a
0
, a
1
and a
2
are arbitrary constants. We call a
k
the coecient of
x
k
since this is the number that appears in front of it.
By now you should be able to guess that a third degree polynomial will
look like:
f(x) = a
3
x
3
+ a
2
x
2
+ a
1
x + a
0
.
In general, a polynomial of degree n has equation:
f(x) = a
n
x
n
+ a
n1
x
n1
+ + a
2
x
2
+ a
1
x + a
0
.
or if you want to use the sum notation we can write it as:
f(x) =
n

k=0
a
k
x
k
,
where (the capital Greek letter sigma) stands for summation.
Solving polynomial equations
Very often you will have to solve a polynomial equations of the form:
A(x) = B(x),
where A(x) and B(x) are both polynomials. Remember that solving means to
nd the value of x which makes the equality true.
67
Polynomials
For example, say the revenue of your company, as function of the number
of products sold x is given by R(x) = 2x
2
+ 2x and the costs you incur to
produce x objects is C(x) = x
2
+ 5x + 10. A very natural question to ask is
the amount of product you need to produce to break even, i.e., to make your
revenue equal your costs R(x) = C(x). To nd the break-even x, you will have
to solve the following equation:
2x
2
+ 2x = x
2
+ 5x + 10.
This may seem complicated since there are xs all over the place and it is
not clear how to nd the value of x that makes this equation true. No worries
though, we can turn this equation into the standard form and then use the
quadratic equation. To do this, we will move all the terms to one side until we
have just zero on the other side:
2x
2
+ 2x x
2
= x
2
+ 5x + 10 x
2
x
2
+ 2x 5x = 5x + 10 5x
x
2
3x 10 = 10 10
x
2
3x 10 = 0.
Remember that if we do the same thing on both sides of the equation, it
remains true. Therefore, the values of x that satisfy
x
2
3x 10 = 0,
namely x = 2 and x = 5, will also satisfy
2x
2
+ 2x = x
2
+ 5x + 10,
which was the original problem.
This shuing of terms approach will work for any polynomial equation
A(x) = B(x). We can always rewrite it as some C(x) = 0, where C(x) is a
new polynomial that has the dierence of the coecients of A and B. Dont
worry about which side you move all the coecients to because C(x) = 0 and
68
Polynomials
C(x) = 0 have exactly the same solutions. Furthermore, the degree of the
polynomial C can be no greater than that of A or B.
The form C(x) = 0 is the standard form of a polynomial and, as you will
see shortly, there is a formula for each degree, which you can use to nd the
solution(s).
Formulas
First
For rst degree:
p
1
(x) = mx + b = 0,
the solution is x = b/m. Just move b to the other side and divide by m.
Second
For second degree:
p
2
(x) = ax
2
+ bx + c = 0,
the solutions are x
1
=
b+

b
2
4ac
2a
and x
2
=
b

b
2
4ac
2a
.
Note that if b
2
4ac < 0, the solutions involve taking the square root of a
negative number. In those cases, we say that no real solutions exist.
Third
The solutions to the cubic polynomial equation
p
3
(x) = x
3
+ ax
2
+ bx + c = 0,
are given by
x
1
=
3
_
q +

p +
3
_
q

p
a
3
,
and
x
2,3
=
_
1

3i
2
_
3
_
q +

p +
_
1

3i
2
_
3
_
q

p
a
3
,
69
Polynomials
where q
a
3
27
+
ab
6

c
2
and p q
2
+
_
b
3

a
2
9
_
3
.
Note that, in my entire career as an engineer, physicist and computer sci-
entist, I have never used the cubic equation to solve a problem. In math
homework problems and exams you will not be asked to solve equations of
higher than second degree, so dont bother memorizing the solutions of the
cubic equation. I stated it here just to show o.
Higher degrees
There is also a formula for polynomials of degree 4, but it is complicated. For
polynomials with order 5, there does not exist a general analytical solution.
When solving real world problems, you might run into more complicated
equations. For anything more complicated than the quadratic equation, you
can use a computer algebra system like sympy to nd the solutions. Go to
http://live.sympy.org and type in:
>>> solve( x**2 - 3*x +2, x) [ shift + Enter ]
[1, 2]
Indeed x
2
3x + 2 = (x 1)(x 2), so x = 1 and x = 2 are the two roots.
Substitution trick
Sometimes you can solve polynomials of fourth degree by using the quadratic
formula. Say you are asked to solve:
g(x) = x
4
3x
2
10 = 0.
Suppose this comes up on your exam. Clearly you cant just type it into a
computer, since you are not allowed the use of a computer, yet the teacher
70
Trigonometry
expects you to solve this. The trick is to substitute y = x
2
and rewrite the
same equation as:
g(y) = y
2
3y 10 = 0,
which you can now solve by the quadratic formula. If you obtain the solutions
y = and y = , then the solutions to the original fourth degree polynomial
are x =

and x =

since y = x
2
.
Of course, I am not on an exam, so I am allowed to use a computer:
>>> solve(y**2 - 3*y -10, y)
[-2, 5]
>>> solve(x**4 - 3*x**2 -10 , x)
[sqrt(2)i, -sqrt(2)i, -sqrt(5) , sqrt(5) ]
Note how a 2nd degree polynomial has 2 roots and a fourth degree polynomial
has four roots, two of which are imaginary, since we had to take the square root
of a negative number to obtain them. We write i =

1. If this was asked

on an exam though, you should probably just report the two real solutions:

5 and

5 and not talk about the imaginary solutions since you are not
supposed to know about that yet.
1.16 Trigonometry
Put together three lines and you get a triangle. In
particular, if the triangle has one of its angles equal
to 90

, we call this a right angle triangle. In this

section we are going to get familiar with them tri-
angles. You will learn about fancy Greek words like
hypotenuse and sinus, cosinus and tangent. Check
it.
Pythagoras theorem
71
Trigonometry
In a right angle triangle, the length of the hy-
potenuse squared is equal to the sum of the
squares of the lengths of the other sides:
[adj[
2
+[opp[
2
= [hyp[
2
.
If the length of the hypotenuse is 1 we get:
cos
2
+ sin
2
= 1,
which is a powerful identity.
Concepts
A, B, C: the three vertices of the triangle.
: the angle at the vertex C. Angles are measured in degrees or radians.
opp AB: The length of the opposite side to .
adj BC: The length of side adjacent to .
hyp AC: The hypotenuse is longest side in the triangle.
h: The height of the triangle (in this case h = opp = AB).
sin
opp
hyp
: The sinus of theta, is the ratio of the lengths of the opposite
side and the hypotenuse.
cos
adj
hyp
: The cosinus of theta, is the ratio of the adjacent and the
hypotenuse lengths.
tan
sin
cos

opp
adj
: The tangent is the ratio of the opposite divided by
the adjacent.
Sin and cos
Meet the trigonometric functions, or trigs for short. These are your new friends.
Dont be shy now, say hello to them.
Hello.
Hi.
72
Trigonometry
Soooooo, you are like functions right?
Yep, sin and cos reply in chorus.
Okkkkkk, so what do you do?
Who me?, asks cos, well I tell the ratio.. Hmm.. wait, were you asking
what I do as a function or specically what I do?
Both I guess?
Ok so as a function, I take angles as inputs and I give ratios as answers. And
more specically I tell you how wide a triangle with that angle will be, says
cos all in one breath.
What do you mean wide?, you ask.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say, the triangle has to have hypotenuse of length 1. So
you see what happens is that, there is like a point P that moves around on a
circle of radius 1, and we imagine a triangle that has corners the origin, the
point P and the point on the x axis that is right below the point P.
I am not sure I get it, you confess.
Let me try to explain then, says sin, cos is always the one to start o big
and confuse people. I will start from zero.
OK. Sure. I mean I just dont see what circle cos is talking about.
Look on the next page, you will see a circle. The unit circle because it has
radius one. You see it yes?
Yes.
And Pythagoras theorem?
I know c
2
= a
2
+ b
2
in a triangle of sides a and b and hypotenuse c. Right?
Right. So what he has been trying to tell you is that if c = 1, then I am b
and cos is a in that equation.
Ok what is with the whole circle thing then?
The circle thing is because you can imagine a point P starting from P(0) =
(1, 0) and moving along the circle. If we denote by P() = (P
x
(), P
y
()) the
x and y coordinates of this point for dierent angles then we have:
P() = (P
x
(), P
y
()) = (cos , sin ),
so either you think of us in the context of triangles or you think of us in the
context of the unit circle.
73
Trigonometry
OK. Cool. I kind of get it, you say it to keep conversation, but in reality you
are all weirded out. Talking functions? Well, thank you guys. It was nice to
meet you, but you know I have to get going now, so see you later, you say to
get out the situation.
OK. Peace out, says sin, anyways we are done here, since I told you the
most important things.
See you later, says cos.
The unit circle
You should be familiar with the values of sin and cos for all the angles that are
multiple of

6
(30

) and

4
(45

). All of them are shown in the diagram below.

For each angle, the x-coordinate is cos and the y-coordinate is sin.
You might think that there is too much to remember. Dude, you say, I
was listening to your advice until now and learning, but now you are telling
74
Trigonometry
me to remember all those values with so many square roots in them. How am
I to remember all of that?
Actually, you just have to memorize one fact:
sin(30

) = sin
_

6
_
=
1
2
.
My dad was like You have to put this in the book, and he is right. You can
gure out all the other angles from this one. Lets start with cos(30

). We know
that the point P on the unit circle at 30

has vertical coordinate

1
2
= sin(30

),
and that by denition the horizontal component is the cos quantity we are
looking for:
P = (cos(30

), sin(30

)).
The key fact about the unit circle, is that all the points or it are at distance
one from the centre. So knowing that P is on the unit circle, and the value of
sin(30

), we can solve for cos(30

). Indeed we start from the identity:

cos
2
+ sin
2
= 1,
which is true for all angles . Moving things around, we obtain:
cos(30

) =
_
1 sin
2
(30

) =
_
1
1
4
=
_
3
4
=

3
2
.
To get the values of cos(60

) and sin(60

), observe the symmetry of the

circle. Sixty degrees measured from the x axis, is the same as thirty degrees
measured from the y axis. So immediately you know that cos(60

) = sin(30

) =
1
2
. Therefore, it must be that sin(60

) =

3
2
.
To get the values of sin and cos for angles that are multiples of 45

, we need
to nd the value a such that
a
2
+ a
2
= 1,
since at 45

both the horizontal part and the vertical part will be of the same
length. The answer is obviously a =
1

2
, but because people dont like to see
75
Trigonometry
square roots in the denominator we have to write:

2
2
= cos(45

) = sin(45

).
All of the other angles in the circle are just like the above three, but they
have a negative sign in one or more of the components. Dont memorize them,
but if you ever need one of their values draw a little circle and use the symmetry
of the circle to nd them. For example, 150

is just like 30

, except the x
component is negative.
Non-unit circles
Consider now a point Q() at an angle of on a circle of radius R ,= 1. How
can we nd the x and y coordinates of the point Q()?
We saw that the coecients cos and sin correspond the x and y coor-
dinates of a point on the unit circle (R = 1). To obtain the coordinates for a
point on a circle of radius R we must scale the coordinates by a factor of R:
Q() = (Q
x
(), Q
y
()) = (Rcos , Rsin ).
The take home message is that the functions
cos and sin are generally useful for nding
the horizontal and vertical components of any
length r.
From this point on in the book, we will always
talk about the length of the adjacent side as r
x
=
r cos and the opposite side as r
y
= r sin . It is
extremely important that you get comfortable with
this notation.
The reasoning behind the above calculations is as follows:
cos
adj
hyp
=
r
x
r
r
x
= r cos ,
sin
opp
hyp
=
r
y
r
r
y
= r sin .
76
Trigonometric identities
Calculators
Make sure your calculator is set to the right units for angles. If you wanted to
compute the sinus of 30 degrees what should you type into your calculator?
If you calculator is set to degrees then simply type sin + 30 + =.
But what if your calculator is set to radians? You have two options:
1. Change the mode of the calculator so it works in degrees.
2. Convert 30

to radians
30 [

]
2 [rad]
360 [

]
=

6
[rad],
so you should type sin + + / + 6 + = on your calculator.
1.17 Trigonometric identities
There is a number of important relationships between the values of the func-
tions sin and cos. These are known as trigonometric identities. There are three
of them which you should memorize, and about a dozen others which are less
important.
Formulas
The trigonometric functions are dened as
cos() = x
P
, sin() = y
P
, tan() =
y
P
x
P
,
where P = (x
P
, y
P
) is a point on the unit circle.
The three identities that you must remember are:
77
Trigonometric identities
1. Unit hypotenuse
sin
2
(x) + cos
2
(x) = 1.
This is true by Pythagoras theorem and the denition of sin and cos. The
ratios of the squares of the sides of a triangle is equal to the square of the size
of the hypotenuse.
2. sico + sico
sin(a + b) = sin(a) cos(b) + sin(b) cos(a).
The mnemonic for this one is sico sico.
3. coco - sisi
cos(a + b) = cos(a) cos(b) sin(a) sin(b).
The mnemonic for this one is coco - sisi the negative sign is there because
it is not good to be a sissy.
Derived formulas
If you remember the above thee formulas, you can derive pretty much all the
other trigonometric identities.
Double angle formulas
Starting from the sico-sico identity above, and setting a = b = x we can derive
following identity:
sin(2x) = 2 sin(x) cos(x).
Starting from the coco-sisi identity, we derive:
cos(2x) = 2 cos
2
(x) 1 = 2
_
1 sin
2
(x)
_
1 = 1 2 sin
2
(x),
or if we rewrite to isolate the sin
2
and cos
2
we get:
cos
2
(x) =
1
2
(1 + cos(2x)) , sin
2
(x) =
1
2
(1 cos(2x)) .
78
Trigonometric identities
Self similarity
Sin and cos are periodic functions with period 2. So if we add multiples of
2 to the input, we get the same value:
sin(x + 2) = sin(x + 124) = sin(x), cos(x + 2) = cos(x).
Furthermore, sin and cos are self similar within each 2 cycle:
sin( x) = sin(x), cos( x) = cos(x).
Sin is cos, cos is sin
Now it should come and no surprise if I tell you that actually sin and cos are
just

2
-shifted versions of each other:
cos(x) = sin
_
x +

2
_
= sin
_

2
x
_
, sin(x) = cos
_
x

2
_
= cos
_

2
x
_
.
Sum formulas
sin(a) + sin(b) = 2 sin
_
1
2
(a + b)
_
cos
_
1
2
(a b)
_
,
sin(a) sin(b) = 2 cos
_
1
2
(a + b)
_
sin
_
1
2
(a b)
_
,
cos(a) + cos(b) = 2 cos
_
1
2
(a + b)
_
cos
_
1
2
(a b)
_
,
cos(a) cos(b) = 2 sin
_
1
2
(a + b)
_
sin
_
1
2
(a b)
_
.
79
Geometry
Product formulas
sin(a) cos(b) =
1
2
(sin (a + b) + sin (a b)),
sin(a) sin(b) =
1
2
(cos (a b) cos (a + b)),
cos(a) cos(b) =
1
2
(cos (a b) + cos (a + b)).
Discussion
The above formulas will come in handy in many situations when you have
to nd some unknown in an equation or when you are trying to simplify a
trigonometric expression. I am not saying you should necessarily memorize
them, but you should be aware that they exist.
1.18 Geometry
Triangles
The area of a triangle is
A =
1
2
a h
a
,
where h
a
is the height of the triangle relative to the side
a. The perimeter of the triangle is:
P = a + b + c.
Consider now a triangle with internal angles , and . The sum of the
inner angles in any triangle is equal to two right angles: + + = 180

.
80
Geometry
The sine law is:
a
sin()
=
b
sin()
=
c
sin()
,
where is the angle opposite to a, is the
angle opposite to b and is the angle opposite
to c.
The cosine rules are:
a
2
= b
2
+ c
2
2bc cos(),
b
2
= a
2
+ c
2
2ac cos(),
c
2
= a
2
+ b
2
2ab cos().
Sphere
A sphere is described by the equation
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= r
2
.
Surface area:
A = 4r
2
.
Volume:
V =
4
3
r
3
.
Cylinder
The surface area of a cylinder consists of the top and bot-
tom circular surfaces and the area of the side of the cylin-
der:
A = 2 r
2
+ (2r) h.
The volume is given by product of the area of the base
times the height of the cylinder:
V = r
2
h.
81
Circle
Example You open the hood of your car and see 2.0L written on top of
the engine. The 2[L] refers to the total volume of the four pistons, which
are cylindrical in shape. You look in the owners manual and nd out that
the diameter of each piston (bore) is 87.5[mm] and the height of each piston
(stroke) is 83.1[mm]. Verify that the total volume of the engine is indeed
1998789[mm
3
] 2[L].
1.19 Circle
The circle is a set of points that are a constant distance from the centre. It is
a very simple geometrical shape which comes up in many situations.
Denitions
r: radius of the circle.
A: The area of the circle.
C: The circumference of the circle.
(x, y): a point on the circle.
: the angle (measured from the x axis) of some point on the circle.
Formulas
The circle of radius r centred at the origin is described by the following equa-
tion:
x
2
+ y
2
= r
2
.
A point (x, y) which satises this equation is part of the circle.
Instead of being centred at the origin, the centre of
the circle could be at any point in the plane (p, q):
(x p)
2
+ (y q)
2
= r
2
.
82
Circle
Explicit function
The equation of a circle is a relation or an implicit func-
tion involving x and y. If we want an explicit function
f(x) for the circle, we can solve for y to obtain:
y =

r
2
x
2
, r x r,
and
y =

r
2
x
2
, r x r.
There are two functions, because a vertical line crosses that circle in two places.
The rst function corresponds to the top half of the circle and the second
function corresponds to the bottom half.
Polar coordinates
Circles are such a common shape in mathematics that mathematicians devel-
oped a special circular coordinate system in order to describe them more
easily.
It is possible to specify the coordinates (x, y) of any point
on the circle in terms of the polar coordinates r, where r
measures the distance of the point from the origin and is the
angle measured from the x axis.
To convert from the polar coordinates r to the (x, y)
coordinates we use the trigonometric functions:
x = r cos , y = r sin .
Parametric equation
We can describe all the points on the circle in we specify a xed radius r
and vary the angle over all angles: [0, 360

). A parametric equation
species the coordinates (x(), y()) for the points on a curve for all values of
the paramter . The parametric equation for a circle of radius r is given by:
(x, y) R
2
[ x = r cos , y = r sin , [0, 360

).
83
Circle
You should try to visualize the curve traced by all the points (x(), y()) =
(r cos , r sin ) as varies from 0 to 360

and convince yourself that they trace

out a circle of radius r.
If we let the parameter vary over a smaller interval, we will obtain subsets
of the circle. For example, the parametric equation for the top half of the circle
is:
(x, y) R
2
[ x = r cos , y = r sin , [0, 180

].
The top half of the circle is also described by (x, y) R
2
[ y =

r
2
x
2
, x
[r, r], where the parameter used is the x coordinate.
Area
The area of a circle of radius r is given by
A = r
2
.
Circumference and arc length
The circumference of a circle is
C = 2r.
This is the total length you would measure out if you were to follow the line
of the circle.
What is the length of a part of the circle? Say you have
a piece of the circle, that corresponds to the angle = 30

,
what is its length? If the total length is C = 2r corresponds
to doing a full turn around the circle 360

, then the arc length

for a portion is:
= 2r

360
.
This is the act length subtended by the angle .
84
Ellipse
Radians
Though degrees are commonly used unit for angles, it is much better to measure
angles in radians, which is the natural angle parameter. The conversion ratio
is:
2 [radians] = 360 [degrees].
For a circle of radius r = 1, the arc length is equal to the angle in radians:
=
radians
.
Measuring radians is equivalent to measuring arc length on a circle of radius
one.
1.20 Ellipse
The orbit of planet Earth around the Sun is an ellipse.
Denitions
a: the half-length of the ellipse along the x axis, also known as the semi-
major axis.
b: the half-length of the ellipse along the y axis.
F
1
, F
2
: the two focal points of the ellipse.
: the eccentricity of the ellipse.
(x, y): a point on the ellipse.
r
1
: the distance from the point (x, y) on the ellipse to F
1
.
r
2
: the distance from the point (x, y) on the ellipse to F
2
.
Formulas
An ellipse is the curve you get if you trace out all the points such that the sum
of the distances to the focal points is a constant length:
r
1
+ r
2
= const.
85
Ellipse
Take a piece of string and tack it to a picnic table at two points such that
it is loose in the middle. Now take a pencil and without touching the table
move the string until both sides are tout. Make a mark at that point. Since
the two parts of the string are completely straight, their sum length, r
1
+r
2
is
the length of the whole piece, which plays the role of the constant in the above
equation. When you make a mark at every point possible where the two legs
of string are kept tout you get the following curve:
The mathematical formula for the ellipse is:
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
= 1,
where in the above drawing we have a > b so the ellipse is elongated on the
x-axis.
The coordinates of the focal points are:
F
1
= (e, 0), F
2
= (e, 0),
where e =

a
2
b
2
. These correspond to the locations of the two tacks where
the string is attached.
An important related quantity is the eccentricity:

_
1
b
2
a
2
=
e
a
,
which describes the shape of the ellipse in a scale-less fashion. The bigger
the bigger the dierence in the length of the major-axis and the minor-axis.
In the special case when = 0, the equation of the ellipse becomes a circle of
radius a.
86
Ellipse
Polar coordinates
Polar functions r() describe the distance of some point from the centre as a
function of the angle the point makes with the x-axis. Thus in the coordinate
system (r, ), the independent variable is and the dependent variable is r.
If we setup a polar coordinate system with centre at the origin C = (0, 0),
the equation of the ellipse will be:
r() =
ab
b
2
cos
2
() + a
2
sin
2
()
.
For many applications, it is more convenient to put the centre of the polar
coordinates system at F
1
, the left focal point. Suppose that (r
1
, ) is a polar
coordinate system with centre C = F
1
= (e, 0), then the equation of the
ellipse is
r
1
() =
a(1
2
)
1 cos()
,
where the angle is with respect to the positive x-axis.
Applications
Orbit of the Earth around the Sun
To a very good approximation, the motion of the earth around the sun is
described by an ellipse with the sun at one focus. The distance of the earth
from the sun (positioned at F
1
, so we are talking about r
1
) as a function of the
angle is given by:
r
1
() =
a(1
2
)
1 cos()
.
The eccentricity of the earths orbit around the sun is = 0.01671123 and
the half-length of the major axis is a = 149, 598, 261[km]. So the distance
sun-earth r
1
is given by the equation:
r
1
() =
149556484.56
1 0.01671123 cos()
[km].
87
Ellipse
The moment where the earth is most distant from the sun is called aphelion
and occurs around January 3rd. The closet point is called perihelion and it
usually occurs around July 4th. The aphelion distance of the earth happens
when = 0 so we have
r
1,aphe
= r
1
(0) =
149556483
1 0.01671123 cos(0)
= 152098232[km],
and the closes pass of the earth near the sun is when = at
r
1,peri
= r
1
() =
149556483
1 0.01671123 cos()
= 147098290[km].
If you dont trust me, look up the numbers and compare with the above pre-
dictions.
The angle of the earth relative to the sun, is a function of time. If we
measure t in days we have the following lookup table:
t (day) 1 2 . 182 . 365 365.242199
t (date) July 3 July 4 . Jan 3 . July 2 ?
phi (deg) 0 . 180 . 359.761356 360
phi (rad) 0 . pi . 6.27902 2 pi
Note the extra amount of day that is roughly equal to
1
4
= 0.25. Ever
wonder why one of every four years is a leap year? That is why.
The exact formula of the function (t) that describes the angle as a function
of time is complicated, but computable.
88
Ellipse
Note that the distance of the earth from the sun is not the cause of seasons.
Seasons are predominantly caused by the tilt of the earth relative to the plane
of its orbit around the sun. The day the tilt of the earth spin axis aligns with
sun is either the longest day or the shortest day of the year, depending on
which hemisphere you are in (the North or the South). We call those days
solstices.
Newtons insight
Contrary to what is commonly believed, Newton did not come up with his
theory of gravitation while sitting under a tree because an apple fell on his
head. What actually happened is that he started from Keplers laws of motion
which describes the exact elliptical orbit of the Earth as a function of time.
Newton asked what kind of force would cause two bodies to spin around
each other in an elliptical orbit and he deducted that the gravitational force
between the sun of mass M and the earth of mass m must be of the form
F
g
=
GMm
r
2
. We have to give props to the man, for connecting the dots, and we
have to give props to Johannes Kepler studying the orbital periods and Tycho
Brahe for doing all the astronomical measurements. Above all, we have to give
props to the ellipse for being such an awesome shape.
89
Solving systems of linear equations
Links
http://daphne.palomar.edu/jthorngren/tutorial.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html
1.21 Solving systems of linear equations
You know that to solve equations with one unknown like 2x + 4 = 7x, you
have to manipulate both sides of the equation until you isolate the unknown
variable on one side. For the above equation we would subtract 2x from both
sides to obtain: 4 = 5x, which means that x =
4
5
.
What if you have two equations and two unknowns? For example:
x + 2y = 5,
3x + 9y = 21.
Can you nd values of x and y that satisfy these equations?
Concepts
x, y: the two unknowns in the equations.
eq1, eq2: a system of two equations that need to be solved simultaneously.
These equations will look like:
a
1
x + b
1
y = c
1
,
a
2
x + b
2
y = c
2
,
where the as, bs and cs are given constants.
Principles
If you have n equations and n unknowns you can solve the equations simulta-
neously and nd the values of the unknowns. There are dierent tricks which
90
Solving systems of linear equations
you can use to solve these equations simultaneously. We learn about three such
tricks in this section.
Solution techniques
Solving by equating
We want to solve the following system of equations:
x + 2y = 5,
3x + 9y = 21.
We can isolate x in both equations by moving all other variables and con-
stants to the right sides of the equations:
x = 5 2y,
x =
1
3
(21 9y) = 7 3y.
The variable x is still unknown, but we know two facts about it. We know
that x is equal to 5 2y and also that x is equal to 7 3y. So it must be that:
5 2y = 7 3y.
We can now solve for y by adding 3y to both sides and subtracting 5 from
both sides to get y = 2.
We got y = 2, but what is x? That is easy, we can plug in the value of y
that we found into any of the above equations. Say I pick the rst one:
x = 5 2y = 5 2(2) = 1.
We are done, and x = 1, y = 2 is our solution.
91
Solving systems of linear equations
Substitution
Let us go back to our set of equations:
x + 2y = 5,
3x + 9y = 21.
Looking at the rst equation we can isolate x to obtain:
x = 5 2y,
3x + 9y = 21.
If we substitute the top equation for x into the bottom equation we will
obtain:
3(5 2y) + 9y = 21.
We have just eliminated one of the unknowns by substitution. Lets do some
massaging of this equation now. Expanding the bracket we get:
15 6y + 9y = 21,
or
3y = 6,
which means that y = 2. To get x, we use the original substitution x = (52y)
to get x = (5 2(2)) = 1.
Subtraction
There is a third way to solve the equations:
x + 2y = 5,
3x + 9y = 21.
Observe that we would not change the truth of any equation if we were to
multiply it by some constant. For example, we can multiply the rst equation
92
Compound interest
by 3 to obtain an equivalent set of equations:
3x + 6y = 15,
3x + 9y = 21.
Why did I pick three as the multiplier? I chose this constant so that the
rst term (the x term) now has the same coecient in both equations.
If we subtract two true equations from each other we obtain another true
equation. Lets do that. Lets subtract the top equation from the bottom one.
We get:
3x 3x + 9y 6y = 21 15 3y = 6.
Did you see how the 3xs cancelled? That is why I originally chose to multiply
the rst equation by three. Now it is obvious that y = 2, and substituting
back into one of the original equations we have
x + 2(2) = 5,
or moving the 2(2) = 4 to the other side we get x = 1.
Discussion
These techniques can be extended to as many unknowns as you want. When
we get to the chapter on linear algebra, we will learn a much more systematic
way of solving this type of equations.
1.22 Compound interest
Soon after ancient civilizations invented the notion of numbers, they started
computing interest on loans.
Percentages
We often talk about ratios between quantities, instead of the quantities them-
selves. For example, we can imagine working Joe who invests 1000 in the stock
93
Compound interest
market and loses 300, because the boys on Wall Street keep pulling dirty tricks
on him. To put the number 300 into perspective, we can say Joe lost about
0.3 of his wealth or, alternately, 30% of his wealth.
To obtain the percentage, you simply take the ratio between two quantities
and then multiply by 100. The ratio of loss to investment is:
R = 300/1000 = 0.3.
The same ratio expressed as a percentage gives
R = 300/1000 100 = 30%.
To convert from a percentage to a ratio, you simply have to divide by 100.
Interest rates
Say you take out a 1000 dollar loan with interest rate of 6% compounded
annually. How much money will you need to pay in interest at the end of the
year?
Since 6% corresponds to a ratio of 6/100, and since you took out 1000, the
interest at the end of the year will be:
I
1
=
6
100
1000 = 60.
At the end of the year, you owe the bank a total of
L
1
= (1 +
6
100
)1000 = (1 + 0.06)1000 = 1.06 1000 = 1060.
The total money owed after 6 years is going to be:
L
6
= (1.06)
6
1000 = 1418.52.
Better pay up or else they will have your head soon! Or default maybe? Is
your credit rating really that important?
94
Compound interest
Monthly compounding
The above scenario assumes that the bank computes the interest once per year.
Such a compounding schedule is disadvantageous to the bank, and since they
write the rules it is never used. Usually, the compounding is done every month.
What is the annual rate then? The bank will quote the nominal APR
(annual percentage rate), which is equal to:
nAPR = 12 r,
where r is the monthly interest rate.
Suppose we have an nominal APR of 6%, which gives a monthly interest
rate of r = 0.5%. If you take out a 1000 loan at that interest rate, you will
owe:
L
1
= (1 +
0.5
100
)
12
1000 = 1061.68,
at the end of the rst year, and after 6 years you will owe:
L
6
=
_
1 +
0.5
100
_
72
1000 = 1.061677
6
1000 = 1432.04.
Note how the bank tries to pull a fast one on you. The eective APR
is actually 6.16% not 6%! Indeed, each twelve months, the amount due will
increase by the following factor:
eAPR =
_
1 +
0.5
100
_
12
= 1.0616.
Thus the eective annual percent rate is eAPR = 6.16%.
Compounding innitely often
For a nominal APR of 6%, what would be the eective APR if the bank was
to do the compounding n times per year?
95
Sets and set notation
The annual growth ratio is going to be:
_
1 +
6
100n
_
n
,
since you have interest rate per compounding period is
6
n
% and there are n
periods in one year.
In the limit of compounding innitely often, we will see the exponential
function emerge:
lim
n
_
1 +
6
100n
_
n
= exp
_
6
100
_
= 1.0618365,
or an eAPR = 6.183%.
With innitely frequent compounding, the interest after 6 years will be:
L
6
= exp
_
6
100
_
6
1000 = exp
_
36
100
_
1000 = 1433.33.
As you can see, for the same APR of 6%, the faster the compounding
schedule, the more money you owe at the end of six years. It is a good thing
that banks dont know about the exponential function then!
Links
Very good article and notation:
http://plus.maths.org/content/have-we-caught-your-interest
1.23 Sets and set notation
A set is mathematically precise way to talk about dierent groups of objects.
To do simple math, you dont need to know about sets, but for more advanced
topics you need to know what a set is and how we denote set membership and
subset relations between sets.
96
Sets and set notation
Denitions
set: some collection of mathematical objects with a precise denition.
S, T: usual variable names for sets.
N, Z, Q, R: some important sets of numbers. These correspond to the
naturals, the integers, the rationals and the real numbers respectively.
definition: The curly brackets are used to surround the denition of
a set and the expression inside is supposed to completely describe what
the set is.
Set operations:
S T: the union of two sets. The elements that are either in S or T.
S T: the intersection of the two sets. The elements that are in both S
and T.
S T: set minus. The elements of S that are not in T.
Set relations:
: is a subset of.
: is subset or equal to.
Special mathematical shorthand and corresponding meaning in English:
: for all.
: there exists.
: or [: such that.
: is element of.
/ : is not an element of.
97
Sets and set notation
Sets
A lot of the power of math comes from abstraction: the ability to think meta
thoughts and seeing the bigger picture about what math objects have in com-
mon. We can think of individual numbers like 3, 5 and 222 or talk about the
set of all numbers. You can think of functions like f(x) = x, and f(x) = x
2
or
you can think of the set of all functions f : R R.
Example 1: Non-negative numbers
Dene R
+
R to be the set of non-negative real numbers:
R
+
= all x from R such that x 0,
or expressed more compactly:
R
+
= x R [ x 0.
Example 2: Odd and even
Dene the set of even integers as:
E = n Z [
n
2
Z = . . . , 2, 0, 2, 4, 6, . . ..
and the set of odd integers as:
O = n Z [
n + 1
2
Z = . . . , 3, 1, 1, 3, 5, . . ..
In each case the mathematical notation . . . [ . . . follows the same patter
where you rst say what kind of objects we are talking about, followed by the
such that sign [ followed by the conditions which must be satised by all
elements of the set.
98
Sets and set notation
Important sets
The natural numbers are the set of number you can get by starting from 0 and
adding 1 arbitraryly many times:
N 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . ..
The integers are the number you get by adding or subtracting 1 arbitrary many
times:
Z . . . , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . ..
If you allow for divisions between integers, you get the rational numbers:
Q = 1.5, 1/3, 22/7, 0.125, . . ..
The more general class of real numbers includes also irrational numbers:
R = , e, 1.53929411.., 4.99401940129401.., . . ..
Finally we have the set of complex numbers:
C = 1, i, 1 + i, 2 + 3i, . . . = a + bi [ a, b R, i
2
= 1.
New vocabulary
Lets practice the new vocabulary by looking at a simple mathematical proof.
Square-root of two is irrational
Claim:

2 / Q. This means that there are no integers m Z, n N such

that m/n =

2. The same sentence in mathematical notation would read:

,m Z, n N [ m/n =

2.
Proof: Suppose for a contradiction that there existed m and n such that
m/n =

2. We can further assume that integers m and n are such that they
have no common factors: we can always make sure this is the case if we cancel
99
Sets and set notation
the common factors. In particular this implies that m and n cannot both be
even since we would be able to cancel at least one factor of two. We therefore
have gcd(m, n) = 1: the their greatest common divisor is 1. We will now
investigate a simple question which is whether m is an even number m E or
m is an odd number m O.
Before we begin, lemme point out the fact that the action of squaring an
integers preserves its odd/even nature. Indeed, an even number times an even
number gives and even number: if e E then e
2
E. Also an odd number
times an odd number also gives an odd number: if o O then o
2
O.
The proof proceeds as follows. We assumed that m/n =

2, so if we take
the square of this equation we have:
m
2
n
2
= 2, m
2
= 2n
2
.
If m is an odd number then m
2
is also going to be odd, which contradicts the
above equation since we see that m
2
contains a factor 2, so m / O. If m is
even then m
2
is also an even number, so it can be written as m = 2q for some
other number q Z. The equation would then become:
2
2
q
2
= 2n
2
, 2q
2
= n
2
.
This implies that n E which leads to a contradiction with the fact that we
said m and n cannot both be even. Therefore m / E, and since m / O either,
this means that there is no such m Z and therefore

2 is irrational.
Set relations and operations
We say that B A if b B we also have b A, and a A, such that
a / B. We say B is strictly contained in A which is illustrated graphically
in the gure below. Also illustrated in the gure is the union of two sets AB
which includes all the elements of A and B. We have e AB, if and only if
e A or e B.
100
Sets and set notation
The set intersection is A B and set minus A B are shown below.
Sets related to functions
The set of all functions of a real variable, that return a real variable is denoted:
f : R R.
The domain of a function is the set of all possible inputs. An input is not
possible if the function is not dened for that input, like in the case of a divide
by zero error.
The image set of a function is the set of all possible outputs of the function:
Im(f) = y R [ x R, y = f(x).
Discussion
Knowledge of the precise mathematical jargon introduced in this section is not
crucial to the rest of this book, but I wanted to expose you to it because this is
the language in which mathematicians think. Most advanced math textbooks
will take it for granted that you understand this kind of notation.
101
Sets and set notation
102
Chapter 2
Introduction to physics
2.1 Introduction
One of the coolest things about understanding math is that you will auto-
matically start to understand the laws of physics too. Indeed, most physics
laws are expressed as mathematical equations. If you know how to manipulate
equations and know how to solve for the unknowns in them, then you know
half of physics already.
Ever since Newton gured out the whole F = ma thing, people have used
mechanics in order to achieve great technological feats like landing space ships
on The Moon and recently even on Mars. You can be part of that too. Learning
physics will give you the following superpowers:
1. The power to predict the future motion of objects using equations.
It is possible to write down the equation which describes the position
of an object as a function of time x(t) for most types of motion. You
103
Introduction
can use this equation to predict the motion at all times t, including the
future. Yo G! Wheres the particle going to be at when t = 1.3[s]?,
you are asked. It is going to be at x(1.3)[m] bro. Simple as that. If
you know the equation of motion x(t), which describes the position for
all times t, then you just have to plug t = 1.3[s] into x(t) to nd where
the object will be at that time.
2. Special physics vision for seeing the world. You will start to think in
term of concepts like force, acceleration and velocity and use these con-
cepts to precisely describe all aspects of the motion of objects. Without
physics vision, when you throw a ball in the air you will see it go up, reach
the top, then fall down. Not very exciting. Now with physics vision, you
will see that at t = 0[s] a ball is thrown into the + y direction with an
initial velocity of v
i
= 12 y[m/s]. The ball reaches a maximum height of
maxy(t) =
12
2
29.81
= 7.3[m] at t = 12/9.8 = 1.22[s], and then falls back
down to the ground after a total ight time of t
f
= 2
_
27.3
9.8
= 2.44[s].
Why learn physics?
A lot of knowledge buzz awaits you in learning about the concepts of physics
and understanding how the concepts are connected. You will learn how to
calculate the motion of objects, how to predict the outcomes of collisions, how
to describe oscillations and many other things. Once you develop your physics
skills, you will be able to use the equations of physics to derive one number
(say the maximum height) from another number (say the initial velocity of
the ball). Physics is a bit like playing LEGO with a bunch of cool scientic
building blocks.
By learning how to solve equations and how to deal with complicated
physics problems, you will develop your analytical skills. Later on, you can
apply these skills to other areas of life; even if you do not go on to study sci-
ence, the expertise you develop in solving physics problems will help you deal
with complicated problems in general. Companies like to hire physicists even
for positions unrelated to physics: they feel condent that if the candidate
104
Introduction
has managed to get through a physics degree then they can gure out all the
business shit easily.
Intro to science
Perhaps the most important reason why you should learn physics is because it
represents the golden standard for the scientic method. First of all, physics
deals only with concrete things which can be measured. There are no feelings
and zero subjectivity in physics. Physicists must derive mathematical models
which accurately describe and predict the outcomes of experiments. Above
all, we can test the validity of the physical models by running experiments and
comparing the outcome predicted by the theory with what actually happens
in the lab.
The key ingredient in scientic thinking is skepticism. The scientist has
to convince his peers that his equation is true without a doubt. The peers
shouldnt need to trust the scientist, but instead carry out their own tests to
see if the equation accurately predicts what happens in the real world. For
example, lets say that I claim that the equation of motion for the ball thrown
up in the air with speed 12[m/s] is given by y
c
(t) =
1
2
(9.8)t
2
+ 12t + 0. To
test whether this equation is true, you can perform the throwing-the-ball-in-
the-air experiment and record the maximum height the ball reaches and the
total time of ight and compare them with those predicted by the claimed
equation y
c
(t). The maximum height that the ball will attain predicted by the
claimed equation occurs at t = 1.22 and is by substituting this time into the
equation of motion max
t
y
c
(t) = y
c
(1.22) = 7.3[m]. If this height matches
what you measured in the real world, you can maybe start to trust my equation
a little bit. You can also check whether the equation y
c
(t) correctly predicts
the total time of ight which you measured to be t = 2.44[s]. To do this you
have to check whether y
c
(2.44) = 0 as it should be when the ball hits the
ground. If both predictions of the equation y
c
(t) match what happens in the
lab, you can start to believe that the claimed equation of motion y
c
(t) really
is a good model for the real world.
The scientic method depends on this interplay between experiment and
105
Kinematics
theory. Theoreticians prove theorems and derive physics equations, while ex-
perimentalists test the validity of the equations. The equations that accurately
predict the laws of nature are kept while inaccurate models are rejected.
Equations of physics
The best of the equations of physics are collected and explained in textbooks.
Physics textbooks contain only equations that have been extensively tested and
are believed to be true. Good physics textbooks also show how the equations
are derived from rst principles. This is really important, because it is much
easier to remember a few general principles at the foundation of physics rather
than a long list of formulas. Understanding trumps memorization any day of
the week.
In the next section we learn about the equations x(t), v(t) and a(t) which
describes the motion of objects. We will also illustrate how the position equa-
tion x(t) =
1
2
at
2
+v
i
t +x
i
can be derived using simple mathematical methods
(calculus). Technically speaking, you are not required to know how to derive
the equations of physics you just have to know how to use them. How-
ever, learning a bit of theory is a really good deal: reading a few extra pages
of theory will give you a deep understanding of, not one, not two, but eight
equations of physics.
2.2 Kinematics
Kinematics (from the Greek word kinema for motion) is the study of trajecto-
ries of moving objects. The equations of kinematics can be used to calculate
how long a ball thrown upwards will stay in the air, or to calculate the ac-
celeration needed to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 5 seconds. To carry out these
calculations we need to know which equation of motion to use and the ini-
tial conditions (the initial position x
i
and the initial velocity v
i
). Plug in the
knowns into the equations of motion, you can solve for the desired unknown
using one or two simple algebra steps. This entire section boils down to three
equations. It is all about the plug-number-into-equation technique.
106
Kinematics
The purpose of this section is make sure you understand the derived con-
cepts like velocity and accretion well and to help you easily recognize which
equation you need to use to solve any given physics problems.
Concepts
The key notions used to describe the motion of an objects are:
t: the time, measured in seconds [s].
x(t): the position of an object as a function of time also known as the
equation of motion. % Measured in metres [m].
v(t): the velocity of the object as a function of time.% [m/s]
a(t): the acceleration of the object as a function of time. %[m/s
2
]
x
i
= x(0), v
i
= v(0): initial position and velocity (initial conditions).
Position, velocity and acceleration
The motion of an object is characterized by three functions: the position func-
tion x(t), the velocity function v(t) and the acceleration function a(t). The
functions x(t), v(t) and a(t) are connected they all describe dierent aspects
of the same motion.
You are already familiar with these notions from your experience driving
a car. The equation of motion x(t) describes the position of the car as a
function of time. The velocity describes the change in the position of the car,
or mathematically
v(t) rate of change in x(t).
If we measure x in metres [m] and time t in seconds [s], then the units of v(t)
will be metres per second [m/s]. For example, an object moving at a constant
speed of 30[m/s] will have its position change by 30[m] each second.
The rate of change of the velocity is called the acceleration:
a(t) rate of change in v(t).
107
Kinematics
Acceleration is measured in metres per second squared [m/s
2
]. A constant
positive acceleration means the velocity of the motion is steadily increasing,
like when you press the gas pedal. A constant negative acceleration means the
velocity is steadily decreasing, like when you press the brake pedal.
The illustration on the right shows the
simultaneous graph of the position, veloc-
ity and acceleration of a car during some
time interval. In a couple of paragraphs,
we will discuss the exact mathematical
equations which describe x(t), v(t) and
a(t). But before we get to the math, let
us visually analyze the motion illustrated
on the right.
The car starts o with an initial posi-
tion x
i
and just sits there for some time.
The driver then oors the pedal to pro-
duce a maximum acceleration for some
time, picks up speed and then releases the
accelerator, but keeps it pressed enough to
maintain a constant speed. Suddenly the
driver sees a police vehicle in the distance and slams on the brakes (negative
acceleration) and shortly afterwards brings the car to a stop. The driver waits
for a few seconds to make sure the cops have passed. The car then accelerates
backwards for a bit (reverse gear) and then maintains a constant backwards
speed for an extended period of time. Note how moving backwards corre-
sponds to negative velocity. In the end the driver slams on the brakes again to
bring the car to a stop. The nal position is x
f
.
In the above example, we can observe two distinct types of motion. Motion
at a constant velocity (uniform velocity motion, UVM) and motion with con-
stant acceleration (uniform acceleration motion, UAM). Of course, there could
be many other types of motion, but for the purpose of kinematics you are only
responsible for these two.
UVM: During times when there is no acceleration, the car maintains
108
Kinematics
a uniform velocity, that is, v(t) will be a constant function. Constant
velocity means that the position function will be a line with a constant
slope because, by denition, v(t) = slope of x(t).
UAM: During times where the car experiences a constant acceleration
a(t) = a, the velocity of the function will change at a constant rate. The
rate of change of the velocity is constant a = slope of v(t), so the velocity
function must look like a line with slope a. The position function x(t)
has a curved shape (quadratic) during moments of constant acceleration.
Formulas
There are basically three equations that you need to know for this entire chap-
ter. Together, these three equations fully describe all aspects of any motion
with constant acceleration.
Uniform acceleration motion (UAM)
If the object undergoes a constant acceleration a(t) = a, like your car if you
oor the accelerator pedal, then its motion will be described by the following
equations:
x(t) =
1
2
at
2
+ v
i
t + x
i
,
v(t) = at + v
i
,
a(t) = a.
There is also another useful equation to remember:
v(t)
2
= v
2
i
+ 2a[x(t) x
i
],
which is usually written
v
2
f
= v
2
i
+ 2ax.
That is it. Memorize these equations, plug-in the right numbers, and you
can solve any kinematics problem humanly imaginable. Chapter done.
109
Kinematics
Uniform velocity motion (UVM)
The special case where there is zero acceleration (a = 0), is called uniform
velocity motion or UVM. The velocity stays uniform (constant) because there
is no acceleration. The following three equations describe the motion of the
object under uniform velocity:
x(t) = v
i
t + x
i
,
v(t) = v
i
,
a(t) = 0.
As you can see, these are really the same equations as in the UAM case above,
but because a = 0, some terms are missing.
Free fall
We say that an object is in free fall if the only force acting on it is the force of
gravity. On the surface of the earth, the force of gravity produces a constant
acceleration of a = 9.81[m/s
2
]. The negative sign is there because the grav-
itational acceleration is directed downwards, and we assume that the y axis
points upwards. The motion of an object in free fall is described by the UAM
equations.
Examples
We will now illustrate how the equations of kinematics are used to solve physics
problems.
Moroccan example Suppose your friend wants to send you a ball
wrapped in aluminum foil from his balcony, which is located at a height
of x
i
= 44.145[m]. How long does it take for the ball to hit the ground?
110
Kinematics
We recognize that this is a problem with acceleration, so we start by writing
out the general UAM equations:
y(t) =
1
2
at
2
+ v
i
t + y
i
,
v(t) = at + v
i
.
To nd the answer, we substitute the known values y(0) = y
i
= 44.145[m],
a = 9.81 and v
i
= 0[m/s] (since the ball was released from rest) and solve for
t
fall
in the resulting equation:
y(t
fall
) = 0 =
1
2
(9.81)(t
fall
)
2
+ 0(t
fall
) + 44.145.
The answer is t
fall
=
_
44.1452
9.81
= 3[s].
0 to 100 in 5 seconds Suppose you want to be able to go from 0 to
100[km/h] in 5 seconds with your car. How much acceleration does your engine
need to produce, assuming it produces a constant amount of acceleration.
We can calculate the necessary a by plugging the required values into the
velocity equation for UAM:
v(t) = at + v
i
.
Before we get to that, we need to convert the velocity in [km/h] to velocity in
[m/s]: 100[km/h] =
100[km]
1[h]

1000[m]
1[km]

1[h]
3600[s]
= 27.8 [m/s]. We ll in the equation
with all the desired values v(5) = 27.8[m/s], v
i
= 0, and t = 5[s] and solve for
a/:
v(5) = 27.8 = a(5) + 0.
We conclude that your engine has to produce a constant acceleration of a =
5.56[m/s
2
] or more.
111
Kinematics
Moroccan example II Some time later, your friend wants to send you
another aluminum ball from his apartment located on the 14th oor (height of
44.145[m]). In order to decrease the time of ight, he throws the ball straight
down with an initial velocity of 10[m/s]. How long does it take before the ball
hits the ground?
Imagine the building with the y axis measuring distance upwards starting
from the ground oor. We know that the balcony is located at a height of
y
i
= 44.145[m], and that at t = 0[s] the ball starts with v
i
= 10[m/s]. The
initial velocity is negative, because it points in the opposite direction to the
y axis. We know that there is an acceleration due to gravity of a
y
= g =
9.81[m/s
2
].
We start by writing out the general UAM equation:
y(t) =
1
2
a
y
t
2
+ v
i
t + y
i
.
We want to nd the time when the ball will hit the ground, so y(t) = 0. To
nd t, we plug in all the known values into the general equation:
y(t) = 0 =
1
2
(9.81)t
2
10t + 44.145,
which is a quadratic equation in t. First rewrite the quadratic equation into
the standard form:
0 = 4.905
. .
a
t
2
+ 5.0
..
b
t 44.145
. .
c
,
and then solve using the quadratic equation:
t
fall
=
b

b
2
4ac
2a
=
5

25 + 866.12
9.81
= 2.53 [s].
We ignored the negative-time solution. Comparing with the rst Moroccan
example, we see that the answer makes sense throwing a ball downwards
will make it fall to the ground faster than just dropping it.
112
Introduction to calculus
Discussion
Most kinematics problems you will be asked to solve follow the same pattern
as the above examples. You will be given some of the initial values and asked
to solve some unknown quantity. It is important to keep in mind the signs
of the numbers you plug into the equations. You should always draw the
coordinate system and indicate clearly (to yourself) the x axis which measures
the displacement. If a velocity or acceleration quantity points in the same
direction as the x axis then it is a positive number while quantities that point
in the opposite direction are negative numbers.
In this section I presented the equations of motion without proof. Using
these equations you can solve kinematics problems, but you dont really know
where these equations come from. In order to understand how physicists came
up with these equations, we need to go on a little excursion in the land of
calculus.
2.3 Introduction to calculus
Calculus is the study of functions. We use calculus in order to describe how
quantities change over time (derivatives
d
dt
) or to nd the total amount of
quantities that vary over time (integration
_
dt).
Derivatives
The derivative function f

(t) is a description of how the function f(t) changes

over time. The derivative encodes the information about the slope of the
function f(t):
f

(t) slope
f
(t) =
change in f(t)
change in t
=
f(t + t) f(t)
t
.
If the slope of f(t) is big at some value of t, this means that the function
changes very quickly at that time. At the other extreme we have the points
where f

(t) = 0 which correspond to locations where the function is at it

is neither increasing nor decreasing.
113
Introduction to calculus
Derivatives are used widely in many areas of science, so there are many
names and symbols used to denote this operation: Df(t) = f

(t) =
df
dt
=
d
dt
f(t) =

f. You shouldnt think of f

(t) as a separate entity from f(t), but

as a property of the function f(t). Indeed, it is best to think of the derivative
as an operator
d
dt
which can be applied to any function in order to obtain the
slope information.
Integrals
An integral corresponds to the computation of an area under
a curve f(t) between two points:
A(a, b)
_
t=b
t=a
f(t) dt.
The symbol
_
is a mnemonic for sum, since the area under
the curve corresponds in some sense to the sum of the values
of the function f(t) between t = a and t = b. The integral is the total amount
of f between a and b.
Example 1 We can easily nd the area under the
constant function f(t) = 3 between any two points
because the region under the curve is rectangular.
We choose to use t = 0 as the reference point and
compute the indenite integral F() which corre-
sponds to the area under f(t) starting from t = 0
and going until t = :
F() A(0, ) =
_

0
f(t) dt = 3.
Indeed the area is equal to the height times the length of the rectangle.
114
Introduction to calculus
Example 2 We can also easily compute the area
under the line g(t) = t since the region under the
curve is triangular. Recall that the area of a tri-
angle is given by the length of the base times the
height divided by two.
We choose t = 0 as our starting point again and
nd the area:
G() A(0, ) =
_

0
g(t) dt =

2
=
1
2

2
.
We were able to compute the above integrals thanks to the simple geometry
of the areas under the curves. Later on in this book we will develop techniques
for nding integrals of more complicated functions. In fact, there is an entire
course, Calculus II, which is dedicated to the task of nding integrals.
What I need you to remember for now is that the integral of a function
gives you the area under the curve, which is in some sense the total amount of
the function accumulated during that period.
You should also remember the following two formulas:
_

0
a dt = a,
_

0
at dt =
1
2
a
2
.
The second formula is a generalization of the formula we saw in Example 2.
Using the above formulas in combination, you can now compute the integral
under an arbitrary line h(t) = mt + b as follows:
H() =
_

0
h(t) dt =
_

0
(mt + b) dt =
_

0
mt dt +
_

0
b dt =
1
2
m
2
+ b.
Why do we need integrals? How often do you need to compute the area
below a function f(t) in the real life?
Inverse operations
Integrals are the inverse operation of the derivative.
115
Introduction to calculus
You are already familiar with the inverse relationship between functions.
When solving equations, we use inverse functions to undo the eects of func-
tions that stand in the way. Similarly, we use the integral operation to undo
the eects of the derivative operation. For example, if you want to nd the
function f(t) in an equation of the form
d
dt
f(t) = g(t),
you have to apply the integration operation on both sides of the equation.
The integral operation will undo the derivative operation on the left so we will
obtain:
_
d
dt
f(t) dt = f(t) =
_
g(t) dt.
From now on, every time you want to undo a derivative, you can apply the
integral operation:
int(di(f(x))) =
_
x
0
_
d
dt
f(t)
_
dt =
_
x
0
f

(t) dt = f(x) + C.
Note that integration always introduces an additive constant term +C. This is
because the derivative operation destroys the information about the constant
term in the function. The functions f(x) and f(x)+C have the same derivative.
Banking example In order to illustrate how derivative and integral opera-
tions can be used in the real world, we will draw an analogy with a scenario that
every student is familiar with. Consider the function ba(t) which represents
your bank account balance at time t, and the function tr(t) which corresponds
to the transactions (deposits and withdraws) on your account.
The function tr(t) is the derivative of the function ba(t). Indeed, if you
ask how does my balance change over time, the answer will be the function
tr(t). Using the mathematical symbols, we can represent this relationship as
follows:
tr(t) =
d
dt
ba(t) .
116
Kinematics with calculus
If the derivative is big (and negative), your account balance will be depleted
quickly.
Suppose now, that you have the record of all the transactions on your
account tr(t) and you want to compute the nal account balance at the end
of the month. Since tr(t) is the derivative of ba(t), you can use an integral
(the inverse operation to the derivative) in order to obtain ba(t). Knowing the
balance of your account at the beginning of the month, you can calculate the
balance at the end of the month by calculating the following integral:
ba(30) = ba(0) +
_
30
0
tr(t) dt.
This calculation makes sense intuitively since tr(t) represents the instantaneous
change in ba(t). If you want to nd the overall change from day 0 until day
30, you need to compute the total of all the changes on the account. More
generally, the integrals are used every time you need to calculate the total of
some quantity over a time period.
In the next section we will see how the integration techniques learned in
this section can be applied to the subject of kinematics. We will see how the
equations of motion for UAM are derived from rst principles.
2.4 Kinematics with calculus
To carry out kinematics calculations all we need to do is plug the initial con-
ditions into the correct equation of motion and then read out the answer. It
is all about the plug-number-into-equation skill. But where do the equations
of motion come from? Now that you know a little bit of calculus, you can see
how the equations of motion are derived.
Concepts
Recall the concepts related to the motion of objects (kinematics):
t: the time, measured in seconds [s].
117
Kinematics with calculus
x(t): the position as a function of time, also known as the equation of
motion.
v(t): the velocity.
a(t): the acceleration.
x
i
= x(0), v
i
= v(0): the initial conditions.
Position, velocity and acceleration revisited
Recall that the purpose of the equations of kinematics is to predict the motion
of objects. In particular, we are interested in deriving the equations of motion
for the case when the acceleration of the object is constant a(t) = a. How can
we nd x(t) starting from a(t)?
The equations of motion x(t), v(t) and a(t) are related:
a(t)
d
dt
v(t)
d
dt
x(t).
The velocity is the derivative of the position function and the acceleration is
the derivative of the velocity.
General procedure
If you know the acceleration of an object a(t) as a function of time and its
initial velocity v
i
= v(0), you can nd its velocity v(t) function at all later
times. This is because the acceleration function a(t) describes the change in
the velocity of the object. If you know that the object started with an initial
velocity of v
i
v(0), the velocity at a later time t = is equal to v
i
plus the
total acceleration of the object between t = 0 and t = :
v() = v
i
+
_

0
a(t) dt.
If you know the initial position x
i
and the velocity function v(t) you can
nd the position function x(t) by using integration again. We nd the position
118
Kinematics with calculus
at time t = by adding up all the velocity (changes in the position) that
occurred between t = 0 and t = :
x() = x
i
+
_

0
v(t) dt.
The procedure for nding x(t) starting from a(t) can be summarized as
follows:
a(t)
v
i
+
R
dt
v(t)
x
i
+
R
dt
x(t).
We will now illustrate how to apply this procedure for the important special
case of motion with constant acceleration.
Derivation of the UAM equations of motion
Consider an object undergoing uniform acceleration motion (UAM) with ac-
celeration function a(t) = a. Suppose that we know the initial velocity of
v
i
v(0), and you want to nd the velocity at later time t = . We have to
compute the following integral:
v() = v
i
+
_

0
a(t) dt = v
i
+
_

0
a dt = v
i
+ a.
The velocity as a function of time is given by the initial velocity v
i
plus the
integral of the acceleration.
If you know the initial position x
i
and the velocity function v(t) you can
nd the position function x(t) by using integration again. The formula is
x() = x
i
+
_

0
v(t) dt = x
i
+
_

0
(at + v
i
) dt = x
i
+
1
2
a
2
+ v
i
.
Note that the above calculations required the knowledge of the initial con-
ditions x
i
and v
i
. This is because the integral calculations tell us the change
in the quantities relative to their initial values.
119
Kinematics with calculus
The fourth equation
The fourth equation of motion
v
2
f
= v
2
i
+ 2a(x
f
x
i
)
can be derived by combining the equations of motion v(t) and x(t).
Consider squaring both sides of the velocity equation v
f
= v
i
+at to obtain
v
2
f
= (v
i
+ at)
2
= v
2
i
+ 2av
i
t + a
2
t
2
= v
2
i
+ 2a(v
i
t +
1
2
at
2
).
We can recognize the term in the bracket is equal to x = x(t) x
i
= x
f
x
i
.
Discussion
Forces are the causes of acceleration
According to Newtons second law of motion, forces are the cause of accelera-
tion and the formula that governs this relationship is
F
net
= ma,
where F
net
is the magnitude of the net force on the object.
In a later chapter, we will learn about dynamics which is the study of the
dierent kinds of forces that can act on objects: the gravitational force

F
g
,
the spring force

F
s
, the friction force

F
f
, the electric force

F
e
, the magnetic
force

F
b
and many others. To nd the acceleration on an object we must add
together (as vectors) all of the forces which are acting on the object and divide
by the mass

F = F
net
, a =
1
m
F
net
.
The physics procedure for predicting the motion of objects can be summa-
rized as follows:
1
m
_

F =

F
net
_
. .
dynamics
= a(t)
v
i
+
R
dt
v(t)
x
i
+
R
dt
x(t)
. .
kinematics
.
120
Kinematics with calculus
Free fall revisited
The force of gravity on a object of mass m is given by

F
g
= mg y, where
g = 9.81[m/s2] is the gravitational constant on the surface of the earth.
Recall that we said that an object is in free fall when the only force acting on
it is the force of gravity. In this case, Newtons second law tells us that

F
net
= ma
mg y = ma.
Dividing both sides by the mass we see that the acceleration of an object in
free fall is a = 9.81 y.
It is interesting to note that the mass of the object does not aect its
acceleration during free fall. The force of gravity is proportional to the mass
of the object, but the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the
object so overall we get a
y
= g for objects in free fall regardless of their
mass. This observation was rst made by Galileo in his famous Leaning Tower
of Pisa experiment during which he dropped a wooden ball and a metal ball (of
same shape but dierent mass) from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and observed
that they fall to the ground in the same time. Search for Apollo 15 feather
and hammer drop on YouTube to see a similar experiment performed on The
Moon.
What next?
You may have noticed that in the last couple of paragraphs we started putting
little arrows on top of certain quantities. The arrow is used to remind you that
forces are vector quantities. Before we proceed with the physics lessons, we
must make a mathematical digression and introduce vectors.
121
Kinematics with calculus
122
Chapter 3
Vectors
In this chapter we will learn how to manipulate multi-dimensional objects
called vectors. Vectors are useful when you want to describe directions, ve-
locities, or in general any kind of data that has many components. You can
think of vectors as lists of numbers, but you need to also learn about their
geometrical properties.
123
Great outdoors
3.1 Great outdoors
Vectors are directions. Directions are recipes for getting from point A to
point B. Directions can be given in terms of street names and visual landmarks
or with respect to a coordinate system.
While on vacation in BC, you want to visit a certain outdoor location which
you friend has told you about. Your friend is not available to take you there
himself, but he has sent you directions for how to get to the place from the
bus stop:
Sup G. Go to bus stop number 345. Bring a compass.
Walk 3km North then 4km East. U will find X there.
This text message is all that you need in order to nd X.
Act 1: Directions
You get to the bus station. A beautiful eld spreads in front of you. The bus
stop at the top of a small hill so from up here you can see the whole valley.
The eld is full of very tall crops which prevent anyone walking in them to
see very far; good thing you have a compass. You align the compass needle
to the marks on the glass so that the red arrow points North. You walk 3km
Northward and then you turn to the right (East) and walk another 4km. You
get to X.
OK, back to vectors. In this case, the directions recipe can be written as a
directions vector

d as follows:

d = 3km

N + 4km

E,
which is the mathematical expression that corresponds to Walk 3km North
then 4km East. Here

N is a direction and the number in front of the direc-
tion tells me the distance that I should walk in that direction.
124
Great outdoors
Act 2: Equivalent directions
Later on in your vacation, you decide to return to the location. When you arrive
at the bus stop, you see that there is a slight problem. From your position
you can see that, just a kilometre north of you, there is a group of armed and
threatening looking men waiting in ambush on what has now become a trail in
the crops. Clearly the word has spread about X and several people have come
here promoting too much attention to the location.
Well, technically speaking, there is no problem with X. The problem is on
the route that starts o North and goes through the ambush. Could you nd
an alternate route to get to X?
"Use math, Luke! Use math!"
For numbers we have a +b = b +a, maybe we can do the same thing with
vectors:

d = 3km

N + 4km

E = 4km

E + 3km

N.
Yes you can. You walk the 4[km] East rst then 3[km] North and get to X
again. This equivalent set of directions completely avoids the ambush.
Act 3: Eciency
It takes 7[km] of walking to get from the bus stop to X and another 7[km] to get
back. Thus, it takes a total of 14[km] walking every time you want to go to X.
Could you nd a shorter route? What is the shortest route to the destination?
If you take the diagonal it will certainly be quicker. Using Pythagoras theorem
you can even calculate how long the diagonal is when the sides are 4 and 3
in length. The diagonal has length

4
2
+ 3
2
=

16 + 9 =

25 = 5. The
direction you need to walk in at 53

(on a compass degrees are measured from

the

N direction, starting towards East). The direct route is 5 km long which
means that you are saving a whole 2 km of walking in each direction.
But perhaps seeking eciency is not always necessary! You could take a
longer path and give yourself time to enjoy the great outdoors.
125
Vectors
Discussion
Vectors are directions for getting from one point to another point. For direc-
tions on maps, we use the four cardinal directions:

N,

S,

E,

W, but in math
we will use just two of them:

E x and

N y, since they t nicely with
the usual way of drawing the cartesian plane. We dont need an

S direction
because we can represent downward distances as negative distances in the

N
direction. Similarly,

W is just negative

E.
From now on, when we talk about vectors they will always be represented
in the standard coordinate system x and y so we can use a bracket notation:
(v
x
, v
y
) v
x
x + v
y
y.
The bracket notation is very compact, which is good if you are going to be
doing a lot of calculations with vectors. Instead of writing down explicitly the
basis elements (the directions), you simply assume that the rst number in the
bracket is the x component and the second number is the y component.
3.2 Vectors
Vectors are mathematical objects that have multiple components. The vector
v is equivalent to a pair of numbers
v (v
x
, v
y
),
where v
x
is the x component of v and v
y
is the y component.
Just like numbers, you can add vectors
v + w = (v
x
, v
y
) + (w
x
, w
y
) = (v
x
+ w
x
, v
y
+ w
y
),
subtract them
v w = (v
x
, v
y
) (w
x
, w
y
) = (v
x
w
x
, v
y
w
y
),
and solve all kinds of equations where the unknown variable is a vector.
126
Vectors
This might sound like a formidably complicated new development in math-
ematics, but it is not. Doing arithmetic calculations on vectors is simply
doing arithmetic operations on their components.
Thus if I told you that v = (4, 2) and w = (3, 7), then
v w = (4, 2) (3, 7) = (1, 5).
Vectors are extremely useful in all areas of life. In physics, for example, to
describe phenomena in the three dimensional world we use vectors with three
components: x, y and z. It is of no use to say that we have a force of 20[N]
pushing on a block unless we specify in which direction the force acts. Indeed,
both of these vectors have length 20

F
1
= (20, 0, 0),

F
2
= (0, 20, 0),
but one points along the x axis, and the other along the y axis, so they are
completely dierent vectors.
Denitions
x, y, z: the usual coordinate system. Every vector is implicitly dened in
terms of this coordinate system. When you and I talk about the point
P = (3, 4, 2), we are really saying start from the origin, (0, 0, 0), move
3 units in the x direction, then move 4 units in the y direction, and
nally move 2 units in the z direction. Obviously it is simpler to just
say (3, 4, 2), but keep in mind that these numbers are relative to the
coordinate system x y z.
, ,

k: is an alternate way of describing the xyz-coordinate system in

terms of three unit length vectors:
= (1, 0, 0), = (0, 1, 0),

k = (0, 0, 1).
Any number multiplied by corresponds to a vector with that number
in the rst coordinate. For example, v = 3 (3, 0, 0).
127
Vectors
v = (v
x
, v
y
, v
z
) = v
x
+v
y
+v
z

k: A vector expressed in terms of compo-

nents and in terms of , and

k.
In two dimensions there are two equivalent ways to denote vectors:
In component notation v = (v
x
, v
y
), which describes the vector as seen
from the x axis and the y axis.
As a length and direction v = |v|, where |v| is the length of the
vector and is the angle that the vector makes with the x axis.
Vector dimension
The most common types of vectors are 2 dimensional vectors (like the ones
in the Cartesian plane), and 3 dimensional vectors (directions in 3D space).
These kinds of vectors are easier to work with since we can visualize them
and draw them in diagrams. Vectors in general can exist in any number of
dimensions. An example of a n-dimensional vector is
v = (v
1
, v
2
, . . . , v
n
) R
n
.
Vector arithmetic
Addition of vectors is done component wise
v + w = (v
x
, v
y
) + (w
x
, w
y
) = (v
x
+ w
x
, v
y
+ w
y
).
Vector subtraction works the same way: component by component.
The length of a vector is obtained from Pythagoras theorem. Imagine a
triangle with one side of length v
x
and the other side of length v
y
. The length
of the vector is equal to the length of the hypotenuse:
|v| =
_
v
2
x
+ v
2
y
.
We can also scale a vector by any number R:
v = (v
x
, v
y
),
128
Vectors
where we see that each component gets multiplied by the scaling factor . If
> 1 the vector will get longer, if 0 < 1 then the vector will shrink. If
is a negative number, then the resulting vector will point in the opposite
direction.
A particularly useful scaling is to divide a vector v by its length |v| to
obtain a unit length vector that points in the same direction as v:
v =
v
|v|
.
Unit-length vectors (denoted with a hat instead of an arrow) are useful when
you want to describe a direction in space.
Vector geometry
You can think of a vectors as arrows, and addition
as putting together of vectors head-to-tail as shown
in the diagram.
The negative of a vector a vector multiplied
by = 1 is a vector of same length but in the
opposite direction. So the graphical subtraction of
vectors is also possible.
Length and direction of vectors
We have seen so far how to represent vectors as co-
ecients. There is also another way of expressing
vectors: we can specify their length [[v[[ and their
orientation the angle they make with the x axis.
For example, the vector (1, 1) can also be written as

245

. It is useful to represent vectors in the mag-

nitude and direction notation because their physical
size becomes easier to see.
129
Vectors
There are formulas for converting between the
two notations. To convert the length-and-direction vector |r| to compo-
nents (r
x
, r
y
) use:
r
x
= |r| cos , r
y
= |r| sin .
To convert from component notation (r
x
, r
y
) to length-and-direction |r| use
r = |r| =
_
r
2
x
+ r
2
y
, = tan
1
_
r
y
r
x
_
.
Note that the second part of the equation involves the arctangent (or inverse
tan) function which by convention returns values between /2 and -/2 and
must be used carefully for vectors that have direction outside of this range.
Alternate notation
A vector v = (v
x
, v
y
, v
z
) is really a prescription to go a distance v
x
in the
x-direction, then a distance v
y
in the y-direction and v
z
in the z-direction.
A more explicit notation for denoting vectors is as multiples of the basis
vectors , and

k, which are unit length vectors pointing in the x, y and z
direction respectively:
= (1, 0, 0), = (0, 1, 0),

k = (0, 0, 1).
People who do a lot of numerical calculations with vectors often prefer to
use the following alternate notation:
v
x
+ v
y
+ v
z

k v (v
x
, v
y
, v
z
).
The addition rule looks as follows in the new notation:
2 + 3
. .
v
+ 5 2
. .
w
= 7 + 1
. .
v+ w
.
It is the same story repeating: adding s with s and s with s.
130
Vectors
Examples
Vector addition example
You are heading to your physics class after a safety meeting with a friend and
looking forward to two hours of enlightenment and wonder about the laws of
nature. It turns out that there is no enlightenment to be had that day because
there is going to be an in-class midterm. The rst question you have to solve
involves a block sliding down an incline. You look at it, draw a little diagram
and then wonder how the hell you are going to nd the net force acting on the
block (this is what they are asking you to nd). The three forces acting on the
block are

W = 30 90

,

N = 200 290

and

F
f
= 5060

.
You happen to remember the formula:

F =

F
net
= ma. [ Newtons 2nd law]
You get the feeling that this is the answer to all your troublems. You know
that because the keyword net force that appeared in the question appears
in this equation also.
The net force is simply the sum of all the forces acting on the block:

F
net
=

F =

W +

N +

F
f
.
All that separates you from the answer is the addition of these vectors.
Vectors right. Vectors have components, and there is the whole sin cos thing
for decomposing length and direction vectors in terms of their components.
But cant you just add them together as arrows too? It is just a sum, of things
right, should be simple.
OK, chill. Lets do this one step at a time. The net force must have and x
component which, according to the equation, must be equal to the sum of the
x components of all the forces:
F
net,x
= W
x
+ N
x
+ F
f,x
= 30 cos(90

) + 200 cos(290

) + 50 cos(60

)
= 93.4[N].
131
Vectors
You nd the y component of the net force using the sin of the angles:
F
net,y
= W
y
+ N
y
+ F
f,y
= 30 sin(90) + 200 sin(290) + 50 sin(60)
= 201.2[N].
Combining the two components of the victor, we get the nal answer:

F
net
= (F
net,x
, F
net,y
) = (93.4, 201.2) = 93.4 + 201.2 .
Bam! Just like that you are done because you overstand them mathematics.
Nuh problem. What-a-di next question me?
Relative motion example
A boat can reach a top speed of 12 knots in calm seas. Instead of being in a
calm sea, however, it is trying to sail up the St-Laurence river. The speed of
the current is 5 knots.
If the boat goes directly upstream at full throttle 12, then the speed of the
boat relative to the shore will be
12 5 = 7,
since we have to deduct the speed of the current from the speed of the boat
relative to the water.
If the boat wants to cross the river perpen-
dicular to the current ow, then it can use some
of its thrust to counterbalance the current, and
the other part to push across. What direction
should the boat sail in so that it moves in the
across-the-river direction? We are looking for
the direction of v the boat should take such
that, after adding the current component, the
boat moves in a straight line between the two
banks (the direction).
132
Basis
The geometrical picture is necessary so
draw a river and a triangle in the river with
the long side perpendicular to the current ow. Make the short side of length
5 and the hypotenuse of length 12. We will take the up-the-river component of
the speed v to be equal to 5 so that it cancels exactly the 5 ow of the river.
We have also labeled the hypotenuse as 12 since this is the ultimate speed that
the boat can have relative to the water.
From all of this we can answer the questions like professionals. You want
the angle? OK, well we have that 12 sin() = 5, where is the angle of the
boats course relative to the straight line between the two banks. We can use
the inverse-sin function to solve for the angle:
= sin
1
_
5
12
_
= 24.62

.
The accross-the-river component speed can be calculated from v
y
= 12 cos(),
or from Pythagoras Theorem if you prefer v
y
=
_
|v|
2
v
2
x
=

12
2
5
2
=
10.91.
Throughout this section we have used the x, y and z axes and described
vectors as components along each of thesedirections. It is very convenient to
have perpendicular axes like this, and a set of unit vectors pointing in each of
the three directions like the vectors , ,

k.
More generally, we can express vectors in terms of any basis e
1
, e
2
, e
3
for
the space of three dimensional vectors R
3
. What is a basis you ask? I am glad
you asked, because it is a very important concept.
3.3 Basis
One of the most important concepts in the study of vectors is the concept of a
basis. In the English language, the word basis carries the meaning of criterion.
Thus, in the sentence The students were selected on the basis of their results
in the MEQ exams means that the numerical results of some stupid test were
used in order to classify the worth of the candidates. Sadly, this type of thing
133
Basis
happens a lot and people often disregard the complex characteristics of a person
and focus on a single criterion. The meaning of basis in mathematics is more
holistic. A basis is a set of criteria that collectively capture all the information
about an object.
Lets start with a simple example. If one looks at the HTML code behind
the average web-page there will certainly be at least one mention of a colour
like bgcolor=#336699 which should be read as a triplet of values (33, 66, 99),
each one describing how much red, green and blue is needed to create the
given colour. The triple (33, 66, 99) describes the colour hotmail blue. This
convention for colour representation is called the RGB scale or something I
would like to call this the RGB basis. A basis is a set of elements which can be
used together to express something more complicated. In our case we have the
R, G and B elements which are pure colours and when mixed appropriately
they can create any colour. Schematically we can write this as:
RGB color(33, 66, 99) = 33R+ 66G+ 99B,
where we are using the coecients to determine the strength of each colour
component. To create the colour, we combine its components and the + op-
eration symbolizes the mixing of the colours. The reason why we are going
into such detail is to illustrate that the coecients by themselves do not mean
much. In fact they do not mean anything unless we know the basis that is
being used.
Another colour scheme that is commonly used is the cyan, magenta and
yellow (CMY) colour basis. We would get a completely dierent colour if we
were to interpret the same triplet of coordinates (33, 66, 99) with respect to
the CMY basis. To express the hotmail blue colour in the CMY basis you
would need the following coecients:
HotmailBlue = (33, 66, 99)
RGB
= (222, 189, 156)
CMY
.
A basis is a mapping which converts mathematical objects like the triple
(a, b, c) into real world ideas like colours. If there is ever an ambiguity about
which basis is being used for a given vector, we can indicate the basis as a
subscript after the bracket as we did above.
134
Basis
The ijk Basis
Look at the bottom left corner of the room you are in. Lets call the x axis
the edge between the wall that is to your left and the oor. The right wall and
the oor meet at the y axis. Finally, the vertical line where the two walls meet
will be called the z axis. This is a right-handed xyz coordinate system. It is
used by everyone in math and physics. It has three very nice axes. They are
nice because they are orthogonal (perpendicular, i.e., at 90

with each other)

and orthoginal is good for your life. We will see why that is shortly.
Now take an object of xed denite length, say the size of your foot. We
will call this the unit length. Measure a unit length along the x axis. This is
the vector. Repeat the same procedure with the y axis and you will have the
vector. Using these two vectors and the property of addition, we can build
new vectors. For example, I can describe a vector pointing at 45

with both
the x axis and the y axis by the following expression:
v = 1 + 1 ,
which means measure one step out on the x axis, one step out on the y axis.
Using our two basis vectors we can express any vector in the plane of the oor
by a linear combination like
v
spoint on the oor
= a + b .
The precise mathematical statement that describtes this situation is that the
basis formed by the pair , span the two dimensional space of the oor. We
can extend this idea to three dimensions by specifying the coordinates of any
point in room as a weighted sum of the three basis vectors:
v
point in the room
= a + b + c

k.
Choice of basis
In the case where it is clear which coordinate system we are using in a particular
situation, we can take the liberty to omit the explicit mention of the basis
135
Vector products
vectors and simply write (a, b, c) as an ordered triplet which contains only
the coecients. When there is more than one basis in some context (like in
problems where you have to change basis, then for every tuple of numbers we
should be explicit about which basis it refers to. We can do this by putting
a subscript after the tuple. For example, the vector v = a + b + c

k in the
standard basis is referred to as (a, b, c)

k
.
Discussion
It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of the notion of a basis. Every
time you solve a problem with vectors, you need to be consistent in your choice
of basis, because all the numbers and variables in your equations will depend
on it. The basis is the bridge between real world vector quantities and their
mathematical representation in terms of components.
3.4 Vector products
If addition of two vectors v and w is given by the equation (v
x
+w
x
, v
y
+w
y
, v
z
+
w
z
), you might think that the product of two vectors is (v
x
w
x
, v
y
w
y
, v
z
w
z
), but
you would be wrong. This way of multiplying vectors is not used in practice.
We will dene two other useful ways to multiply vectors in this section.
The dot product tells you how similar two vectors are to each other:
v w v
x
w
x
+ v
y
w
y
+ v
z
w
z
|v|| w| cos() R,
where is the angle between the two vectors. The factor cos() is largest
when the two vectors point in the same direction.
The formula for the cross product is more complicated so I will not show
it to you just yet. What is important is that the cross product of two vectors
is another vector:
v w = a vector perpendicular to both v and w R
3
.
If you take the product of one vector that points in the x direction with
another vector in the y direction, you will get a vector in the z direction.
136
Vector products
Dot product
The dot product between two vectors is given by the formula:
v w v
x
w
x
+ v
y
w
y
+ v
z
w
z
|v|| w| cos() R,
where is the angle between the two vectors. This operation is also known
as the inner product or scalar product. The name scalar comes from the fact
that the result of the dot product is a scalar number: a number that does not
change when the basis changes.
The signature for the dot product is:
: R
3
R
3
R.
The dot product is an operation which takes two vectors as inputs and outputs
a real number.
The geometric factor cos() depends on the relative orientation of the two
vectors:
If the vectors point in the same direction, then cos() = cos(0

) = 1 and
so v w = |v|| w|.
If the vectors are perpendicular to each other, cos() = cos(90

) = 0 and
so v w = |v|| w|(0) = 0.
If the vectors point in exactly opposite directions, then cos() =
cos(180

) = 1 and so v w = |v|| w|.

Cross product
The cross product takes as inputs two vectors and returns another vector:
: R
3
R
3
R
3
.
The fact that the output of this operation is a vector is why we sometimes
refer to the cross product as the vector product.
137
Complex numbers
The cross products of the individual basis elements is dened as follows:
=

k,

k = ,

k = .
The cross product is anti-symmetric in its inputs, which means that swap-
ping the order of the inputs introduces a negative sign in the output:
=

k,

k = ,

k = .
I bet you had not seen an anti-symmetric product before. Most products you
have seen so far in math are commutative, which means that the order of the
inputs doesnt matter. The product of two numbers is commutative ab = ba,
the dot product is commutative u v = v u, but the cross product of two
vectors is non commutative ,= .
For two arbitrary vectors a = (a
x
, a
y
, a
z
) and

b = (b
x
, b
y
, b
z
), the cross
product is calculated as follows:
a

b = (a
y
b
z
a
z
b
y
, a
z
b
x
a
x
b
z
, a
x
b
y
a
y
b
x
) .
The length of the output of the cross product is proportional to the sin of
the angle between the vectors:
|a

b| = |a||

b| sin().
The direction of the vector a

b is perpendicular to both a and

b.
3.5 Complex numbers
You have no doubt heard about the complex numbers C. The word complex
is an intimidating word. Surely it must be a complex task to learn about the
complex numbers? That may be true in general, but not if you know about
vectors. Complex numbers are similar to two dimensional vectors v R
2
. We
add and subtract complex numbers like vectors. Complex numbers also have
components, length and direction. If you understand vectors then you will
understand complex numbers at almost no additional mental cost.
138
Complex numbers
Example
Suppose you are asked to solve the following quadratic equation:
x
2
+ 1 = 0.
You are looking for a number x, such that x
2
= 1 so that adding one to x
2
we
get zero. If you are only allowed to give real answers (the set of real numbers
is denoted R), then there is no answer to this question. In other words, this
equation has no solution. This is because the quadratic function f(x) = x
2
+1
does not cross the x axis.
We are not going to take that though. We will imagine a new number
called i which ts this requirement. By denition i
2
= 1. And we call i the
unit imaginary number. The solutions to the equation are going to be x = i
and x = i. Remember that a quadratic equation has two solutions. We can
check i
2
+ 1 = 1 + 1 = 0 and also (i)
2
+ 1 = (1)
2
i
2
+ 1 = i
2
+ 1 = 0.
Denitions
i: The unit imaginary number i

1 or i
2
= 1.
bi: An imaginary number that is equal to b times i.
R: The set of real numbers.
C: The set of complex numbers C = a + bi [ a, b R.
z = a + bi: A complex number (has a real part and an imaginary part).
Rez = a: The real part of z.
Imz = b: The imaginary part of z.
z: The complex conjugate of z. If z = a + bi, then z = a bi.
When using the polar representation of complex numbers we have:
z = [z[
z
= [z[ cos
z
+ i[z[ sin
z
.
[z[ =

zz =

a
2
+ b
2
: The magnitude of z = a + bi.

z
= tan
1
(b/a): The phase of z = a + bi.
Rez = [z[ cos(
z
).
Imz = [z[ sin(
z
).
139
Complex numbers
Formulas
Addition and subtraction
Just like the addition of vectors is done component wise, the addition of
complex numbers is done reals-part-with-real-part and imaginary-part-with-
imaginary-part:
(a + bi) + (c + di) = (a + c) + (b + d)i.
Polar representation
A geometrical interpretation of the complex numbers is to extend the real
number line that stretches from to into a two-dimensional plane. The
horizontal axis (where the x axis is usually) will measure the real part of the
number. The vertical axis will measure the imaginary component. Complex
numbers are vectors in the complex plane.
It is possible to represent any complex number z = a+bi in terms of length
and direction notation:
z = [z[
z
= ([z[ cos
z
) + ([z[ sin
z
)i.
The magnitude of a complex number z = a + bi is:
[z[ =

a
2
+ b
2
.
This corresponds to the distance of from the origin. The formula is obtained
by using Pythagoras theorem.
The phase of the complex number is:

z
= tan
1
(b/a).
This corresponds to the angle that z makes with the real axis.
140
Complex numbers
Multiplication
The product of two complex numbers is computed using the usual rules of
algebra:
(a + bi)(c + di) = (ac bd) + (ad + bc)i.
In the polar representation, the product is:
(p)(q) = pq( + ).
Cardans example
One of the rst examples of reasoning using complex numbers was given by
Jerome Cardan in his Ars Magna. If someone says to you, divide 10 into two
parts, one of which multiplied into the other shall produce 40, it is evident that
this case or question is impossible. What is required is to nd wo numbers x
1
and x
2
such that x
1
+x
2
= 10 and x
1
x
2
= 40. This sounds kind of impossible.
Or is it?
Nevertheless, Cardan says, we shall solve it in this fashion:
x
1
= 5 +

15i, and x
2
= 5

15i.
When you add x
1
+ x
2
you get 10, and when you multiply them you get
x
1
x
2
=
_
5 +

15i
__
5

15i
_
= 25

15
2
i
2
= 25 + 15 = 40.
Hence this product is 40.[1]
Example
Both i and 1 have a magnitude of 1, but i has an argument of /2 (90

)
while 1 has an argument of (180

).
(i)(1) = (1

2
)(1) = 1
3
2
= i.
Eectively, multiplication by i is like rotation by 90 degrees leftward.
141
Complex numbers
Division
Let me now show you the procedure for dividing complex numbers:
(a + bi)
(c + di)
=
(a + bi)
(c + di)
(c di)
(c di)
= (a + bi)
(c di)
(c
2
+ d
2
)
= (a + bi)
c + di
[c + di[
2
.
In other words, if you want to divide the number z by the complex number s,
you should compute s and [s[
2
= s s and then use:
z/s = z
s
[s[
2
.
You can think of
s
|s|
2
as being equivalent to s
1
.
Fundamental theorem of algebra
The solutions to any polynomial equation a
0
+ a
1
x + a
2
x
2
+ a
n
x
n
= 0 are
of the form:
z = a + bi.
In other words, any polynomial P(x) of n
th
degree can be written as
P(x) = (x z
1
)(x z
2
) (x z
n
),
where z
i
C are its complex roots.
Before today, you would say that the equation x
2
+1 = 0 had no solutions.
Now you know that actually it has solutions, but the solutions are complex
numbers: x
1
= i and x
2
= i.
Eulers formula
We know that sin() is just a shifted version of cos(), so clearly these two func-
tions are related. The exponential function, however, seems kind of unrelated
to sin and cos. Lo and behold Eulers formula:
exp(i) e
i
= cos() + i sin(),
142
Complex numbers
where i =

1 is the unit imaginary number. An imaginary input number to

the exponential function produces a complex number as output which contains
both cos and sin. Eulers formula gives us a more natural notation for the
polar representation of complex numbers: z = [z[
z
= [z[e
i
z
If you want to impress your friends with you math knowledge, you can plug
= into the above equation to get
exp(i) = cos() + i sin() = 1,
which can be rearranged into this form: e
i
+ 1 = 0. This equation shows a
relationship between the ve most important numbers in all of mathematics:
Eulers number e = 2.71828 . . . , = 3.14 . . ., the imaginary number i, one and
zero.
de Moivres theorem
We can replace in Eulers formula with n, we obtain de Moivres theorem:
(cos + i sin )
n
= cos n + i sin n.
De Moivres Theorem seems obvious if you think of the multiplication law
in the polar representation of the complex number as z = [z[e
i
which is simply
raised to the nth power (cos +i sin )
n
= z
n
= ([z[e
i
)
n
= [z[
n
e
in
= cos n +
i sin n.
Using n = 2 in de Moivres formula, we can derive the double angle formulas
as the real an imaginary part of the following equation:
(cos
2
sin
2
) + (2 sin cos )i = cos(2) + sin(2)i.
Links and references
[ Pretty pictures of the Mandelbrot set ]
https://christopherolah.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/the-real-3d-mandelbrot-
set/
[1] Girolamo Cardan, The Great Art or The Rules of Algebra, trans. and ed.
by T. Richard Widmer (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Press, 1968), pp. 21920.
143
Complex numbers
144
Chapter 4
Mechanics
4.1 Introduction
Mechanics is the precise study of the motion of objects, the forces acting on
them and more abstract concepts such as momentum and energy. You probably
have an intuitive understanding of these concepts already. In this chapter we
will learn how to use precise mathematical equations to support your intuition.
145
Introduction
Newtons laws
Mechanics is the part of physics that is most well understood. Starting from
three simple principles known as Newtons laws, we can gure out pretty much
everything about the motion of the objects around us. Newtons three laws
are:
1. In the absence of external forces, objects will maintain their velocity and
their direction of motion.
2. A force acting on an object causes an acceleration inversely proportional
to the mass of the object:

F = ma.
3. For each force

F
12
applied by Object 1 on Object 2, there is an equal and
opposite force

F
21
that Object 2 exerts on Object 1.
This ability to express the laws of Nature as simple principles like the above is
what makes Physics fascinating. Complicated phenomena can be broken down
and understood in terms of simple theories.
The laws of physics are expressed in terms of mathematical equations.
There are about twenty such equations (see the back of the book). In this
chapter we will learn how to use each of these equations in order to solve
physics problems.
Motion
To solve a physics problem is to obtain the equation of motion x(t), which
describes the position of the object as a function of time. Once you know x(t),
you can answer any question pertaining to the motion of the object. To nd
the initial position x
i
of the object, you simply plug t = 0 into the equation
of motion x
i
= x(0). To nd the time(s) when the object reaches a distance
of 20[m] from the origin, you simply solve for t in x(t) = 20[m]. Many of the
problems on the mechanics nal exam will be of this form so, if you know how
to nd x(t), you will be in good shape to ace the exam.
146
Introduction
In Chapter 2, we learned about the kinematics of objects moving in one
dimension. More specically, we showed how the process of integration over
time (twice) can be used to obtain the position of a particle starting from the
knowledge of its acceleration:
a(t)
v
i
+
R
dt
v(t)
x
i
+
R
dt
x(t).
But how do we obtain the acceleration?
Dynamics is the study of forces
The rst step towards nding x(t) is to calculate all the forces that act on
the object. Forces are the cause of acceleration so if you want to nd the
acceleration, you need to calculate the forces acting on the object. Newtons
second law F = ma states that a force acting on an object produces
an acceleration inversely proportional to the mass of the object. There are
many kinds of forces: the weight of an object

W is a type of force, the force of
friction

F
f
is another type of force, the tension in a rope

T is yet another type
of force and there are many others. Note the little arrow on top of each force,
which is there to remind you that forces are vector quantities. To nd the net
force acting on the object you have to calculate the sum of all the forces acting
on the object

F
net

F.
Once you have the net force, you can use the formula a(t) =

F
net
m
to nd
the acceleration of the object. Once you have the acceleration a(t), you can
compute x(t) using the calculus steps we learned in Chapter 2. The entire
procedure for predicting the motion of objects can be summarized as follows:
1
m
_

F =

F
net
_
. .
dynamics
= a(t)
v
i
+
R
dt
v(t)
x
i
+
R
dt
x(t)
. .
kinematics
.
If you understand the above equation, then you understand mechanics. The
goal of this chapter is to introduce you to all the concepts that appear in this
equation and the relationships between them.
147
Introduction
Other stu
Apart from dynamics and kinematics, we will discuss a number of other physics
topics in this chapter.
Newtons second law can also be applied to the study of objects in rotation.
Angular motion is described by the angle of rotation (t), the angular velocity
(t) and the angular acceleration (t). The causes of angular acceleration are
angular force, which we call torque T . Apart from this change to angular
quantities, the principles behind circular motion are exactly the same as those
for linear motion.
During a collision between two objects, there will be a sudden spike in the
contact force between them which can be dicult to measure and quantify. It is
therefore not possible to use Newtons law F = ma to predict the accelerations
that occur during collisions.
In order to predict the motion of the objects after the collision we must
use a momentum calculation. An object of mass m moving with velocity v
has momentum p mv. The principle of conservation of momentum states
that the total amount of momentum before and after the collision is
conserved. Thus, if two objects with initial momenta p
i1
and p
i2
collide, the
total momentum before the collision must be equal to the total momentum
after the collision:

p
i
=

p
f
p
i1
+ p
i2
= p
f1
+ p
f2
.
Using this equation, it is possible to calculate the nal momenta p
f1
, p
f2
of
the objects after the collision.
Another way of solving physics problems is to use the concept of energy.
Instead of trying to describe the entire motion of the object, we can focus only
on the initial parameters and the nal parameters. The law of conservation of
energy states that the total energy of the system is conserved. Knowing
the total initial energy of a system allows us to nd the nal energy, and from
this calculate the nal motion parameters.
148
Introduction
Units
In math we just deal with numbers, that is, we solve questions where the
answer is just a dimensionless number like 3, 5 or 55.3. The universal power of
math comes precisely from this high level of abstraction. We could be solving
for the number of sheep in a pen, the surface area of a sphere or the annual
revenue of your startup and in all the cases the same mathematical techniques
can be used despite the fact that the numbers refer to very dierent kinds of
quantities.
In physics we use numbers too, but because we are talking about the real
world the numbers always have some dimension and measurement unit at-
tached to them. An answer in physics is a number which is either a length,
a time, a velocity, an acceleration, or some other physical quantity. We must
distinguish between these dierent types of numbers. It doesnt make sense to
add a time and a mass, because the two numbers are measuring dierent kinds
of quantities.
Here is a list of some of the kinds of quantities that will be discussed in
this chapter.
Dimension SI unit Other units Measured with
time [s] [h], [min] clock
length [m] [cm], [mm], [ft], [in] metre tape
velocity [m/s] [km/h], [mi/h] speedometer
acceleration [m/s
2
] acceleroometer
mass [kg] [g], [lb] scale
You should always try to check the units in your equations. Sometimes
you will be able to catch a numerical mistake because the units will not be
correct. If I ask you to calculate the maximum height that a ball will reach, I
expect that your answer will be a length measured in [m] and not some other
kind of quantity like a velocity [m/s] or an acceleration [m/s
2
] or a surface area
[m
2
]. An answer in [ft] would also be acceptable since this is also a length, and
it can be converted to metres using 1[ft] = 0.3048[m].
Learn to watch out for the units/dimensions of physical quantities, and
you will have an easy time in physics. They are an excellent error checking
149
Projectile motion
mechanism. The dimensions of quantities are indicated in square brackets
throughout the physics lessons in this book.
We will begin our physics journey by starting from the familiar subject
of kinematics. Now that you know about vectors, we can study kinematics
problems in two dimensions like the motion of a projectile: r(t) = [x(t), y(t)].
4.2 Projectile motion
Ever since the invention of gun powder, generation after generation of men
have thought of countless dierent ways of hurtling shrapnel and explosives at
each other. Indeed, mankind has been stuck to the idea of two dimensional
projectile motion like ies on shit. So long as there is money to be made in
selling weapons, and TV stations to keep justifying the legitimacy of the use
of these weapons, it is likely that the trend will continue.
It is therefore imperative for anyone interested in reversing this trend to
learn about the physics of projectile motion. You need to know the tech-
niques of the enemy (the industrial military complex) before you can ght
them. We will see that projectile motion is nothing more than two parallel
one-dimensional kinematics problems: UVM in the x direction and UAM in
the y direction.
Concepts
The basic concepts of kinematics in two dimensions are:
x, y: a coordinate system.
t: time, measured in seconds.
r(t) (x(t), y(t)): the position (vector) of the object at time t.
v(t) (v
x
(t), v
y
(t)): the velocity of the object as a function of time.
a(t) (a
x
(t), a
y
(t)): the acceleration as a function of time.
150
Projectile motion
When solving some problem, where we calculate the motion of an object
that starts form an initial point an goes to a nal point, we will use the
following terminology:
t
i
= 0: initial time (the beginning of the motion).
t
f
: nal time (when the motion stops).
v
i
= v(0) = (v
x
(0), v
y
(0)) = (v
ix
, v
iy
): the initial velocity at t = 0.
r
i
= r(0) = (x(0), y(0)) = (x
i
, y
i
): the initial position at t = 0.
r
f
= r(t
f
) = (x(t
f
), y(t
f
)) = (x
f
, y
f
): the nal position at t = t
f
.
Formulas
Motion in two dimensions
Sometimes you have to describe both the x and the y coordinate of the motion
of a particle:
r(t) = (x(t), y(t)).
We choose x to be the horizontal component of the projectile motion and y to
be its height.
The velocity of the projectile will be
v(t) =
d
dt
(r(t)) =
_
dx(t)
dt
,
dy(t)
dt
_
= (v
x
(t), v
y
(t)),
and the initial velocity is:
v
i
= v(0) = |v
i
| = (v
x
(0), v
y
(0)) = (v
ix
, v
iy
) = (|v
i
| cos , |v
i
| sin ).
The acceleration of the projectile will be:
a(t) =
d
dt
(v(t)) = (a
x
(t), a
y
(t)) = (0, 9.81).
Note how we have zero acceleration in the x direction (ignoring air friction) so
we can use the UVM equations of motion for x(t) and v
x
(t). In the y direction
we have a uniform downward acceleration due to gravity.
151
Projectile motion
Projectile motion
The equations of motion of a projectile are the following. First in the x direc-
tion we have:
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
,
v
x
(t) = v
ix
.
In the y direction, you have the constant pull of gravity downwards which
gives us a uniformly accelerated motion (UAM):
y(t) =
1
2
(9.81)t
2
+ v
iy
t + y
i
,
v
y
(t) = 9.81t + v
iy
,
v
2
yf
= v
2
iy
+ 2(9.81)(y).
Example
Let us now consider an example in
which we analyze all aspects of the
motion of a projectile. An object
is thrown with an initial velocity
8.96[m/s] at an angle of 51.3

with
the ground from an initial height of
1[m]. You are asked to calculate the
maximum height h that the object
will reach, and the distance d where
the object will hit the ground.
Your rst step when reading any physics problem should be to extract
the information from the problem statement. The initial position is r(0) =
(x
i
, y
i
) = (0, 1)[m]. The initial velocity is v
i
= 8.9651.3

[m/s], which is
v
i
= (8.96 cos 51.3

, 8.96 sin 51.3

) = (5.6, 7)[m/s] in component form.

You can now plug the values of r
i
and v
i
into the equations of motion and
nd the desired quantities. When the object reaches its maximum height, it
152
Projectile motion
will have zero velocity in the y direction: v
y
(t
top
) = 0. We can use this fact,
and the v
y
(t) equation in order to nd t
top
= 7/9.81 = 0.714[s]. The maximum
height is then obtained by evaluating the function y(t) at t = t
top
. We obtain
h = y(t
top
) = 1 + 7(0.714) +
1
2
(9.81)(0.714)
2
= 3.5[m].
To nd d, we must solve the quadratic equation 0 = y(t
f
) = 1 + 7(t
f
) +
1
2
(9.81)(t
f
)
2
to nd the time t
f
when the object hits the ground. The solution
is t
f
= 1.55[s]. We then plug this value into the equation for x(t) to obtain
d = x(t
f
) = 0 + 5.6(1.55) = 8.68[m]. You can verify that these answers match
the trajectory illustrated in the gure.
Explanations
Coordinate system
Before you start to solve any problem, you need to make a diagram of what is
going on. On that diagram indicate clearly the coordinate system with respect
to which you will measure x and y, and v
x
and v
y
. The values you plug into
the equations of motion are measured with respect to this coordinate system:
a velocity v
x
in the opposite direction of the x axis is represented as a negative
number.
Uniform velocity motion in the x direction
Ignoring the eects of air friction, there is zero acceleration in the x direction so
a
x
= 0. As a consequence, the velocity will be constant. Whatever x velocity
you give the projectile when you throw it, it will keep it. Therefore the UVM
equations describe its motion in the x direction:
a
x
(t) = 0,
v
x
(t) = v
ix
,
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
.
153
Projectile motion
Uniform acceleration motion in the y direction
We have the pull of gravity in the y direction which is a constant acceleration
a = 9.81[m/s
2
], the equations of motion are:
a
y
(t) = g,
v
y
(t) = gt + v
iy
,
y(t) =
1
2
(g)t
2
+ v
iy
t + y
i
,
where g = 9.81[m/s
2
] is the gravitational acceleration on the surface on Earth.
Furthermore we have another useful equation relating the initial and nal
velocity in the y direction:
v
2
fy
= v
2
iy
+ 2a(y).
This equation is useful because it does not contain the time.
Examples
Freedom and democracy
An American F-18 is ying above Iraq. It is carrying two bombs. One bomb is
called freedom and weighs 200[kg], the other democracy with mass 500[kg].
If the plane is ying with speed v
i
= 300 [m/s] and drops both bombs from a
height of 2000[m]. How far will the bombs travel? Which city is going to get
democracy and which will get freedom?
The equations of motion are:
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
= 300t + 0,
y(t) =
1
2
(9.81)t
2
+ v
iy
t + y
Ai
= 4.9t
2
+ 2000.
Solving for t in the second equation we get t = 20.20[s]. We use this value of t
in the rst equation to nd the nal x position where the bombs hit the ground
154
Projectile motion
x
f
= x(20.20) = 6060[m]. Both bombs hit the same town, the one which is
6.06[km] from the launch point. Observe that the masses of the bombs did not
play any part in the nal equations of motion.
The above scenario is basically what the people in the US state administra-
tion are talking about when they say they are bringing freedom and democracy
to the Middle East. We have to get those crooked warmongering bastards out
of power and quickly. In fact the entire industrial military complex needs to be
dismantled because they are the ones who ultimately benet from the World
conicts. Remember, the best way to ght the system is not to work for the
system.
Roach throw
You are standing comfortably on a picnic bench on the Mt-Royal and, not far
from you, there is a garbage bin. Feeling lazy and relaxed, you decide that you
want to throw a particle r into the bin instead of walking over and dropping it
in. The particle r (for the French rebut) is a piece of carton rolled upon itself
and wrapped in a paper. Imagine a coordinate system centred below your feet.
We will denote as (0, 0) the point where your right toe touches the ground and
the point (x = 0, y = 1.4)[m] is the initial position of the carton r as you are
about to ick it with your nger towards the garbage.
Suppose that the garbage bin is 3 metres away from you and that it is 1
metre tall. Can you calculate the initial velocity that the roach needs to have
to land in the garbage bin? Assume that you send it ying purely along the x
axis, in other words you do not give it any initial y-velocity: v
iy
= 0. Can you
solve for v
ix
necessary for the roach to fall into the garbage bin?
All that you need to describe the motion of r are the initial position
r(0) = (x(0), y(0)) and the initial velocity v
i
= v(0) = (v
x
(0), v
y
(0)), which
you can then plug into the equations of motion:
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
,
y(t) = y
i
+ v
iy
t +
1
2
a
y
t
2
.
155
Projectile motion
Most physics word problems will follow this pattern. The problem statement
gives you some information about the initial conditions and the desired nal
conditions and then ask you to solve for the unknown, i.e., the one variable
which they didnt give you.
Can you carry out the necessary calculations in this case? I dont mean
to stress you out, but sitting next to you is your 110kg pure-muscle Chilean
friend who has two kids and really gets pissed o at people who throw garbage
around in the park. You dont want to piss him o so you better get that
initial velocity right!
OK, from now on we can switch into high gear because we have everything
setup nicely for us. We know that the general equations of motion for UVM
in x and UAM in y are:
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
,
y(t) = y
i
+ v
iy
t +
1
2
a
y
t
2
,
and more specically we know that the y acceleration is due to gravity so we
have:
x(t) = v
ix
t + x
i
,
y(t) = y
i
+ v
iy
t +
1
2
(9.8)t
2
.
We also know that the position at t = 0 is (x
i
, y
i
) = (0, 1.4) and that at
some t
f
> 0 we will be ying through the bin at (x(t
f
), y(t
f
)) = (3, 1).
Thus we have:
x(t
f
) = 3 = v
ix
t
f
+ 0,
y(t
f
) = 1 = 1.4 + v
iy
t
f
+
1
2
(9.8)t
2
f
.
Furthermore, since the problem specied it, we can assume that the initial
velocity of r was purely horizontal (v
iy
= 0). Thus, the equations we have to
156
Projectile motion
solve are:
3 = v
ix
t
f
,
1 = 1.4 4.9t
2
f
,
where v
ix
and t
f
are the two unknowns.
From here on, it should be clear where the story is going. First we solve
for t
f
in the second equation:
t
f
=
_
(1 1.4)
4.9
=
_
0.4
4.9
=
_
4/49 = 2/7 0.28571.., [s]
and plug that into the rst equation to solve for v
ix
as follows:
v
ix
=
3
t
f
=
3 7
2
=
21
2
= 10.5 [m/s].
You ick r with you nger at an initial velocity of exactly v
i
= (10.5, 0)[m/s]
and the roach ies right into the garbage bin. Success!
Interception
With all those people lunging explosive projectiles at each other, a need de-
velops for interception systems which can throw a counter-projectile at the
incoming projectile and knock it out of the air.
Let us study how we can intercept an incoming ball (A) launched fromr
Ai
=
(0, 3) with initial velocity v
Ai
= (8 cos(40), 8 sin(40)). As interception device,
you have at your disposal a ball launcher placed at r
Bi
= (10, 0) with a xed
ring angle of 50

placed so that it faces the incoming ball. The ball launcher

has a variable launch speed w[m/s], which you can choose. You want to re an
intercepting ball, which will have initial velocity v
Bi
= (wcos(50), wsin(50))
so as to intercept the ball (A) in mid-air. What is the required initial velocity
w for the balls to hit each other? At which time t will the collision take place?
157
Projectile motion
As far as kinematics is concerned, this is a standard projectile motion prob-
lem times two. You have ball (A) which has equations of motion:
x
A
(t) = v
Aix
t + x
Ai
= 8 cos(40)t + 0,
y
A
(t) =
1
2
(9.81)t
2
+ v
Aiy
t + y
Ai
= 4.9t
2
+ 8 sin(40)t + 3,
and ball (B) which has equations of motion:
x
B
(t) = v
Bix
t + x
Bi
= wcos(50)t + 10,
y
B
(t) =
1
2
(9.81)t
2
+ v
Biy
t + y
Bi
= 4.9t
2
+ wsin(50)t + 0.
The fact that we want the balls to collide, means that at some point they
will have the same coordinates r
A
= r
B
, which is another way of saying
(x
A
(t), y
A
(t)) = (x
B
(t), y
B
(t)).
The x-coordinates have to match, and the y-coordinates have to match, so this
gives us two equations:
8 cos(40)t + 0 = wcos(50)t + 10,
4.9t
2
+ 8 sin(40)t + 3 = 4.9t
2
+ wsin(50)t + 0.
We can cancel the 4.9t
2
on both sides of the bottom equation to get:
8 cos(40)t = wcos(50)t + 10,
8 sin(40)t + 3 = wsin(50)t.
This is a set of two equations with two unknowns, so we can solve it. It
is not going to be easy to do this, because we cant isolate either of t or w
in a clean way using the standard substitution techniques. There is a trick
though: we are can divide the two equations! If A = B and C = D ,= 0, then
A/C = B/D, so this is what we will use. In preparation for this step, let me
158
Projectile motion
rearrange the equations a bit to have all the w-containing terms alone on the
right side:
10 8 cos(40)t = wcos(50)t,
8 sin(40)t + 3 = wsin(50)t.
We will now divide the bottom equation by the top equation to obtain:
8 sin(40)t + 3
10 8 cos(40)t
=
wsin(50)t
wcos(50)t
= tan(50).
Rearranging the expression we get
8 sin(40)t + 3 = tan(50)(10 8 cos(40)t).
We now collect all the t terms to one side to obtain:
[8 sin(40) + 8 cos(40) tan(50)]t = 10 tan(50) 3,
and nally
t =
10 tan(50) 3
8 sin(40) + 8 cos(40) tan(50)
= 0.7165[s].
We can now plug into any of the above equations to nd the value of w.
For example plugging the value of t = 0.7165 into
10 8 cos(40)t = wcos(50)t,
we will get
10 8 cos(40)(0.7165) = wcos(50)(0.7165),
and so w =
108 cos(40)(0.7165)
cos(50)(0.7165)
= 12.1788 [m/s].
OK. Now lets check our answer. If we use the initial velocity 12.1788 and
substitute that into the equations of motion for ball (B), and plot the two
trajectories on the computer:
159
Forces
They do meet indeed and at the specied time t = 0.7165[s].
Discussion
I want to point out that there is no new physics necessary to understand
the motion of projectiles. Projectile motion is a two-dimensional kinematics
problem which can be broken down into two parts: the x direction (described
by the UVM equations) and the y direction (described by the UAM equations).
Links
[ Eisenhower on the danger posed by the industrial military complex. ]
Quote: Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper
meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defence with our
peaceful methods and goals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
4.3 Forces
Like a shepherd who brings back stray sheep, we need to rescue the word force
and give it precise meaning. In physics force means something very specic.
Not the force from Star Wars, not the force of public opinion, and not the
force in the battle of good versus evil.
160
Forces
Force in physics has a precise meaning as an amount of push or pull exerted
on an object. Forces are vector quantities measured in Newtons [N]. In this
section we will explore all the dierent kinds of forces.
Concepts

F: a force. This is something the object feels as a pull or a push. Force
is a vector, so you must always keep in mind the direction in which the
force

F acts.
k, G, m,
s
,
k
, . . .: parameters on which the force F may depend. Ex:
the heavier an object is (large m parameter), the larger its gravitational
pull will be:

W = 9.81m , where points towards the sky.
Kinds of forces
We next list all the forces which you are supposed to know about for a standard
physics class and dene the relevant parameters for each kind of force. You
need to practice exercises using each of these forces, until you start to feel how
they act.
Gravitation
The force of gravity exists between any two massive objects. The magnitude of
the gravitational force between two objects of mass M[kg] and m[kg] separated
by a distance r[m] is given by the formula
F
g
=
GMm
r
2
,
where G = 6.67 10
11
[
Nm
2
kg
2
] is the gravitational constant. This is the fa-
mous one-over-arr-squared law that describes the gravitational pull between
two objects. This was Newtons big discovery.
On the surface of the earth, which has mass M = 5.972 10
24
[kg] and
radius r = 6.367 10
6
[m], the force of gravity on an object of mass m is given
161
Forces
by
F
g
=
GMm
r
2
=
GM
r
2
..
g
m = 9.81m = W.
We call this force the weight of the object and to be precise we should write

W = mg to indicate that the force acts downwards in the negative y

direction. Verify using your calculator that
GM
r
2
= 9.81 g.
Force of a spring
A spring is a piece of metal twisted into a coil that has a certain natural
length. The spring will resist any attempts to stretch it or compress it. The
force exerted by a spring is given by

F
s
= kx,
where x is the amount by which the spring is displaced from its natural length
and the constant k[N/m] is a measure of the strength of the spring. Note
the negative sign: if you try to stretch the spring (positive x) then the force
of a spring will pull against you (in the negative x direction), if you try to
compress the spring (negative x) it will push back against you (in the positive
x direction).
Normal force
The normal force is the force between two surfaces in contact. The word normal
means perpendicular to the surface of in this context. The reason why my
coee mug does not fall to the oor right now is that the table exerts a normal
force

N on it keeping in place.
Force of friction
In addition to the normal force between surfaces, there is also the force of
friction

F
f
which acts to prevent or slow down any sliding motion between
162
Force diagrams
the surfaces. There are two kinds of force of friction and both kinds of are
proportional to the amount of normal force between the surfaces:
max

F
fs
=
s
|

N| (static),

F
fk
=
k
|

N| (kinetic),
where
s
and
k
are the static and dynamic friction coecients. Note that it
makes intuitive sense that the force of friction should be proportional to the
magnitude of the normal force |

N|: the harder the surfaces push against each

other the more dicult it should be to make them slide. The above equations
make this intuition precise.
The static force of friction acts on objects that are not moving. It describes
the maximum amount of friction that can exist between two objects. If a
horizontal force greater than F
fs
=
s
N is applied to the object, then it will
start to slip. The kinetic force of friction acts when two objects are sliding
relative to each other. It always acts in the direction opposite to the motion.
Tension
A force can also be exerted on an object remotely by attaching a rope to the
object. The force exerted on the object will be equal to the tension in the rope

T. Note that tension always pulls away from an object: you cant push a dog
on a leash.
Discussion
Viewing the interactions between objects in terms of the forces that act between
them is a very powerful way of thinking. In the next section, we will learn how
to draw force diagrams which take into account all the forces that act on the
object.
4.4 Force diagrams
Welcome to Force-Accounting 101. In this section we will learn how to identify
all the forces acting on an object and use Newtons 2nd law

F =

F
net
= ma
163
Force diagrams
to predict the resulting acceleration.
Concepts
Newtons second law describes a relationship between these three quantities:
m: the mass of an object.

F
net
: the net force on the object.
a: the acceleration of the object.
Forces and accelerations are vectors. To work with vectors, we work with
their components:
F
x
: the component of

F in the x direction.
F
y
: the component of

F in the y direction.
Vectors are meaningless unless it is clear with respect to which coordinate
system they are expressed.
x axis: Usually the x axis is horizontal and to the right, however, for
problems with inclines, it will be more convenient to use an inclined x
axis that is parallel to the slope.
y axis: The y axis is always perpendicular to the x axis.
, : Unit vectors in the x and y directions. Any vector can be written as
v = v
x
+ v
y
or as v = (v
x
, v
y
).
Provided we have a coordinate system, we can write any force vector in
three equivalent ways:

F F
x
+ F
y
(F
x
, F
y
) |

F|.
What types of forces are there in force diagrams?
164
Force diagrams

W

F
gravity
= mg: The weight. This is the force on a object due to its
gravity. The gravitational pull g always points downwards towards the
centre of the earth. g = 9.81[N/kg].

T: Tension in a rope. Tension is always pulling away from the object.

N: Normal force the force between two surfaces.

F
fs
=
s
|

N|: Static force of friction.

F
fk
=
k
|

N|: Kinetic force of friction.

F
s
= kx: The force (pull or push) of a spring that is displaced (stretched
or compressed) by x metres.
Formulas
Newtons 2nd law
The sum of the forces acting on an object, divided by the mass gives you the
acceleration of the object:

F

F
net
= ma.
Vector components
If a vector v makes an angle with the x axis then:
v
x
= |v| cos , and v
y
= |v| sin .
The vector v
x
corresponds to the part of v that points in the x direction.
In what follows, you will be asked a countless number of times to
Find the component of

F in the ? direction.
Which is another way of asking you to nd the number v
?
.
The answer is usually equal to the length |

F| multiplied by either cos or

sin and sometimes 1 all depending on way the coordinate system is
chosen. So dont guess. Look at the coordinate system. If the vector points
165
Force diagrams
in the direction where x increases, then v
x
should be a positive number. If v
points in the opposite direction, then v
x
should be negative.
To add forces

F
1
and

F
2
you have to add their components:

F
1
+

F
2
= (F
1x
, F
1y
) + (F
1x
, F
2y
) = (F
1x
+ F
2x
, F
1y
+ F
2y
) =

F
net
.
Instead of dealing with vectors in the bracket notation as above, when solving
force diagrams it is easier to simply write the x equation on one line, and the
y equation on a separate line below it:
F
netx
= F
1x
+ F
2x
,
F
nety
= F
1y
+ F
2y
.
It is a good idea to always write those two equations together as a block so it
remains clear that you are talking about the same problem, but the rst row
represents the x-dimension and the second row represents the y-dimension.
Force check
It is important to account for all the forces acting on an object. Any object
with mass on the surface of the earth will feel a downwards gravitational pull
of magnitude F
g
= W = mg. Then you have to think about which of the other
forces might be present:

T,

N,

F
f
,

F
s
. Anytime you see a rope tugging on the
object, you know there must be some tension

T, which is a force vector pulling
on the block. Anytime you have an object sitting on a surface, the surface will
push back with a normal force

N. If the object is sliding on the surface there
will be a force of friction acting against the direction of the motion:
F
fk
=
k
|

N|.
If the object is not moving, then you have to use
s
in the friction force
equation, to get the maximum static friction force that the contact between
the object and the ground can support before the object starts to slip:
maxF
fs
=
s
|

N|.
166
Force diagrams
If you see a spring that is either stretched or compressed by the object, then
you must account for the spring force. The force of a spring is restorative:
it always acts against the deformation you are making to the spring. If you
stretch it by x[cm], then it will try to pull itself back to its normal length with
a force of:

F
s
= kx.
The constant of proportionality k is called the spring constant and is measured
in [N/m].
Recipe for solving force diagrams
Below we list the steps of the general procedure to follow when solving problems
in dynamics.
1. Draw a force diagram focussed on the object and indicate all the forces
acting on it.
2. Choose a coordinate system, and indicate clearly in the diagram what
you will call the positive x direction, and what you will call the positive
y direction. All quantities in the subsequent equations will be expressed
with respect to this coordinate system.
3. Write down the following template:

F
x
= = ma
x
,

F
y
= = ma
y
.
4. Fill in the template by calculating the x and y components of each force
acting on the object:

W,

N,

T,

F
fs
,

F
fk
,

F
s
as applicable.
5. Solve the equations for the unknown quantities.
167
Force diagrams
I highly recommend that you perform some consistency checks after Step
4. You should check the signs: if the force in the diagram is acting in the x
direction, then its component must be positive. If the force is acting in the
direction opposite to the x axis, then its component should be negative. You
should also check that whenever F
x
cos , then F
y
sin . If instead we use
the angle dened with respect to the y axis, we would have F
x
sin , and
F
y
cos .
We will now illustrate how to use this recipe through a series of examples.
Examples
Block on a table
You place a block of mass m on the table. If it has mass m then it feels its
weight

W pulling down on it, but the table is not letting it drop to the oor.
The table pushes back on the block with a normal force

N.
Steps 1,2: We draw the force diagram and choose a coordinate system:
Step 3: Next, we write down the empty equations template:

F
x
= = ma
x
,

F
y
= = ma
y
.
Step 4: There is nothing much going on in the x direction: no forces acting
in the x direction and the block is not moving so a
x
= 0. In the y direction we
168
Force diagrams
have the force of gravity and the normal force exerted by the table:

F
x
= 0 = 0,

F
y
= N mg = 0.
We set a
y
= 0, because we see that the block is just sitting there on the table
without moving. The technical term for situations where a
x
= 0, a
y
= 0 is
called static equilibrium. Force diagrams with static equilibrium are easy to
solve, because the entire right hand side is equal to zero, which means that the
forces on the object must be counter-balancing each other.
Step 5: Suppose the teacher was asking you What is the magnitude of the
normal force?. You can easily answer this by looking at the second equation:
N = mg bro!
Moving the fridge
You are trying to push your fridge across the kitchen oor. Because it weights
quite a lot, it is gripping the oor quite a bit. If the static coecient of
friction between the metal feet of your fridge and the tiles of the oor is
s
,
how much force

F
ext
would it take to get the fridge to start moving?

F
x
= F
ext
F
fs
= 0,

F
y
= N mg = 0.
169
Force diagrams
If you push with force F
ext
= 30[N], the fridge will push back (via its
connection to the oor) with a force F
fs
= 30[N]. If you push harder, the
fridge will push back harder and it will still not move. Only when you reach
the slipping threshold will it move. This means you have to push with force
equal to the maximum static friction force F
fs
=
s
N, so we have:

F
x
= F
ext

s
N = 0,

F
y
= N mg = 0.
To solve for F
ext
you rst isolate N = mg in the bottom line, and then
substitute the value of N in the top line to get F
ext
=
s
mg.
Friction slowing you down
OK, so you have the fridge moving now and you are moving at a steady pace
across the room:
Your equation of motion is going to be:

F
x
= F
ext

F
fk
= ma
x
,

F
y
= N mg = 0.
In particular if you want to keep a steady speed (v = const) as you move
across the room, you will push with such a force just to balance the friction
force and keep a
x
= 0.
170
Force diagrams
To nd the value of F
ext
to keep a constant speed we solve:

F
x
= F
ext

k
N = 0,

F
y
= N mg = 0.
We get a similar expression as above, but with
k
instead of
s
: F
ext
=

k
mg. Generally,
k
<
s
so it takes less force to keep the fridge moving than
it took to get it to start moving.
Let us now take a dierent slant on this whole friction thing.
Incline
At this point, my dear readers, we are getting into the main kind of question
that will be, without a doubt, asked in your homework or at the nal exam.
A block sliding down an incline. What is its acceleration?
Step 1: We draw a diagram which includes the weight

W, the normal force

N and the friction force

F
fk
.
Step 2: We pick the coordinate system to be tilted along the incline. This
is important because this way the motion is purely in the x direction, while
the y direction will be static.
Step 3,4: Lets copy the empty template, and ll in the equations:

F
x
= |

W| sin F
fk
= ma
x
,

F
y
= N |

W| cos = 0,
171
Force diagrams
or substituting the values that we know:

F
x
= mg sin
k
N = ma
x
,

F
y
= N mg cos = 0.
Step 5: From the y equation, we obtain N = mg cos and substituting this
into the x equation we get:
a
x
=
1
m
(mg sin
k
mg cos ) = g sin
k
g cos .
Bathroom scale
You have a spring with spring constant k on which you put a block of mass m.
By what length y will the spring be compressed?
Step 1,2: We draw a before and after picture, with the y axis placed at the
natural length of the spring.
Step 3,4: Filling in the template we get:

F
x
= 0 = 0,

F
y
= F
s
mg = 0.
Step 5: We know that the force exerted by a spring is proportional to its
displacement according to
F
s
= ky
B
,
so we can nd y
B
=
mg
k
. The length of compression is therefore:
[y[ =
mg
k
.
172
Force diagrams
Two blocks
Now for a more involved example with two blocks. One block is sitting on the
surface, and another one is falling straight down. The two are connected by a
sti rope. What is the acceleration of the system as a whole?
Steps 1,2: We have two objects, so we have to draw two force diagrams.
Step 3: We also have two sets of equations. One set of equations for the
left block, and one for the right block:

F
1x
= = m
1
a
x
1

F
2x
= = m
2
a
x
2

F
1y
= = m
1
a
y
1

F
2y
= = m
2
a
y
2
Steps 4: We ll them in with all the forces drawn in the diagram:

F
1x
= F
fk
+ T
1
= m
1
a
x
1

F
2x
= 0 = 0

F
1y
= N
1
W
1
= 0

F
2y
= W
2
+ T
2
= m
2
a
y
2
Step 5: What are the connections between the two blocks? Since it is the
same rope that connects the two blocks, this means that the tension in the rope
173
Force diagrams
is the same on both ends so T
1
= T
2
= T. Also since the rope is of xed length
we have that the x
1
and y
2
coordinates are related by a constant (though they
point in dierent directions), so it must be that a
x
1
= a
y
2
= a.
Rewriting in terms of the new common variables T and a we have:

F
1x
=
k
N
1
+ T = m
1
a

F
2x
= 0 = 0

F
1y
= N
1
m
1
g = 0

F
2y
= m
2
g + T = m
2
a
We isolate N
1
on the bottom left, and isolate T on the bottom right:

F
1x
=
k
N
1
+ T = m
1
a

F
2x
= 0 = 0
N
1
= m
1
g T = m
2
a + m
2
g
Now substitute the values into the top left equation to get

F
1x
=
k
(m
1
g) + (m
2
a + m
2
g) = m
1
a,
or moving all the a terms to one side we have

k
m
1
g + m
2
g = m
1
a + m
2
a = (m
1
+ m
2
)a,
which makes sense since the two blocks attached with a rope is in some sense
an object of collective mass (m
1
+ m
2
) with two external forces on it. From
this point of view, the tension T is an internal force of the object and doesnt
appear in the external force equation.
The acceleration of the whole two-block system going to be:
a =
m
2
g
k
m
1
g
m
1
+ m
2
.
Two inclines
OK, lets just go crazy now! Lets have two inclines, two blocks, a rope, and
friction everywhere. We want to nd the acceleration as usual.
174
Force diagrams
Steps 1,2: We draw a force diagram with two dierent coordinate systems
each adapted for the angle of the incline:
Steps 3,4: Fill in all force components, and set a
y
1
= 0, a
y
2
= 0:

F
1x
= W
1
sin F
1fk
+ T
1
= m
1
a
x
1
,

F
1y
= W
1
cos + N
1
= 0,

F
2x
= W
2
sin F
2fk
T
2
= m
2
a
x
2
,

F
2y
= W
2
cos + N
2
= 0.
Step 5: The links between the two worlds are two: the tension in the rope
is the same T = T
1
= T
2
and also the acceleration since the blocks are moving
together a = a
x
1
= a
x
2
. Rewriting and expanding we have:

F
1x
= m
1
g sin
k
N
1
+ T = m
1
a,
N
1
= m
1
g cos ,

F
2x
= m
2
g sin
k
N
2
T = m
2
a,
N
2
= m
2
g cos .
Lets substitute the values of N
1
and N
2
into the x equations:

F
1x
= m
1
g sin
k
m
1
g cos + T = m
1
a,

F
2x
= m
2
g sin
k
m
2
g cos T = m
2
a.
175
Force diagrams
There are many ways to solve for the two unknowns in this pair of equations.
Either (A) we isolate T in one of the equations and substitute the value of T
into the second or (B) we isolate a in both equations and set them equal to
each other.
We will use approach (A) and isolate T in the bottom equation to get:
m
1
g sin
k
m
1
g cos + T = m
1
a,
m
2
g sin
k
m
2
g cos m
2
a = T.
and nally substitute the expression for T into the top equation to obtain
m
1
g sin
k
m
1
g cos + (m
2
g sin
k
m
2
g cos m
2
a) = m
1
a,
which can be rewritten as
m
1
g sin
k
m
1
g cos + m
2
g sin
k
m
2
g cos = (m
1
+ m
2
)a.
Since we know the values of m
1
, m
2
,
k
, and , we can calculate all the
quantities on the left hand side and solve for a.
Other types of problems
All the examples shown asked you to nd the acceleration, but sometimes you
might be told the acceleration and asked to solve for some other unknown in
the equations. Regardless of what you have to solve for, you should always
start with the diagram and the sum-of-the-forces template. Once you have
these equations in front of you, you will be able to reason about the problem
more easily.
Experiment
Suspend an object of known mass (say a 100g chocolate bar) on the spring
taken out from a retractable pen. Use a ruler to measure by how much the
spring stretches in the process. What is the spring constant k?
176
Momentum
Discussion
In previous sections we discussed the kinematics problem of nding the position
of an object x(t) given the knowledge of its acceleration function a(t) and the
initial conditions x
i
and v
i
. In this section we studied the dynamics problem,
which involved drawing force diagrams and calculating the net force on the
object. Understanding these topics means that you fully understand Newtons
equation F = ma which is perhaps the most important equation in this book.
We can summarize the entire procedure for predicting the position of an
object x(t) from rst principles in the following equation:
1
m
_

F =

F
net
_
. .
dynamics
= a(t)
v
i
+
R
dt
v(t)
x
i
+
R
dt
x(t)
. .
kinematics
.
The left hand side calculates the net force, which is the cause of acceleration.
The right hand side indicates how we can calculate the equation of motion x(t)
from the knowledge of the acceleration and the initial conditions. This means
that if you know the forces acting on any object (rocks, projectiles, cars, stars,
planets, etc.) then we can predict its motion, which is kind of cool.
4.5 Momentum
During a collision between two objects there will be a sudden spike in the con-
tact force between them, which can be dicult to measure and quantify. It is
therefore not possible to use Newtons law F = ma to predict the accelerations
that occur during collisions. In order to predict the motion of the objects after
the collision we must use a momentum calculation. The law of conservation
of momentum states that the total amount of momentum before and after the
collision is the same. Thus, if we know the momenta of the objects before the
collision, it will be possible to calculate their momenta after the collision and
from this gure out their subsequent motion.
To illustrate why the notion of momentum is important, consider the fol-
lowing situation. Say you have a 1[g] piece of paper and a 1000[kg] car moving
177
Momentum
at the same speed 100[km/h]. Which of the two objects would you rather get
hit by? Momentum, denoted p, is the precise physical concept which measures
the amount of moving stu. An object of mass m moving with velocity v
has momentum p mv. Momentum plays a key role in collisions, so your
gut feeling about the piece of paper and the car is correct. The car weights
1000 1000 = 10
6
times more than the piece of paper, so it has 10
6
times
more momentum when moving at the same speed. A collision with the car will
hurt a million times more than the collision with the piece of paper even
though they were moving at the same speed.
In this section we will learn how to use the law of conservation of mo-
mentum to predict the outcomes of collisions.
Concepts
m: the mass of the moving object.
v: the velocity of the moving object.
p = mv: the momentum of the moving object.

p
in
: the sum of the momenta of particles before a collision.

p
out
: the sum of the momenta after the collision.
Denition
The momentum of a moving object is equal to the velocity of the moving object
multiplied by the objects mass:
p = mv [kg m/s].
If the velocity of the object is v = 20 = (20, 0)[m/s] and it has a mass of
100[kg] then its momentum is p = 2000 = (2000, 0)[kg m/s].
Momentum is a vector quantity, so we will often have to convert momen-
tuma from the length-and-direction form to the components form:
p = | p| = (| p| cos , | p| sin ) = (p
x
, p
y
).
178
Momentum
The component form makes it easy to add and subtract vectors: p
1
+ p
2
=
(p
1x
+p
2x
, p
1y
+p
2y
). To express the nal answer, we will have to convert from
the component form back to the length-and-direction form using:
| p| =
_
p
2
x
+ p
2
y
, = tan
1
_
p
y
p
x
_
.
Conservation of momentum
Newtons rst law states that in the absence of acceleration (a = 0), an object
will maintain a constant velocity. This is kind of obvious if you know Calculus,
since a is the derivative of v. For example, if an object is stationary and there
are no forces on it to cause it to accelerate, then it will remain stationary. If an
object is moving with velocity v and there is no acceleration (or deceleration),
then it will keep moving with velocity v forever. In the absence of acceleration,
objects will conserve their velocity:
v
in
= v
out
.
This is equivalent to saying that objects conserve their momentum (just mul-
tiply the velocity by the constant mass of the object).
More generally, if you have a situation involving multiple moving objects,
you can say that the overall momentum, i.e., the sum of the momenta of all
the interacting particles stays constant. This reasoning is particularly useful
when analyzing collisions since it allows us to connect the sum of the momenta
before the collision and after the collision:

p
in
=

p
out
.
Whatever momentum comes into a collision must come out. This equation is
known as the law of conservation of momentum.
This conservation law is one of the furthest reaching laws of physics you
will learn in Mechanics. We learned about the conservation of momentum
in a simple context of two colliding particles, but the law applies much more
generally: for multiple particles, for uids, for elds, and even for collisions
179
Momentum
involving atomic particles described by quantum mechanics. The quantity of
motion (momentum) cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be exchanged
between systems.
Examples
Example 1
You throw a piece of rolled up carton of mass 0.4[g] from your balcony on a
rainy day. You throw it horizontally with a speed of 10[m/s]. Shortly after
it leaves your hand it collides with a rain drop of weight 2[g] falling straight
down at a speed of 30[m/s]. What will be resulting velocity if the two objects
stick together after the collision?
The conservation of momentum equation says that:
p
in,1
+ p
in,2
= p
out
.
Plugging in the values we get
0.4 (10, 0) + 2 (0, 30) = 2.4 v
out
,
or solving for v
out
we nd:
v
out
=
0.4(10, 0) 2(0, 30)
2.4
= (1.666, 25.0) = 1.666 25.0 .
Example 2: Hipsters on bikes
Two hipsters on single-speed bicycles are headed towards the same intersection.
Say they are both speeding down Parc street at 50[km/h] and the rst hipster
is crossing the street at a diagonal of 30 degrees when they collide. I mean you
saw this coming right? Well the second hipster didnt, because he was busy
turning the pedals as fast as he can.
180
Momentum
Let us assume that the combined weight of the
straight-going hipster and his bike is 100[kg], whereas the
street-crossing-at-30-degrees hipster has a lighter, more
expensive bicycle frame. We put his weight at 90[kg].
(I am going to continue with the story, but I want to
point out that we have been given, the following infor-
mation so far:
p
in,1
= 90 5030 = 90(50 cos 30, 50 sin 30),
p
in,2
= 100 500 = (5000, 0),
where the x coordinate points down Park street, and the
y coordinate is perpendicular to the street.)
Surprisingly, nobody gets hurt in this collision. They bump shoulder-to-
shoulder and the one that was trying to cross the street gets redirected straight
down the street, while the one going straight down gets deected to the side
and right onto the bike path. I know what you are thinking: couldnt they get
hurt at least a little bit? OK, lets say that the whiplash from their shoulder-to-
shoulder collision sends their heads ying towards each other and their glasses
get smashed. There you have it.
Suppose the velocity of the rst hipster after the collision is 60 [m/s], what
is the velocity and the deected direction of the second hipster? (I have just
told you that the outgoing momentum of the rst hipster is p
out,1
= (9060, 0),
and asked you to nd p
out,2
.)
We can solve this problem using the conservation of momentum formula,
which tells us that:
p
in,1
+ p
in,2
= p
out,1
+ p
out,2
.
We know three of the above quantities so we can solve for the one (vector)
unknown by isolating it on one side of the equation:
p
out,2
= p
in,1
+ p
in,2
p
out,1
,
p
out,2
= 90(50 cos 30, 50 sin 30) + (5000, 0) (90 60, 0).
181
Momentum
The x component of the momentum p
out,2
is:
p
out,2,x
= 90 50 cos 30 + 5000 90 60 = 3497.11,
and the y component is p
out,2,y
= 90 50 sin 30 = 2250.
The magnitude of the momentum of hipster 2 is given by:
| p
out,2
| =
_
p
2
out,2,x
+ p
2
out,2,y
= 4158.39,
and his nal velocity is v
out,2
= 4158.39/100 = 41.58[m/s]. The deection
direction is obtained by

def
= tan
1
_
p
out,2,y
p
out,2,x
_
= 32.76

.
Discussion
We dened the concept of momentum in terms of the velocity of the object,
but in fact, momentum is a more fundamental concept than velocity. If you
go on to take more advanced physics classes, you will learn that the natural
variables to describe the state of a particle are their positions and momenta
(x, p). You will also learn that the real form of Newtons second law is written
in terms of the momentum:

F =
d p
dt
for m constant

F =
d(mv)
dt
= m
dv
dt
= ma.
In most physics problems the mass of objects will stay constant so using

F =
ma is perfectly ne.
The law of conservation of momentum follows from Newtons third law: for
each force

F
12
exerted by Object 1 on Object 2, there exists a counter force

F
21
of equal magnitude and opposite direction, which is the force of Object
2 pushing back on Object 1. Earlier I said that it is dicult to quantify the
magnitude of the exact forces

F
12
and

F
21
that occur during a collision. Indeed,
the amount of force suddenly shoots up as the two objects collide and then
182
Energy
suddenly drops. Complicated as these forces may be, we know that during the
entire collision they obey Newtons third law. Assuming there are no other
forces acting on the objects we have:

F
12
=

F
21
using the above
d p
1
dt
=
d p
2
dt
.
If now move both terms to the left hand side we obtain the equation:
d p
1
dt
+
d p
2
dt
=
d
dt
( p
1
+ p
2
) = 0,
which implies that quantity p
1
+ p
2
is constant over time.
In this section we saw how to use a momentum calculation to predict the
motion of the particles after a collision. In the next section, we will learn about
the concept of energy which is another useful concept for understanding and
predicting the motion of objects.
Links
[ Animations of simple collisions between objects. ]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation of linear momentum
4.6 Energy
Instead of thinking about velocities v(t) and motion trajectories x(t), we can
solve physics problems using energy calculations. In this section, we will dene
precisely the dierent kinds of energies that exist and then learn the rules of
converting one energy into another. The key idea in this section is the principle
of total energy conservation, which tells us that, in any physical process, the
sum of the initial energies is equal to the sum of the nal energies.
Example
Say you drop a ball from a height h[m] and you want to predict its speed right
before it hits the ground. Using the kinematics approach, you would go for the
183
Energy
general equation of motion:
v
2
f
= v
2
i
+ 2a(y
f
y
i
),
and substitute y
i
= h, y
f
= 0, v
i
= 0 and a = g to obtain the answer
v
f
=

2gh for the nal velocity at impact.

Alternately, you could use an energy calculation. Initially the ball starts
from a height h, which means it has U
i
= mgh[J] of potential energy. As the
ball falls, the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Right before
the ball hits the ground, it will have a nal kinetic energy equal to the initial
potential enegy: K
f
= U
i
[J]. Since the formula for kinetic energy is K =
1
2
mv
2
,
we have
1
2
mv
2
f
= mgh. After cancelling the mass on both sides of the equation
and solving for v
f
we obtain v
f
=

2gh.
Both methods of solving the example problem come to the same conclusion,
but the energy reasoning is arguably more intuitive than plugging values into
a formula. In science, it is really important to know dierent ways for arriving
at some answer. Knowing about these alternate routes will allow you to check
your answers and to understand concepts better.
Concepts
Energy is measured in Joules [J] and it arises in several dierent contexts:
K = kinetic energy. This is the type of energy that objects have by
virtue of their motion.
W = work. This is the amount of energy that an external force adds
or subtracts from a system. Positive work corresponds to energy being
added to the system while negative work corresponds to energy being
withdrawn from the system.
U
g
= gravitational potential energy. This is the energy that an
object has by virtue of its position above the ground. We say this energy
is potential because it is a form of stored work. The potential energy
corresponds to the amount of work that the force of gravity will add to
an object when you let the object fall to the ground.
184
Energy
U
s
= spring potential energy. This is the energy stored in a spring
when it is displaced from its relaxed position.
There are many kinds other kinds of energy: electrical energy, magnetic
energy, sound energy, thermal energy, etc. In this section, however, we
limit out focus only on the mechanical energy concepts described above.
Formulas
Kinetic energy
An object of mass m moving at velocity v has a kinetic energy of
K =
1
2
m|v|
2
[J].
Note that the kinetic energy only depends on the speed |v| of the object and
not the direction of motion.
Work
If an external force

F acts on a object as it moves through a distance

d, the
work done by this force is
W =

F

d = |

F||

d| cos [J],
where the second equality follows from the geometrical interpretation of the
dot product: u v = |u||v| cos , with is the angle between u and v.
If the force

F acts in the same direction as the displacement

d, then it will
do positive work (cos(180

) = +1) the force will be adding energy to the

system. If the force acts in the direction opposite to the displacement, then
the work done will be negative (cos(180

) = 1), which means that energy is

being withdrawn from the system.
185
Energy
Gravitational potential energy
An object raised to a height h above the ground has a gravitational potential
energy given by:
U
g
(h) = mgh [J],
where m is the mass of the object and g = 9.81[m/s
2
] is the gravitational
acceleration on the surface of Earth.
Spring potential energy
The potential energy stored in a spring when it is displaced by x[m] from its
relaxed position is given by
U
s
=
1
2
k|x|
2
[J],
where k[N/m] is the spring constant.
Note that it doesnt matter whether the spring is stretched or compressed
by a certain length: only the magnitude of the displacement matters |x|.
Conservation of energy
Consider a system which starts from an initial state (i), undergoes some motion
and arrives at a nal state (f). The law of conservation of energy states that
energy cannot be created or destroyed in any physical process. This
means that the initial energy of the system plus the work that was input into
the system must equal the nal energy of the system plus any work that the
was output:

E
i
+ W
in
=

E
f
+ W
out
.
The expression

E
(a)
corresponds to the sum of the dierent types of energy
the system has in state (a). If we write down the equation in full we have:
K
i
+ U
gi
+ U
si
+ W
in
= K
f
+ U
gf
+ U
sf
+ W
out
.
186
Energy
Usually, some of the terms in the above expression can be dropped. For ex-
ample, we do not need to consider the spring potential energy U
s
in physics
problems that do not involve springs.
Explanations
Work and energy are measured in Joules [J]. Joules can be expressed in terms
of the fundamental units as follows:
[J] = [N m] = [kg m
2
/s
2
].
The rst equality follows from the denition of work as force times displace-
ment. The second equality comes from denition of the Newton [N]= [kgm/s
2
]
via F = ma.
Kinetic energy
A moving object has energy K =
1
2
m|v|
2
[J], which we call kinetic energy from
the Greek word for motion kinema.
Note that velocity v and speed |v| are not the same as energy. Suppose
you have two objects of the same mass and one is moving twice faster than
the other. The faster object will have twice the velocity, but four times more
kinetic energy.
Work
When hiring someone to help you move, you have to pay them for the work
they do. Work is the product of how much force is necessary for the move and
the distance of the move. The more force, the more work there will be for a
xed displacement. The more displacement (think moving to the South Shore
versus moving next door) the more money the movers will ask for.
The amount of work done by a force

F on an object which moves along
some path p is given by:
W =
_
p

F(x) dx,
187
Energy
where we account for the fact that the magnitude and direction of the force
might change throughout the motion.
If the force is constant and the displacement path is a straight line, the
formula for work simplies to:
W =
_
d
0

F dx =

F
_
d
0
dx =

F

d = |

F||

d| cos .
Note the use of the dot product to obtain only the part of

F that is pushing in
the direction of the displacement

d. A force which acts perpendicular to the
displacement produces no work, since it neither speeds up or slows down the
motion.
Potential energy is stored work
Some kinds of work are just a waste of your time, like working in a bank for
example. You work and you get your paycheque, but nothing remains with
you at the end of the day. Other kinds of work leave you with some resource
at the end of the work day. Maybe you learn something, or you network with
a lot of good people.
In physics, we make a similar distinction. Some types of work, like work
against friction, are called dissipative since they just waste energy. Other kinds
of work are called conservative since the work you do is not lost: it is converted
into potential energy.
The gravitational force and the spring force are conservative forces. Any
work you do while lifting an object up into the air against the force of gravity is
not lost but stored in the height of the object. You can get all the work/energy
back if you let go of the object. The energy will come back in the form of kinetic
energy since the object will pick up speed during the fall.
The negative of the work done against a conservative force is called potential
energy. For any conservative force

F
?
, we can dene the associated potential
energy U
?
through the formula:
U
?
(d) = W
done
=
_
d
0

F
?
dx.
188
Energy
We will discuss two specic examples of this general formula below: the gravi-
tational and spring potential energies. Being high in the air means you have a
lot of potential to fall, and compressing a spring by a certain distance means
it has the potential to spring back to its normal position. Let us look now at
the exact formulas for these two cases.
Gravitational potential energy
The force of gravity is given by:

F
g
= mg .
The direction of the gravitational force is downwards, towards the centre of
the Earth.
The gravitational potential energy of lifting an object from a height of y = 0
to a height of y = h is given by:
U
g
(h) W
done
=
_
h
0

F
g
dy =
_
h
0
(mg ) dy = mg
_
h
0
1 dy = mgy

y=h
y=0
= mgh.
Spring energy
The force of a spring when stretched a distance x[m] form its natural position
is given by:

F
s
(x) = kx.
The potential energy stored in a spring as it is compressed from y = 0 to
y = x[m] is given by:
U
s
(x) = W
done
=
_
x
0

F
s
(y) dy =
_
x
0
kydy = k
_
x
0
ydy = k
1
2
y
2

y=x
y=0
=
1
2
kx
2
.
189
Energy
Conservation of energy
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transforms from one
form to another. If there are no external forces acting on the system, then we
have conservation of energy:

E
i
=

E
f
.
If there are external forces like friction that do work on the system, we
must take their energy contributions into account as well:

E
i
+ W
in
=

E
f
, or

E
i
=

E
f
+ W
out
.
This is one of the most important equations you will nd in this book, be-
cause it will allow you to solve very complicated problems simply by accounting
for all the dierent kinds of energy involved in the problem.
Examples
Banker dropped
An investment banker is dropped (from rest) from a 100[m] tall building. What
is his speed when he hits the ground?
We start from:

E
i
=

E
f
,
K
i
+ U
i
= K
f
+ U
f
,
and plugging in the numbers we get:
0 + m9.81 100 =
1
2
mv
2
+ 0.
After cancelling the mass m from both sides of the equation we are left with
9.81 100 =
1
2
v
2
f
.
Solving for v
f
in the above equation, we nd that the banker will be going at
v
f
=

2 9.81 100 = 44.2945[m/s] when he hits the ground. This is like

160[km/h]. Ouch! That will denitely hurt.
190
Energy
Bullet speedometer
An incoming bullet at speed v hits
a mass M suspended on two strings.
Use conservation of momentum and
conservation of energy principles to
nd the speed v of the bullet if the
block rises to a height h after it is hit
by the bullet.
First we use the conservation of
momentum principle to nd the (hor-
izontal) speed of the block and mass right after the bullet hits:
p
in,m
+ p
in,M
= p
out
,
mv + 0 = (m + M)v
out
,
so the velocity of the block with the bullet embedded in it is v
out
=
mv
M+m
right
after collision.
Next we use the conservation of energy principle to relate the initial kinetic
energy of the block-plus-bullet and the height h by which it rises:
K
i
+ U
i
= K
f
+ U
f
,
1
2
(M + m)v
2
out
+ 0 = 0 + (m + M)gh.
Isolating v
out
in the above equation and setting it equal to the v
out
we got from
the momentum calculation we get:
v
out
=
mv
M + m
=
_
2gh = v
out
.
We can use this equation to nd the speed of the incoming bullet:
v =
M + m
m
_
2gh.
191
Energy
Incline and spring
A block of mass m is released from rest at point (A) on the top of an incline
at a coordinate y = y
i
. It slides down the frictionless incline to the point (B)
y = 0. The coordinate y = 0 corresponds to the relaxed length of a spring of
spring constant k. The block then compresses the spring all the way to point
(C), corresponding to y = y
f
, when the block comes to rest again. The angle
of the slope is .
What is the speed of the block at y = 0? How far does the spring get
compressed y
f
? Bonus points if you can express your answer for y
f
in terms
of h, the dierence in height between y
i
and y
f
.
We have essentially two problems: the motion from (A) to (B) in which
the gravitational potential energy of the block is converted into kinetic energy
and the motion from (B) to (C) in which the all the energy of the block gets
converted into spring potential energy.
In both cases, there is no friction so we can use the conservation of energy
formula:

E
i
=

E
f
.
For the motion from (A) to (B) we have:
K
i
+ U
i
= K
f
+ U
f
.
The block starts from rest so K
i
= 0. The dierence in potential energy is
equal to mgh and in this case the block is [y
i
[ sin [m] higher at (A) than it is
192
Energy
at (B), so we can write:
0 + mg[y
i
[ sin =
1
2
mv
2
B
+ 0.
The above formula uses the point (B) at y = 0 as reference for the gravitational
potential energy. The potential at point (A) is U
i
= mgh = mg[y
i
0[ sin
relative to point (B) since the point (A) is h = [y
i
0[ sin metres higher than
the point (B).
Solving for v
B
in this equation gives us the answer to the rst part of the
question:
v
B
=
_
2g[y
i
[ sin .
Now for the second part of the motion. The law of conservation of energy
dictates that:
K
i
+ U
gi
+ U
si
= K
f
+ U
gf
+ U
sf
,
where now i refers to the moment (B) and f refers to the moment (C). Initially
the spring is uncompressed so U
si
= 0, and by the end of the motion the spring
is compressed by a total of y = [y
f
0[[m], so its spring potential energy is
U
sf
=
1
2
k[y
f
[
2
. We choose the height of (C) as the reference potential energy
and thus U
gf
= 0. Since the dierence in gravitational potential energy is
U
gi
U
gf
= mgh = [y
f
0[ sin , we can ll-in the entire energy equation:
1
2
mv
2
B
+ mg[y
f
[ sin + 0 = 0 + 0 +
1
2
k[y
f
[
2
.
Since k and m are given and we know v
B
from the rst part of the question,
we can solve for [y
f
[ (a quadratic equation).
To obtain the answer [y
f
[ in terms of h we can use

E
i
=

E
f
again,
but this time i will refer moment (A) and f refers to the moment (C). The
energy equation becomes mgh =
1
2
k[y
f
[ from which we obtain [y
f
[ =
2mgh
k
.
Energy lost to friction
You have a block of mass 50[kg] on an incline. The force of friction between the
block and the incline is 30N. The block slides for 200[m] down the incline. The
193
Energy
incline is at a slope = 30

so the total vertical displacement of the block is

200 sin 30 = 100[m]. What is its speed as it reaches the bottom of the incline?
This is a problem in which initial energies are converted into nal energies
and some lost work:

E
i
=

E
f
+ W
lost
.
The term W
lost
represents the energy lost due to the friction.
Another (better) way of describing the situation is that the block had a
negative amount of word done on it

E
i
+ W
done
. .
negative
=

E
f
.
The quantity W
done
is negative because during the entire motion the friction
force on the object was acting in the opposite direction to the motion:
W
done
=

F

d = |

F
f
||

d| cos(180

) = F
f
|

d|,
where

d is the 200[m] of sliding distance during which the friction acts. Since
we are told that F
f
= 30[N], we can calculate W
done
= W
friction
= 30[N]
200[m] = 6000[J].
We can now substitute this value into the conservation of energy equation:
K
i
+ U
i
+ W
done
= K
f
+ U
f
,
0 + mgh + (F
f
[d[) =
1
2
mv
2
f
+ 0,
where we have used the formula mgh = U
i
U
f
for the dierence in gravita-
tional potential energy. Substituting all the values we know we get
0 + 50 9.81 100 6000 =
1
2
(50)v
2
f
+ 0,
which can be solved for v
f
.
194
Uniform circular motion
Discussion
In this section we saw that describing physical situation in terms of the ener-
gies involved is a useful way of thinking. The law of conservation of energy
allows us to do simple energy accounting and calculate the values of unknown
quantities.
4.7 Uniform circular motion
In this section we will learn about the circular motion of objects. Circular mo-
tion is dierent from linear motion and we will have to develop new techniques
and concepts which are better suited for the description of circular motion.
Imagine a rock of mass m is swinging around in a horizontal circle attached
at the end of a rope. The rock is ying through the air at a constant (uniform)
speed of v
t
[m/s] along a circular path of radius R[m] at a height h[m] above
the ground. What is the tension T in the rope?
Consider a coordinate system which has the x and y axis placed on the
ground level at the centre of the circle of motion are the z axis measuring the
height above the ground. In that coordinate system, the trajectory of the rock
is described by the equation
r(t) = (x(t), y(t), z(t)) =
_
Rcos
_
v
t
R
t
_
, Rsin
_
v
t
R
t
_
, h
_
.
You will agree with me that this expression looks somewhat complicated. This
complexity stems from the fact that the (x, y, z) coordinate system is not very
well adapted for the description of circular paths.
A new coordinate system
Instead of the usual coordinate system x, y, z which is static, we can use a new
coordinate system

t, r, z that is attached to the rotating object.
Three important directions can be identied:
195
Uniform circular motion
1.

t: The tangential direction in the instantaneous direction of motion of
the object. The name comes from the Greek word for touch (imagine
a straight line touching the circle).
2. r: The radial direction always points towards the centre of the circle of
rotation.
3. z: The usual z direction, which is perpendicular to the plane of rotation.
From the point of view of a static observer, the tangential and radial di-
rections constantly change their orientation as the object rotates around in a
circle. From the point of view of the rotating object, the tangential and ra-
dial directions are xed. The tangential direction is always forward and the
radial direction is always to the side.
We can use the new coordinate system to describe the position, velocity
and acceleration of the object undergoing circular motion:
v = (v
r
, v
t
)
r

t
: The velocity of object expressed with respect to the r

t
coordinates.
a = (a
r
, a
t
)
r

t
: The acceleration of the object in the r

t coordinates.
The most important parameters of motion are the tangential velocity v
t
,
the radial acceleration a
r
and the radius of the circle of motion R. We have
v
r
= 0 since the motion is entirely in the

t direction, and a
t
= 0 because
we assumed that the tangential velocity v
t
remains constant (uniform circular
motion).
In the next section we will learn how to calculate the radial acceleration a
r
.
Radial acceleration
The dening feature of circular motion is the presence of an acceleration that
acts perpendicularly to direction of motion. At each instant, the object wants
to continue moving along the tangential direction, but the radial acceleration
causes the velocity to change direction. The result of this constant inward
acceleration is that the object will follow a circular path.
196
Uniform circular motion
The radial acceleration a
r
of an object moving
in a circle of radius R with a tangential velocity v
t
is given by:
a
r
=
v
2
t
R
.
This is an important equation which relates the
three key parameters of circular motion.
According to Newtons second law

F = ma, the
radial acceleration of the object must be caused by a
radial force. We can calculate the magnitude of this radial force F
r
as follows:
F
r
= ma
r
= m
v
2
t
R
.
The above formula allows us to connect the observable aspects of the circular
motion v
t
and R with its cause: the force F
r
which always acts towards the
centre of rotation.
To put it dierently, we can say that circular motion requires a radial force.
From now on, every time you see an object undergoing circular motion, you
should try to visualize the radial force which is causing the circular motion.
In the rock-on-a-rope example described in the beginning of this section,
the circular motion was caused by the tension of the rope which always acts in
the radial direction (towards the centre of rotation). We are now in a position
to calculate the value of the tension T in the rope using the equation:
F
r
= T = ma
r
, T = m
v
2
t
R
.
Example
During a student protest, a young activist called David is stationed on the
rooftop of a building of height 12[m]. A mob of blood-thirsty neoconservatives
is slowly approaching his position determined to lynch him because of his leftist
views. David has put together a make-shift weapon by attaching a 0.3[kg]
rock to the end of a shoelace of length 1.5[m]. The maximum tension that
197
Uniform circular motion
the shoelace can support is 500[N]. What is the maximum tangential velocity
maxv
t
that the shoelace can support? What is the maximum range for this
projectile when it is launched from the roof?
The rst part of the question is answered easily using the T = m
v
2
t
R
formula:
maxv
t
=
_
RT
m
=
_
1.5500
0.3
= 50[m/s]. To answer the second question,
we must solve for the distance travelled by a projectile with initial velocity
v
i
= (v
ix
, v
iy
) = (50, 0)[m/s] launched from r
i
= (x
i
, y
i
) = (0, 12)[m]. First we
solve for the total time of ight t
f
=
_
2 12/9.81 = 1.56[s]. Then we nd
the range by multiplying this time by the horizontal speed x(t
f
) = 0 +v
ix
t
f
=
50 1.56 = 78.20[m].
After carrying out these calculations on a piece of paper, David starts to
spin-up the rock and waits for the neocons to come into range.
Circular motion parameters
We now introduce some further terminology used to describe circular motion:
C = 2R[m]: The circumference of the circle of motion.
T: The period of the motion is how long it takes for the object to com-
plete one full circle. The period is measured in seconds [s].
f =
1
T
: The frequency of rotation. How many times per second does the
object pass by some reference point on the circle. Frequency is measured
in Hertz [Hz]=[1/s]. We sometimes describe the frequency of rotation in
revolutions per minute (RPM).

v
t
R
= 2f: The angular velocity describes how fast the object is
rotating. Angular velocity is measured in [rad/s].
Recall that a circle of radius R has circumference C = 2R. The period T
is dened as how long it will take the object to complete one full turn around
the circle:
T =
distance
speed
=
C
v
t
=
2R
v
t
,
198
Uniform circular motion
where C = 2R is total distance that must be travelled to compete one turn
and v
t
is the velocity of the object along the curve. The object will complete
one full turn every T seconds.
Another way of describing the motion is to talk about the frequency:
f =
1
T
= [Hz].
The frequency tells you how many turns the object completes in one second.
If the object competes one turn in T = 0.2[s], then the motion has frequency
f = 5[Hz], or f = 60 5 = 300[RPM].
The most natural parameter for describing rotation is in terms of the an-
gular velocity [rad/s]. We know that one full turn corresponds to an angle of
rotation of 2[rad], so the angular velocity is obtained by dividing 2 by the
time it takes to complete one turn:
=
2
T
= 2f =
v
t
R
.
The angular velocity is very useful because it describes the speed of
the circular motion without any reference to the radius. If we know that the
angular velocity of an object is , we can obtain the tangential velocity by
multiplying times the radius: v
t
= R[m/s].
Let us now look at some examples in which we are asked to compute some
angular velocities.
Bicycle odometer
Imagine that you place a small speed detector gadget on one of the spokes of
the front wheel of your bicycle. Your bikes wheels have a radius R = 14[in]
and the gadget is attached at a distance of
3
4
R[m] from the centre of the wheel.
Find the angular velocity , period T, and frequency f of rotation for the
wheel when the speed of the bicycle relative to the ground is 40[km/h]. What
is the tangential velocity v
t
of the detector gadget?
199
Uniform circular motion
The velocity of the bicycle relative to the ground v
bike
= 40[km/h] is equal
to the tangential velocity of the rim of the wheel:
v
bike
= v
rim
= 40[km/h]
1000[m]
1[km]

1[h]
3600[s]
= 11.11[m/s].
We can nd the angular velocity using =
v
rim
R
and the radius of the wheel
R = 14[in] = 0.355[m]. We obtain =
11.11
0.355
= 31.24[rad/s]. From this we can
easily calculate T =
2

= 0.20[s] and f =
1
0.20
= 5[Hz]. Finally, to compute
the tangential velocity of the gadget we multiply the angular velocity by its
radius of rotation to obtain v
det
=
3
4
R = 8.333[m/s].
Rotation of the Earth
It takes exactly 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds for the Earth to compete
one full turn (2 radians) around its axis of rotation. What is its angular
velocity? What is the tangential speed at a latitude of 45

(Montreal)?
We can nd by carrying out a simple conversion:
2 [rad]
1 [day]

1 [day]
23.93447 [h]

1 [h]
3600 [s]
= 7.2921 10
5
[rad/s].
The radius of the trajectory traced out by someone at a latitude of 45

(Montreal) is given by r = Rcos(45

) = 4.5025 10
6
[m], where R = 6.3675
10
6
[m] is the radius of the Earth. Thus, though it may seem that you are not
moving right now, in reality you are hurtling through space at a speed of
v
t
= r = 4.5025 10
6
7.2921 10
5
= 464.32 [m/s].
Which is 1671.56[km/h]. Just try to imagine that for a second. You can try to
use this fact if you get stopped by the cops one day for a speeding infraction:
Yes ocer, I was doing 130[km/h], but this is really a negligible speed relative
to the 1671[km/h] that the Earth is doing around the sun.
200
Uniform circular motion
Three dimensions
For some problems involving circular motion, it will be necessary to consider
the z direction in the force diagram. The best approach in this case is to draw
the force diagram as a cross section, which is perpendicular to the tangential
direction. The diagram will show the r and z axes.
Using the force diagram, you should be able to nd all the forces in the
radial and vertical directions and solve for accelerations a
r
, a
z
. Remember that
you can always use the relation a
r
=
v
2
t
R
which connects the value of a
r
with
the tangential velocity v
t
and the radius of rotation R.
Example Japanese people of the future want to design a giant racetrack for
retired superconducting speed trains. The shape of the race track is a big circle
with radius R = 3[km]. Because the trains are magnetically levitated, there is
no friction between the track and the train
s
= 0,
k
= 0. What is the bank
angle required for the race track so that trains moving at a speed of exactly
400[km/h] will stay on the track without moving laterally?
We begin by drawing a force di-
agram which shows a cross-cut of
the train in the r and z directions.
The bank angle of the racetrack is .
This is the unknown we are looking
for. Because of the frictionless-ness of
levitated superconducting suspension
there cannot be any force of friction
F
f
so the only forces on the train will be it weight

W and the normal force

N.
The next step is to write down the force equations for the two directions:

F
r
= N sin = ma
r
= m
v
2
t
R
N sin = m
v
2
t
R
,

F
z
= N cos mg = 0 N cos = mg.
Note how the normal force

N is split into two parts: the vertical component
counter balances the weight of the train, while the component in the r direction
201
Uniform circular motion
is the force that is responsible for causing the rotational motion of the train
around the track.
We want to solve for in the above equations. A commonly used trick for
solving equations containing multiple trigonometric functions is to divide one
equation by the other. We obtain:
N sin
N cos
=
m
v
2
t
R
mg
tan =
v
2
t
Rg
.
The nal answer is = tan
1
_
v
2
t
gR
_
= tan
1
_
(400
1000
3600
)
2
9.813000
_
= 22.76

. If the angle
were any steeper, the trains would fall towards the centre. If the bank angle
were any shallower, the trains would y o to the side. The angle 22.76

is
just right.
Discussion
Radial acceleration
In the kinematics section we studied problems involving linear acceleration: in
which an acceleration a was acting in the same direction as the velocity and
was thus causing a change the magnitude of the velocity v.
Circular motion deals with a dierent situation in which the speed |v| of
the object remains constant but the velocity v changes direction. At each point
along the circle, the velocity of the object points along the tangential direction
and during each instant the radial acceleration pulls the object inwards and
causes it to rotate.
Another term for radial acceleration is centripetal acceleration, which lit-
erally means tending towards the centre.
Centrifugal force
When a car makes a left turn, the passenger riding shotgun will feel pushed
towards the right: into the passenger door. Some people erroneously attribute
this eect to a centrifugal force, which acts away from the centre of rotation.
202
Uniform circular motion
During a sharp turn, these people feel as though they are being ung out of
the car and therefore they conclude that there must be some force which is
responsible for this.
The reason why we feel as though we are being thrown out of the car is
due to Newtons rst law which says that, in the absence of external forces,
an object will continue moving in a straight line. Since your initial motion is
in the

t direction, your body will naturally continue moving in that direction
because of Newtons rst law. The force of the car door pushes you inwards
and keeps you in the circular trajectory. If it werent for the door, you would
y straight on.
Radial forces do no work
An interesting property of radial forces is that they do zero work. Recall that
the work done by a force

F during a displacement

d is computed using the dot
product W =

F

d. For circular motion, the displacement is always in the

t
direction, whereas the radial force is in the r direction so the dot product of
the two is zero.
This is why it is possible for the speed of the object undergoing circular
motion to remain constant despite the fact that it is being accelerated. The
eects of the radial acceleration do not increase the speed: they only act to
change the direction of the velocity.
Exercises
Staying in touch
A vertical loop of radius 5[m] is placed on a racetrack.
What is the minimum speed v for a motorcyclist to come
into the loop and make it around? The motorcyclist will
lose contact with the top of the ramp if the magnitude
of the normal force becomes zero.
Solution. Find v
top
when

N = 0 and then use con-
servation of energy to nd v in terms of v
top
. Ans: v =

5g + 20g = 5

g.
203
Angular motion
4.8 Angular motion
We will now study the physics of objects in rotation. A simple example of
this kind of motion is a rotating disk. Other examples include rotating bicycle
wheels, spinning footballs and spinning gure skaters.
As you will see shortly, the basic concepts used to describe angular motion
are directly analogous to the concepts for linear motion: position, velocity,
acceleration, force, momentum and energy.
Review of linear motion
It is instructive to begin our discussion with a brief review of the concepts and
formulas used to describe the linear motion of objects.
The linear motion of an object is described by its
position x(t), velocity v(t) and acceleration a(t) as
functions of time. The position function tells you where
the object is, the velocity tells you how fast it is mov-
ing and the acceleration measures the change in the
velocity of the object.
The motion of objects is governed by Newtons rst
and second laws. In the absence of external forces,
objects will maintain a uniform velocity (UVM) which
corresponds to the equations of motion: x(t) = x
i
+v
i
t,
v(t) = v
i
. If there is a net force

F acting on the object,
the force will cause the object to accelerate and the
magnitude of the acceleration is obtained using the formula F = ma. A
constant force acting on an object will produce a constant acceleration (UAM),
which corresponds to the equations of motion: x(t) = x
i
+ v
i
t +
1
2
at
2
, v(t) =
v
i
+ at.
We also learned how to quantify the momentum p = mv and the kinetic
energy K =
1
2
mv
2
of moving objects. The momentum vector is the natural
measure of the quantity of motion, which plays a key role in collisions. The
kinetic energy measures how much energy the object has by virtue of its motion.
204
Angular motion
The mass of the object m is an important factor in many of the equations
of physics. In the equation F = ma, the mass m measures the objects inertia,
i.e., how much resistance the object oers to being accelerated. The mass of
the object also appears in the formulas for momentum and kinetic energy: the
heavier the object is, the larger its momentum and its kinetic energy will be.
Concepts
We now introduce the new concepts used to describe the angular motion of
objects.
The kinematics of rotating objects is described in terms of angular quan-
tities:
(t)[rad]: The angular position.
(t)[rad/s]: The angular velocity.
(t)[rad/s
2
]: The angular acceleration.
I[kg m
2
]: The moment of inertia of an object tells you how dicult it is
to make it turn. The quantity I plays the same role in angular motion
as the mass m plays in linear motion.
T [N m]: The torque is a measures angular force. Torque is the cause
of angular acceleration. The angular equivalent of Newtons second law

F = ma is given by the equation

T = I. In words, this law states

that applying an angular force (torque) T will produce an amount of
angular acceleration which is inversely proportional to the moment of
inertia I of the object.
L = I[kg m
2
/s]: The angular momentum of a rotating object describes
the quantity of spinning stu.
K
r
=
1
2
I
2
[J]: The angular or rotational kinetic energy quanties the
amount of energy an object has by virtue of its rotational motion.
205
Angular motion
Formulas
Angular kinematics
Instead of talking about position x, velocity v and acceleration a, we will now
talk about the angular position , angular velocity and angular acceleration
. Except for this change of ingredients, the recipe for ning the equations of
motion remains the same:
(t)

i
+
R
dt
(t)

i
+
R
dt
(t).
Given the knowledge of the angular acceleration (t), the initial velocity
i
and the initial position
i
, we can use integration in order to nd the equation
of motion (t) which describes the angular position of the rotating object at
all times.
Though this recipe can be applied to any form of angular acceleration func-
tion, you are only required to know the equations of motion for two special
cases: the case of constant angular acceleration (t) = and the case of zero
angular acceleration (t) = 0. These are the angular analogues of uniform
acceleration motion and uniform velocity motion which we studied in the kine-
matics section.
The equations which describe uniformly accelerated angular motion are:
(t) = ,
(t) = t +
i
,
(t) =
1
2
t
2
+
i
t +
i
,

2
f
=
2
i
+ 2(
f

i
).
Note how the form of the equations is identical to the UAM equations. This
should come as no surprise since the both sets of equations are obtained from
the same integrals.
206
Angular motion
The equations of motion for uniform velocity angular motion are:
(t) = 0,
(t) =
i
,
(t) =
i
t +
i
.
Relation to linear quantities
The angular quantities , and are the natural parameters for describing the
motion of rotating objects. In certain situations, however, we may want to re-
late the angular quantities to linear quantities like distance, velocity and linear
acceleration. This can be accomplished by multiplying the angular quantity
by the radius of motion:
d = R, v = R, a = R.
For example, suppose you have a spool of network cable with radius 20[cm]
and you need to measure out a length of 20[m] so as to connect your computer
to your neighbours computer. How many turns from the spool will you need?
To nd out, we can solve for in the formula d = R and obtain = 20/0.2 =
100[rad] which corresponds to 15.9 turns.
Torque
Torque is angular force. In order to make an object rotate, you must exert a
torque on it. Torque is measured in Newton metres [N m].
The torque produced by a force depends on
how far from the centre of rotation it is applied:
T = F

r = |

F| sin r,
where r is called the leverage. Note that only
the F

component of the force creates a torque.

To understand the meaning of the torque
equation, you should stop reading right now
207
Angular motion
and go experiment with a door. If you push
the door close to the hinges, it will take a lot more force to make it move than
if you push far from the hinges. The more leverage r you have, the more torque
you will produce. Also, if you pull on the door handle away from the hinges,
your force will have only a F
||
component so no matter how hard you pull, you
will not cause the door to move.
The standard convention is to call torques that produce counter-clockwise
motion positive and torques that cause clockwise rotation negative.
The relationship between torque and force can also be used in the other
direction. If an electric motor produces a torque of T [N m] and is attached to
a chain wheel of radius R then the tension in the chain will be:
T = F

= T /R [N].
Using this equation, you could compute the maximum pulling force produced
by your car. You will have to lookup the value of the maximum torque produced
by your cars engine and then divide by the radius of your wheels.
Moment of inertia
The momentum of inertia of an object describes how dicult it is to make the
object rotate:
I = how dicult it is to make an object turn .
The calculation of the moment of inertia takes into account the mass distri-
bution of the object. An object which has most of its mass close to the centre
will have a smaller moment of inertia, whereas objects which have their mass
far from the centre will have a large moment of inertia.
The formula for calculating the moment of inertia is:
I =

m
i
r
2
i
=
_
obj
r
2
dm [kg m
2
].
The above equation indicates that we need to weight each part of the object
by the squared distance of that part from the centre, hence the units [kg m
2
].
208
Angular motion
We rarely calculate the moment of inertia of objects using the above for-
mula. Most of the physics problems you will have to solve will involve geomet-
rical shapes for which the moment of inertia is given by simple formulas:
I
disk
=
1
2
mR
2
, I
ring
= mR
2
,
I
sphere
=
2
5
mR
2
, I
sph.shell
=
2
3
mR
2
.
When you learn more about calculus, you will be able to derive each of the
above formulas on your own. For now, just try to remember the formulas for
the inertia of the disk and the ring as they are likely to come up in problems.
The quantity I plays the same role in the equations of angular motion as
the mass m plays in the equations of linear motion.
Torques cause angular acceleration
Recall Newtons second law F = ma which describes the amount of accelera-
tion produced by a given force acting on an object. The angular analogue of
Newtons second law is the following equation:
T = I.
This equation indicates that the angular acceleration produced by the a toque
T is inversely proportional to the objects moment of inertia. Torque is the
cause of angular acceleration.
Angular momentum
The angular momentum of a spinning object measures the amount of rota-
tional motion that the object has. The formula for the angular momentum
of a an object with moment of inertia I rotating at an angular velocity is:
L = I [kg m
2
/s].
209
Angular motion
The angular momentum of an object is a conserved quantity in the absence
of external torques:
L
in
= L
out
.
This is similar to the way momentum p is a conserved quantity in the absence
of external forces.
Rotational kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of a rotating object is calculated as follows:
K
r
=
1
2
I
2
[J].
This is the rotational analogue to the linear kinetic energy
1
2
mv
2
.
The amount of work produced by a torque T which is applied during an
angular displacement of is given by:
W = T [J].
Using the above equations, we can now include the energy and work asso-
ciated with rotational motion into conservation of energy calculations.
Examples
Rotational UVM
A disk is spinning at a constant angular velocity of 12[rad/s]. How many turns
will the disk complete in one minute?
Since the angular velocity is constant, we can use the equation (t) = t+
i
to nd the total angular displacement after one minute. We obtain (60) =
12 60 = 720[rad]. To obtain the number of turns, we divide this number by
2 and obtain 114.6[turns].
210
Angular motion
Rotational UAM
A solid disk of mass 20[kg] and radius 30[cm] is initially spinning with an
angular velocity of 20[rad/s]. A brake pad applied to the edge of the disk
produces a friction force of 60[N]. How long before the disk stops?
To solve the kinematics problem, we need to nd the angular acceleration
produced by the brake. We can do this using the equation T = I. We must
nd T and I
disk
and solve for . The torque produced by the brake is calculated
using the force-times-leverage formula: T = F

r = 60 0.3 = 18[N m]. The

moment of inertia of a disk is given by I
disk
=
1
2
mR
2
=
1
2
(20)(0.3)
2
= 0.9[kg
m
2
]. Thus we have = 20[rad/s
2
]. We can now use the UAM formula for the
angular velocity (t) = t +
i
and solve for the time when the motion will
stop: 0 = t +
i
. The disk will come to a stop after t =
i
/ = 1[s].
Combined motion
A pulley of radius R and moment of inertia I has a rope wound around it and a
mass m attached at the end of the rope. What will be the angular acceleration
of the disk if we let the mass drop to the ground while unwinding the rope.
A force diagram on the mass tells us that mg T = ma
y
(where y points
downwards). The torque diagram on the disk tells us that TR = I. Adding
R times the rst equation to the second we get:
R(mg T) + TR = Rma
y
+ I,
or after simplication we get:
Rmg = Rma
y
+ I.
But we know that the rope forms a solid connection between the disk and the
mass block, so we must also have R = a
y
, so if we substitute for a
y
we get:
Rmg = RmR + I = (R
2
m + I).
Solving for we obtain:
=
Rmg
R
2
m + I
.
211
Angular motion
This answer makes sense intuitively. The numerator is the cause of the
motion while the denominator is the eective moment of inertia of the mass-
pulley system as a whole.
Conservation of angular momentum
A spinning gure skater starts from an initial angular velocity of
i
= 12[rad/s]
with her arms far away from her body. The moment of inertia of her body in
this conguration is I
i
= 3[kg m
2
]. She then brings her arms close to her body
and in the process her moment of inertia changes to I
f
= 0.5[kg m
2
]. What
will be her new angular velocity?
We will solve this problem using the law of conservation of angular momen-
tum:
L
i
= L
f
I
i

i
= I
f

f
,
which we can solve for the nal angular velocity
f
. The answer is
f
=
I
i

i
/I
f
= 312/0.5 = 72[rad/s], which corresponds to 11.46 turns per second.
Conservation of energy
A 14[in] bicycle wheel with mass m = 4[kg] with all its mass concentrated near
the rim is set in rolling motion at a velocity of 20[m/s] up an incline. How far
up the incline will the wheel reach before it stops?
We will solve this problem using the principle of conservation of energy

E
i
=

E
f
. We must take into account both the linear and rotational
kinetic energies of the wheel:
K
i
+ K
ri
+ U
i
= K
f
+ K
rf
+ U
f
1
2
mv
2
+
1
2
I
2
+ 0 = 0 + 0 + mgh.
The rst step is to calculate I
wheel
using the formula I
wheel
= mR
2
=
4 (0.355)
2
= 0.5[kg m
2
]. If the linear velocity of the wheel is 20[m/s], then
its angular velocity is = v
t
/R = 20/0.355 = 56.34[rad/s]. We can now use
212
Angular motion
these values in the energy equation:
1
2
(4)(20)
2
+
1
2
(0.5)(56.34)
2
+ 0 = 800.0 + 793.55 = (4)(9.81)h.
The maximum height reached will be h = 40.61[m].
Note that roughly half of the kinetic energy of the wheel was stored in the
rotational motion. This shows that it is important to take into account K
r
when solving problems using energy principles.
Static equilibrium
We say that a system is in equilibrium when all the forces and torques acting
on the system balance each other out. Since there is no net force on the system,
it will just sit there motionless.
Conversely, if you see an object that is not moving, then the forces on it
must be in equilibrium:

F
x
= 0,

F
y
= 0,

T = 0.
There must be zero net force in the x direction, zero net force in the y direction
and zero net torque on the object.
Example: Walking the plank
A heavy wooden plank is placed so that one third of its length protrudes from
the side of a pirate ship. The plank has a length of 12[m] and total weight
120[kg]: this means that 40[kg] of its weight is suspended above the ocean,
while 80[kg] is lying on the ships deck. How far out on the plank can a 80[kg]
person walk before the plank tips over?
We will use the torque equilibrium equation

T
E
= 0 where we calculate
the torques relative to the edge of the ship. The torque produced by person
when he has walked a distance of x[m] from the edge of ship is T
1
= 80x. The
torque produced by the weight of the plank is given by T
2
= 1202 = 240[Nm]
since the weight acts in the centre of gravity of the plank, which is located 2[m]
213
Angular motion
from the edge. The maximum distance that can be walked before the plank
tips over is therefore x = 240/80 = 3[m]. After that it is all sharks.
Discussion
Our coverage of the ideas of rotational motion has been very brief. The reason
for this, is that there was no new physics to be learned. In this section we used
the techniques and ideas developed in the context of linear motion to describe
the rotational motion of objects.
It is really important that you see the parallels
between the new rotational concepts and their linear
counterparts. To help you see the connections, you can
compare the diagram shown on the right with the dia-
gram from the beginning of this section.
Let us summarize. If you know the torque acting
on an object, then you can calculate its angular accel-
eration . Knowing the angular acceleration (t) and
the initial conditions
i
and
i
, you can then calculate
the equations of motion (t) and (t) at all times.
Furthermore, the angular velocity is related to the angular momentum
L = I and the rotational kinetic energy K
r
=
1
2
I
2
of the rotating object.
The angular momentum measures the quantity of rotational motion, while
the rotational kinetic energy measures how much energy the object has by
virtue of its rotational motion.
The moment of inertia I plays the role of the mass m in the rotational
equations. In the equation T = I, the moment of inertia I measures how
dicult it is to make the object turn. The moment of inertia also appears in
the formulas for the angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy.
214
Simple harmonic motion
4.9 Simple harmonic motion
Vibrations and oscillations are all around us. White light is made up of many
oscillations of the electromagnetic eld at dierent frequencies (colors). Sounds
are made up of a combination of many air vibrations with dierent frequencies
and strengths. In this section we will learn about simple harmonic motion,
which describes the oscillation of a mechanical system at a xed frequency and
with a constant amplitude. By studying oscillations in their simplest form,
you will pick up important intuition which you can apply to all other types of
oscillations.
The canonical example of simple harmonic mo-
tion is the motion of a mass-spring system illustrated
in the gure on the right. The block is free to slide
along the horizontal frictionless surface. If the sys-
tem is disturbed from its equilibrium position, it will
start to oscillate back and forth at a certain natural
frequency, which depends on the mass of the block and the stiness of the
spring.
In this section we will focus our attention on two mechanical systems: the
mass-spring system and the simple pendulum. We will follow the usual ap-
proach and describe the positions, velocities, accelerations and energies associ-
ated with this type of motion. The notion of simple harmonic motion (SHM)
is far more important than just these two systems. The equations and intu-
ition developed for the analysis of the oscillation of these simple mechanical
systems can be applied much more generally to sound oscillations, electric cur-
rent oscillations and even quantum oscillations. Pay attention, that is all I am
saying.
Concepts
A: The amplitude of the movement, how far the object goes back and
forth relative to the centre position.
x(t)[m], v(t)[m/s], a(t)[m/s
2
]: The position, velocity and acceleration of
215
Simple harmonic motion
the object as functions of time.
T[s]: The period of the motion, i.e., how long it takes for the motion to
repeat.
f[Hz]: The frequency of the motion.
[rad/s]: The angular frequency of the simple harmonic motion.
[rad]: The phase constant. The Greek letter is pronounced phee.
Simple harmonic motion
The gure on the right illustrates a mass-spring sys-
tem undergoing simple harmonic motion. Observe
that the position of the mass as a function of time
behaves like the cosine function. From the diagram,
we can also identify two important parameters of
the motion: the amplitude A, which describes the
maximum displacement of the mass from the cen-
tre position, and the period T, which describes how
long it takes for the mass to come back to its initial
position.
The equation which describes the position of the
object as a function of time is the following:
x(t) = Acos(t + ).
The constant (omega) is called the angular frequency of the motion. It is
related to the period T by the equation =
2
T
. The additive constant (phee)
is called the phase constant or phase shift and its value depends on the initial
condition for the motion x
i
x(0).
I dont want you to be scared by the formula for simple harmonic motion. I
know there are a lot of Greek letters that appear in it, but it is actually pretty
simple. In order to understand the purpose of the three parameters A, and
, we will do a brief review of the properties of the cos function.
216
Simple harmonic motion
Review of sin and cos functions
The functions f(t) = sin(t) and f(t) =
cos(t) are periodic functions which oscillate
between 1 and 1 with a period of 2. Pre-
viously we used the functions cos and sin
in order to nd the horizontal and vertical
components of vectors, and called the input
variable (theta). However, in this section
the input variable is the time t measured in
seconds. Look carefully at the plot of the
function cos(t). As t goes from t = 0 to
t = 2, the function cos(t) completes one full cycle. The period of cos(t) is
T = 2 because this is how long it takes (in radians) for a point to go around
the unit circle.
Time-scaling
To describe periodic motion with a dierent period, we can still use the cos
function but we must add a multiplier in front of the variable t inside the cos
function. This multiplier is called the angular frequency and is usually denoted
(omega). The input-scaled cos function:
f(t) = cos(t),
has a period of T =
2

.
If you want to have a periodic function with period T, you should use the
multiplier constant =
2
T
inside the cos function. When you vary t from 0 to
T, the function cos(t) will go through one cycle because the quantity t goes
from 0 to 2. You shouldnt just take my word for this: try this for yourself
by building a cos function with a period of 3 units.
The frequency of periodic motion describes how many times per second the
motion repeats. The frequency is equal to the inverse of the period:
f =
1
T
=

2
[Hz].
217
Simple harmonic motion
The relation between f (frequency) and (angular frequency) is a factor of
2. This multiplier is needed since the natural cycle length of the cos function
is 2 radians.
Output-scaling
If we want to have oscillations that go between A and +A instead of between
1 and +1, we can multiply the cos function by the appropriate amplitude:
f(t) = Acos(t).
The above function has period T =
2

and oscillates between A and A on

the y axis.
Time-shifting
The function Acos(t) starts from its maximum value at t = 0. In the case of
the mass-spring system, this corresponds to the case when the motion begins
with the spring maximally stretched x
i
x(0) = A.
In order to describe other starting positions for the motion, it may be
necessary to introduce a phase shift inside the cos function:
f(t) = Acos(t + ).
The constant must be chosen so that at t = 0, the function f(t) correctly
describes the initial position of the system.
For example, if the harmonic motion starts from the centre x
i
x(0) = 0
and is initially going in the positive direction, then the equation of motion is
described by the function Asin(t). However, since sin() = cos(

2
) we can
equally well describe the motion in terms of a shifted cos function:
x(t) = Acos
_
t

2
_
= Asin(t).
Note that the function x(t) correctly describes the initial position: x(0) = 0.
218
Simple harmonic motion
By now, the meaning of all the parameters in the simple harmonic motion
equation should be clear to you. The constant in front of the cos tells us
the amplitude A of the motion, the multiplicative constant inside the cos
is related to the period/frequency of the motion =
2
T
= 2f. Finally, the
additive constant is chosen depending on the initial conditions.
Mass and spring
OK, enough math. It is time to learn about the rst physical system which
exhibits simple harmonic motion: the mass-spring system.
An object of mass m is attached to a spring with spring constant k. If
disturbed from rest, this mass-spring system will undergo simple harmonic
motion with angular frequency:
=
_
k
m
.
A sti spring attached to a small mass will result in very rapid oscillations. A
weak spring or a large mass will result in slow oscillations.
A typical exam question will tell you k and m and ask about the period T.
If you remember the denition of T, you can easily calculate the answer:
T =
2

= 2
_
m
k
.
Equations of motion
The general equations of motion for the mass-spring system are as follows:
x(t) = Acos(t + ),
v(t) = A sin(t + ),
a(t) = A
2
cos(t + ).
The general shape of the function x(t) is cos-like. The angular frequency
parameter is governed by the physical properties of the system. The parameters
219
Simple harmonic motion
A and describe the specics of the motion, namely, the size of the oscillation
and where it starts from.
The function v(t) is obtained, as usual, by taking the derivative of x(t). The
function a(t) is obtained by taking the derivative of v(t), which corresponds to
the second derivative of x(t).
Motion parameters
The velocity and the acceleration of the object are also periodic functions.
We can nd the maximum values of the velocity and the acceleration by
reading o the coecient in front of the sin and cos in the functions v(t) and
a(t).
1. The maximum velocity of the object is
v
max
= A.
2. The maximum acceleration is
a
max
= A
2
.
The velocity is maximum as the object passes through the centre, while the
acceleration is maximum when the spring is maximally stretched (compressed).
You will often be asked to solve for the quantities v
max
and a
max
in exercises
and exams. This is an easy task if you remember the above formulas and you
know the values of the amplitude A and the angular frequency .
Energy
The potential energy stored in a spring which is stretched (compressed) by a
length x is given by the formula U
s
=
1
2
kx
2
. Since we know x(t), we can obtain
the potential energy of the mass-spring system as a function of time:
U
s
(t) =
1
2
kx(t)
2
=
1
2
kA
2
cos
2
(t + ).
220
Simple harmonic motion
The potential energy reaches its maximum value U
s,max
=
1
2
kA
2
when the
spring is fully stretched or fully compressed.
The kinetic energy of the mass as a function of time is given by:
K(t) =
1
2
mv(t)
2
=
1
2
m
2
A
2
sin
2
(t + ).
The kinetic energy is maximum when the mass passes through the centre po-
sition. The maximum kinetic energy is given by K
max
=
1
2
mv
2
max
=
1
2
mA
2

2
.
Conservation of energy
The conservation of energy equation tells us that the total energy of the mass-
spring system is conserved. The sum of the potential energy and the kinetic
energy at any two instants t
1
and t
2
is the same:
U
s1
+ K
2
= U
s2
+ K
2
.
It is also useful to calculate the total energy of the system E
T
= U
s
(t) +
K(t) = const. This means that even if U
s
(t) and K(t) change over time, the
total energy of the system always remains constant.
We can use the identity cos
2
+ sin
2
= 1 to verify that the total energy
is indeed a constant and that it is equal U
s,max
and K
max
:
E
T
= U
s
(t) + K(t)
=
1
2
kA
2
cos
2
(t) +
1
2
m
2
A
2
sin
2
(t)
=
1
2
m
2
A
2
cos
2
(t) +
1
2
m
2
A
2
sin
2
(t) (since k = m
2
)
=
1
2
m
2
A
2
. .
v
2
max
_
cos
2
(t) + sin
2
(t)

. .
=1
=
1
2
mv
2
max
= K
max
=
1
2
m(A)
2
=
1
2
(m
2
)A
2
=
1
2
kA
2
= U
s,max
.
The best way to understand SHM is to visualize how the energy of the
system shifts between the potential energy of the spring and the kinetic energy
221
Simple harmonic motion
of the moving mass. When the spring is maximally stretched x = A, the
mass will have zero velocity and hence zero kinetic energy K = 0. At this
moment all the energy of the system is stored in the spring E
T
= U
s,max
. The
other important moment is when the mass has zero displacement but maximal
velocity x = 0, U
s
= 0, v = A, E
T
= K
max
, which corresponds to all the
energy being stored as kinetic energy.
Pendulum motion
We now turn our attention to another simple mechanical system whose motion
is also described by the simple harmonic motion equations.
Consider a mass suspended at the end of a long
string of length in a gravitational eld of strength
g. If we start the pendulum from a certain angle

max
away from the vertical position and then re-
lease it, the pendulum will swing back and forth
undergoing simple harmonic motion.
The period of oscillation is given by the follow-
ing formula:
T = 2

g
.
Note that the period does not depend on the amplitude of the oscillation (how
far the pendulum swings) nor the mass of the pendulum. The only factor that
plays a role is the length of the string . The angular frequency for a pendulum
of length is going to be:

2
T
=
_
g

.
We describe the position of the pendulum in terms of the angle that
it makes with the vertical. The equations of motion are described in terms
of angular variables: the angular position , the angular velocity

and the
222
Simple harmonic motion
angular acceleration

:
(t) =
max
cos
__
g

t +
_
,

(t) =
max
_
g

sin
__
g

t +
_
,

(t) =
max
g

cos
__
g

t +
_
.
The angle
max
describes the maximum angle that the pendulum swings to.
Note how we had to use a new variable name

for the angular velocity

of the pendulum

(t) =
d
dt
((t)), so as not to confuse it with the constant
=
_
g

inside the cos function, which describes angular frequency of the

periodic motion.
Energy
The motion of the pendulum is best understood by imagining how the energy
of the system shifts between the gravitational potential energy of the mass and
its kinetic energy.
The pendulum will have a maximum potential energy when
it swings to the side by the angle
max
. At that angle, the
vertical position of the mass will be increased by a height h
above the lowest point. We can calculate h as follows:
h = cos
max
.
Thus the maximum gravitational potential energy of the mass
is therefore:
U
g,max
= mgh = mg(1 cos
max
).
By the conservation of energy principle, the maximum kinetic energy of
the pendulum must be equal to the maximum of the gravitational potential
223
Simple harmonic motion
energy:
mg(1 cos
max
) = U
g,max
= K
max
=
1
2
mv
2
max
,
where v
max
=

is the linear velocity of the mass as it swings through the

centre.
Explanations
It is worthwhile to understand how the equations of simple harmonic motion
come about. In this subsection, we will discuss how the equations are derived
from Newtons second law F = ma.
Trigonometric derivatives
The slope (derivative) of the function sin(t) varies between 1 and 1. The
slope is largest when sin passes through the x axis and the slope is zero when
it reaches its maximum and minimum values. A careful examination of the
graphs of the bare functions sin and cos reveals that the derivative of the
function sin(t) is described by the function cos(t) and vice versa:
f(t) = sin(t) f

(t) = cos(t),
f(t) = cos(t) f

(t) = sin(t).
When you learn more about calculus you will know how to nd the derivative
of any function you want, but for now just take my word that the above two
formulas are true.
The chain rule for derivatives tells us that the derivative of a composite
function f(g(x)) is given by f

(g(x)) g

(x), i.e., you must take the derivative

of the outer function and then multiply by the derivative of the inner function.
We can use the chain rule to the nd derivative of the simple harmonic motion
position function:
x(t) = Acos(t+) v(t) x

(t) = Asin(t+)() = A sin(t+),

224
Simple harmonic motion
where the outer function is f(x) = Acos(x) with derivative f

(x) = Asin(x)
and the inner function is g(x) = x + with derivative g

(x) = .
The same reasoning is used to obtain the second derivative:
a(t)
d
dt
v(t) = A
2
cos(t + ) =
2
x(t).
Note that a(t) = x

(t) has the same form as x(t), but always acts in the
opposite direction.
I hope this claries for you how we obtained the functions v(t) and a(t):
we simply took the derivative of the function x(t).
Derivation of the mass-spring SHM equation
You may be wondering where the equation x(t) = Acos(t + ) comes from.
This formula looks very dierent from the kinematics equations for linear mo-
tion x(t) = x
i
+ v
i
t +
1
2
at
2
, which we obtained starting from Newtons second
law F = ma after two integration steps.
In this section, we pulled the x(t) = Acos(t + ) formula out of thin air,
as if by revelation. Why did we suddenly start talking about cos functions and
Greek letters with dubious names like phase. Are you phased by all of this?
When I was rst learning about simple harmonic motion, I was totally phased
because I didnt see where the sin and cos came from.
The cos also comes from F = ma, but the story is a little more complicated
this time. The force exerted by a spring is F
s
= kx. If you draw a force
diagram on the mass, you will see that the force of the spring is the only force
acting on it so we have:

F = F
s
= ma kx = ma.
Recall that the acceleration is the second derivative of the position:
a =
dv(t)
dt
=
d
2
x(t)
dt
2
= x

(t).
225
Simple harmonic motion
We now rewrite the equation kx = ma in terms of the function x(t) and
its second derivative:
kx(t) = m
d
2
x(t)
dt
2
0 = m
d
2
x(t)
dt
2
+ kx(t)
0 =
d
2
x(t)
dt
2
+
k
m
x(t).
This is called a dierential equation. Instead of looking for an unknown
number as in normal equations, in dierential equations we are looking for an
unknown function x(t). We do not know what x(t) is but we do know one of
its properties, namely, that its second derivative x

(t) is equal to the negative

of x(t) multiplied by some constant.
To solve a dierential equation, you have to guess which function x(t)
satises this property. There is an entire course called Dierential Equations,
in which engineers and physicists learn how to do this guessing thing. Can
you think of a function which, when multiplied by
k
m
, is equal to its second
derivative?
OK, I thought of one:
x
1
(t) = A
1
cos
_
_
k
m
t
_
.
Come to think of it, there is also a second one which works:
x
2
(t) = A
2
sin
_
_
k
m
t
_
.
You should try this for yourself: verify that x

1
(t) +
k
m
x
1
(t) = 0 and x

2
(t) +
k
m
x
2
(t) = 0, which means that these functions are both solutions to the dier-
ential equation x

(t) +
k
m
x(t) = 0.
226
Simple harmonic motion
Since both x
1
(t) and x
2
(t) are solutions, any combination of them must
also be a solution:
x(t) = A
1
cos(t) + A
2
sin(t).
This is kind of the answer we were looking for. I say kind of because the
function x(t) is specied in terms of the coecients A
1
and A
2
instead of the
usual parameters: the amplitude A and a phase .
Lo and behold, using the trigonometric identity cos(a+b) = cos(a) cos(b)
sin(a) sin(b) we can express the function x(t) as a time-shifted trigonometric
function:
x(t) = Acos(t + ) = A
1
cos(t) + A
2
sin(t).
The expression on the left is the preferred way of describing SHM because the
parameters A and corresponds to observable aspects of the motion.
Let me go over what just happened here one more time. Our goal was
to nd the equation of motion which predicts the position of an object as
a function of time x(t). To understand what is going on, let us draw an
analogy with a situation which we have seen previously. In linear kinematics,
uniform accelerated motion with a(t) = a is described by the equation x(t) =
x
i
+ v
i
t +
1
2
at
2
in terms of parameters x
i
and v
i
. Depending on the initial
velocity and the initial position of the object, we obtain dierent trajectories.
Simple harmonic motion with angular frequency is described by the equation
x(t) = Acos(t + ) in terms of the parameters A and , which are the
natural parameters for describing SHM. We obtain dierent harmonic motion
trajectories depending on the values of the parameters A and .
Derivation of the pendulum SHM equation
To see how the SHM equation of motion arises in the case of the pendulum,
we need to start from the torque equation T = I.
The diagram on the right illustrates how we can cal-
culate the torque on the pendulum which is caused by
the force of gravity as a function of the displacement an-
gle . Recall that the torque calculation only takes into
227
Simple harmonic motion
account the F

component of any force, since it is the

only part which causes rotation:
T

= F

= mg sin .
If we now substitute this into the equation T = I, we obtain the following:
T = I
mg sin (t) = m
2
d
2
(t)
dt
2
g sin (t) =
d
2
(t)
dt
2
What follows is something which is not mathematically rigorous, but will
allow us to continue and solve this problem. When is a small angle we can
use the following approximation:
sin() , for 1.
This type of equation is called a small angle approximation. You will see where
it comes from later on when you learn about Taylor series approximations
to functions. For now, you can convince yourself of the above formula by
zooming many times on the graph of the function sin near the origin to see
that y = sin(x) will look very much like y = x. Try this out.
Using the small angle approximation for sin we can rewrite the equation
involving (t) and its second derivative as follows:
g sin (t) =
d
2
(t)
dt
2
g(t)
d
2
(t)
dt
2
0 =
d
2
(t)
dt
2
+
g

(t).
At this point we recognize that we are dealing with the same dierential
equation as in the case of the mass-spring system:

(t) +
2
(t) = 0, which
has solution:
(t) =
max
cos(t + ),
228
Simple harmonic motion
where the constant inside the cos function is =
_
g

.
Examples
When asked to solve word problems, you will usually be told the initial ampli-
tude x
i
= A or the initial velocity v
i
= A of the SHM and the question will
ask you to calculate some other quantity. Answering these problems shouldnt
be too dicult provided you write down the general equations for x(t), v(t)
and a(t), ll-in the knowns quantities and then solve for the unknowns.
Standard example
You are observing a mass-spring system build from a 1[kg] mass and a 250[N/m]
spring. The amplitude of the oscillation is 10[cm]. Determine (a) the maximum
speed of the mass, (b) the maximum acceleration, and (c ) the total mechanical
energy of the system.
First we must nd the angular frequency for this system =
_
k/m =
_
250/1 = 15.81[rad/s]. To nd (a) we use the equation v
max
= A =
15.81 0.1 = 1.58[m/s]. Similarly, we can nd the maximum acceleration
using a
max
=
2
A = 15.81
2
0.1 = 25[m
2
/s]. There are two equivalent ways
for solving (c ). We can obtain the total energy of the system by considering
the potential energy of the spring when it is maximally extended (compressed)
E
T
= U
s
(A) =
1
2
kA
2
= 1.25[J], or we can obtain the total energy from the
maximum kinetic energy E
T
= K =
1
2
mv
2
max
= 1.25[J].
Discussion
In this section we learned about simple harmonic motion, which is described
by the equation x(t) = Acos(t + ). You may be wondering what non-
simple harmonic motion is. A simple extension of what we learned would be
to study oscillating systems where the energy is slowly dissipating. This is
known as damped harmonic motion for which the equation of motion looks
like x(t) = Ae
t
cos(t + ), which describes an oscillation whose magnitude
229
Conclusion
slowly decreases. The coecient is known as the damping coecient and
indicates how fast the energy of the system is dissipated.
The concept of SHM comes up in many other areas of physics. When
you learn about electric circuits, capacitors and inductors, you will run into
equations of the form v

(t) +
2
v(t) = 0, which indicates that the voltage in a
circuit is undergoing simple harmonic motion. Guess what, the same equation
used to describe the mechanical motion of the mass-spring system will be used
to describe the voltage in an oscillating circuit!
4.10 Conclusion
The fundamental purpose of mechanics is to predict the motion of objects using
equations. In the beginning of the chapter, I made the claim that there are
only twenty equations that you need to know in order to solve any physics
problem. Let us now verify this claim and review the material.
Our goal was to nd x(t) for all times t. However, there are no equations
of physics which will tell us x(t) directly. Instead, we have Newtons second
law F = ma, which tells us that the acceleration of the object a(t) is equal to
the net force acting on the object divided by the objects mass. In order to
nd x(t) starting from a(t) we must use integration (twice).
We studied kinematics in several dierent contexts. We originally looked
at kinematics problems in one dimension, and derived the UAM and UVM
equations. We also studied the problem of projectile motion by decomposing
it into two separate kinematics subproblems: one in the x direction (UVM)
and one in the y direction (UAM). Later, we studied the circular motion of
objects and stated equation a
r
=
v
2
t
r
which describes an important relationship
between the radial acceleration, the tangential velocity and the radius of the
circle of rotation. We also studied rotational motion using angular kinematics
quantities (t), (t) and (t). We dened the concept of torque and used
this concept to write down the angular equivalent of Newtons second law
T = I. Finally, we studied the equation which describes simple harmonic
motion: x(t) = Acos(t +) and showed the formula =
_
k
m
, which is used
230
Conclusion
to nd the angular frequency of a mass-spring system.
We also discussed three conservation laws: the conservation of linear mo-
mentum law

p
i
=

p
f
, the conservation of angular momentum law L
i
= L
f
and the conservation of energy law

E
i
=

E
f
. Each of these three fun-
damental quantities is conserved overall and cannot be created nor destroyed.
Momentum calculations are used to analyze collisions, while energy formulas
like equations K =
1
2
mv
2
, U
g
= mgh and U
s
=
1
2
kx
2
can be used to analyze
the motion of objects in terms of energy principles.
As you can see, twenty equations really are enough for all of Mechanics.
The next step for you should be to practice as exercises in order to solidify
your understanding.
Links
[ Physics exercises. ]
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Physics Exercises
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-level Physics (Advancing Physics)
[ Lots of worked examples. ]
http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/301/lectures/lectures.html
231
Conclusion
232
Chapter 5
Optics
5.1 Introduction
A camera consists essentially of two parts: a detector and a lens construction.
The detector is some surface that can record the light which hits it. Old-school
cameras used the chemical reaction of silver-oxidation under light, whereas
modern cameras use electronic photo-detectors.
While the detector is important, that which really makes or brakes a camera
is the lens. The lens job is to take the light reected o some object (that
which you are taking a picture of) and redirect it in an optimal way so that a
faithful image forms on the detection surface. The image has to form exactly
at the right distance d
i
(so that it is in focus) and have exactly the right height
h
i
(so it ts on the detector).
To understand how lenses transform light, there is just one equation you
need to know:
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
,
where d
o
is the distance from the object to the lens, d
i
is the distance from
the lens to the image and f is called the focal length of the lens. This entire
chapter is dedicated to this equation and its applications. It turns out that
curved mirrors behave very similarly to lenses, and the same equation can be
233
Light
used to calculate the properties of the images formed by mirrors. Before we
talk about curved mirrors and lenses, we will have to learn about the basic
properties of light and the laws of reection and refraction.
5.2 Light
Light is pure energy stored in the form of a travelling electromagnetic wave.
The energy of a light particle is stored in the electromagnetic oscillation.
During one moment, light is a pulse of electric eld in space, and during
the next instant it is a pulse of pure magnetic energy. Think of sending a
wrinkle pulse down a long rope where the pulse of mechanical energy is
traveling along the rope. Light is like that, but without the rope. Light is just
an electro-magnetic pulse and such pulses happen even in empty space. Thus,
unlike most other waves you may have seen until now, light does not need a
medium to travel in: empty space will do just ne.
The understanding of light as a manifestation of electro-magnetic energy
(electromagnetic radiation) is some deep stu, which is not the subject of this
section. We will get to this, after we cover the concept of electric and magnetic
elds, electric and magnetic energy and Maxwells equations. For the moment,
when I say oscillating energy, I want you to think of a mechanical mass-
spring system in which the energy oscillates between the potential energy of
the spring and the kinetic energy of the mass. A photon is a similar oscillation
between a magnetic system part and the electric system part, which travels
through space at the speed of light.
In this section, we focus on light rays. The vector

k in the gure describes
the direction of travel of the light ray.
Oh light ray, light ray!
234
Light
Where art thou, on this winter day.
Denitions
Light is made up of light particles:
p: a photon.
E
p
: the Energy of the photon.
: the wavelength the photon.
f: the frequency of the photon. (Denoted in some texts.)
c: the speed of light in vacuum. c = 2.9979 10
8
[m/s].
The speed of light depends on the material in which it travels:
v
x
: the speed of light in material x.
n
x
: the diraction index of material x, which tells you how much slower
light is in that material relative to the speed of light in vacuum. v
x
=
c/n
x
. Air is pretty much like vacuum, so v
air
c and n
air
1. There are
dierent types of glass used in lens-manifacturing with n values ranging
from 1.4 to 1.7.
Equations
Like all travelling waves, the propagation speed of light is equal to the product
of its frequency times its wavelength. In vacuum we have
c = f.
For example, red light of wavelength = 700n[m], has frequency f =
428.27T[Hz] since the speed of light is c = 2.9979 10
8
[m/s].
The energy of a beam of light is proportional to the intensity of the light
(how many photon per second are being emitted) and the energy carried by
each photon. The energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency:
E
p
= f,
235
Light
where = 1.0545710
34
is Planks constant. The above equation is a big deal,
since it applies not just to light but to all forms of electromagnetic radiation.
The higher the frequency, the more energy per photon there is. Einstein got
a Nobel prize for guring out the photoelectric eect which is a manifestation
of the above equation.
The speed of light in a material x with refractive index n
x
is
v
x
=
c
n
x
.
Here is a list of refractive indices for some common materials: n
vacuum

1.00, n
air
= 1.00029, n
ice
= 1.31, n
water
= 1.33, n
fused quartz
= 1.46,
n
NaCl
= 1.54, Crown glass 1.52-1.62, Flint glass 1.57-1.75, n
sapphire
= 1.77,
and n
diamond
= 2.417.
Discussion
Visible light
Our eyes are able to distinguish certain wavelengths of light as dierent colours.
Color Wavelength (nm)
Red 780 - 622
Orange 622 - 597
Yellow 597 - 577
Green 577 - 492
Blue 492 - 455
Violet 455 - 390
236
Light
Note that units of wavelength are tiny numbers like: nanometers 1[nm] =
10
9
[m] or Armstrongs 1[A] = 10
10
[m].
The electromagnetic spectrum
Visible light is only a small part of the elec-
tromagnetic spectrum. Waves with frequency
higher than that of violet light are called ul-
traviolet (UV) radiation and cannot be seen by
the human eye. Also, frequencies lower than
that of red light (infrared) are not seen, but
can sometimes be felt as heat.
The EM spectrum extends to all sorts of
frequencies (and therefore wavelengths, by c =
f). We have dierent names for the dierent
parts of the EM spectrum. The highest energy
particles (highest frequency shortest wave-
length) are called gamma rays (-rays). We
are constantly bombarded by gamma rays com-
ing from outer space with tremendous energy.
These -rays are generated by nuclear reactions
inside distance stars.
Particles with less energy than -rays are called X-rays. These are still
energetic enough that they easily pass through most parts of your body like
a warm knife through butter. Only your bones oer some resistance, which
is kind of useful in medical imaging since all bone structure can be seen in
contrast when taking an X-ray picture.
The frequencies below the visible range (wavelengths longer than that of
visible light) are populated by radio waves. And when I say radio, I dont
mean specically radio, but any form of wireless communication. Starting
from 4G (or whatever cell phones have gotten to these days), then the top
GSM bands at 2.2-2.4GHz, the low GSM bands 800-900M[Hz], and then going
into TV frequencies, FM frequencies (87-108M[Hz]) and nally AM frequencies
237
Light rays
(153kHz - 26.1MHz). It is all radio. It is all electromagnetic radiation emitted
by antennas, travelling through space and being received by other antennas.
5.3 Light rays
In this section we will study how light rays get reected o the surfaces of
objects and what happens when light rays reach the boundary between two
dierent materials.
Denitions
The speed of light depends on the material where it travels:
v
x
: the speed of light in material x.
n
x
: the diraction index of material x, which tells you how much slower
light is in that material. v
x
= c/n
x
.
When an incoming ray of light comes to the surface of a transparent object,
part of it will be reected and part of it will be transmitted. We measure all
angles with respect to the normal, which is the direction perpendicular to the
interface.

i
: The incoming or incidence angle.

r
: The reection angle.

t
: The transmission angle: the angle of the light that goes into the
object.
238
Light rays
Formulas
Reection
Light that hits a reective surface will bounce back exactly at the same angle
as it came in on:

i
=
r
.
Refraction
The transmission angle of light when it goes into a material with dierent
refractive index can be calculated from Snells law:
n
i
sin
i
= n
t
sin
t
.
Total internal refraction
Light coming in from a medium with low refraction index into a medium with
high refraction index gets refracted towards the normal. If the light travels
in the opposite direction (from high n, to low n), then it will get deected
away from the normal. In the latter case, an interesting phenomenon called
total internal refraction occurs, whereby light rays incident at suciently large
angles with the normal get trapped inside the material. The angle at which
this phenomenon starts to kick in is called the critical angle
crit
.
239
Light rays
Consider a light ray inside a material of refractive indeed n
x
surrounded
by a material with smaller refractive index n
y
, n
x
> n
y
. To make this more
concrete, think of a trans-continental underground optical cable made of glass
n
x
= 1.7 surrounded by some plastic with n
y
= 1.3. All light at an angle
greater than:

crit
= sin
1
_
_
n
y
n
x
sin(90

)
. .
=1
_
_
= sin
1
_
n
y
n
x
_
= sin
1
_
1.3
1.7
_
= 49.88

,
will get reected every time it reaches the surface of the optical cable. Thus, if
you shine a laser pointer into one end of such a bre-optical cable in California,
100% of that laser light will come out in Japan. Most high-capacity communi-
cation links around the world are based around this amazing property of light.
In other words: no total internal refraction means no internet.
Examples
What is wrong in this picture?
Here is an illustration from one of Rene Descartes books, which shows a man
in funny pants with some sort of lantern which produces a light ray that goes
into the water.
Q: What is wrong with the picture?
240
Light rays
Hint: Recall that n
air
= 1 and n
water
= 1.33, so n
i
< n
t
.
Hint 2: What should happen to the angles of the light ray?
A: Suppose that the line AB, is at 45

angle, then after entering the water

at B, the ray should be deected towards the normal, i.e., it should pass
somewhere between G and D. If you wanted to be precise and calculate the
transmission angle then we would use:
n
i
sin
i
= n
t
sin
t
,
lled in with the values for air and water
1 sin(45

) = 1.33 sin(
t
),
and solved for
t
(the refracted angle) we would get:

t
= sin
1
_

2
2 1.33
_
= 32.1

.
The mistake apparently is due to Descartes printer who got confused and
measured angles with respect to the surface of the water. Dont make that
mistake: remember to always measure angles with respect to the normal. The
correct drawing should have the light ray going at an angle of 32.1

with respect
to the line BG.
Explanations
Refraction
To understand refraction you need to imagine wave fronts perpendicular to
the light rays. Because light comes in at an angle, one part of the wave front
will be in material n
i
and the other will be in material n
t
. Suppose n
i
< n
t
,
then the part of the wavefront in the n
t
material will move slower so angles of
the wavefronts will change. The precise relationship between the angles will
depend on the refractive indices of the two materials:
n
i
sin
i
= n
t
sin
t
.
241
Parabolic shapes
Total internal refraction
Whenever n
i
> n
t
, we reach a certain point where the formula:
n
i
sin
i
= n
t
sin
t
,
brakes down. If the transmitted angle
t
becomes greater than 90

(the critical
transmission angle) it will not be transmitted at all. Instead, 100% of the light
ray will get reected back into the material.
To nd the critical incident angle solve for
i
in:
n
i
sin
i
= n
t
sin 90

crit
= sin
1
_
n
t
n
i
_
.
The summary of the what happens when a light ray comes to a boundary-
story is as follows:
1. If
crit
<
i
<
crit
, then some part of the light will be transmitted at
an angle
t
and some part will be reected at an angle
r
=
i
.
2. If
i

crit
, then all the light will get reected at an angle
r
=
i
.
Note that when going from a low n medium into a high n medium, there is no
critical angle there will always be some part of the light that is transmitted.
5.4 Parabolic shapes
The parabolic curve has a special importance in optics. Consider for example
a very weak radio signal coming from a satellite in orbit. If you use just a
regular radio receiver, the signal will be so weak as to be indistinguishable
from the background noise. However, if you use a parabolic satellite dish to
collect the power from a large surface area and focus it on the receiver, then
you will be able to detect the signal. This works because of the parabolic shape
242
Mirrors
of the satellite dish: all radio wave coming in from far away will get reected
towards the same point the focal point of the parabola. Thus, if you put
your receiver at the focal point, it will have the signal power from the whole
dish redirected right to it.
Depending on the shape of the parabola (which way it curves and how
strong the curvature is) the focal point or focus will be at a dierent place.
In the next two sections, we will study parabolic mirrors and lenses. We will
use the horizontal rays get reected towards the focus-fact to draw optics
diagrams and calculate where images will be formed.
5.5 Mirrors
Denitions
To understand how curved mirrors work, we imagine some test object (usually
drawn as an arrow, or a candle) and the test image it forms.
d
o
: The distance of the object from the mirror.
d
i
: The distance of the image from the mirror.
f: The focal length of the mirror.
h
o
: The height of the object.
h
i
: The height of the image.
M: The magnication M = h
i
/h
o
.
When drawing optics diagrams with mirrors, we can draw the following
three rays:
R

: A horizontal incoming ray which gets redirected towards the focus

after it hits the mirror.
R

: A ray that passes through the focus and gets redirected horizontally
after it hits the mirror.
R

: A ray that hits the mirror right in the centre and bounces back at
the same angle at which it came in.
243
Mirrors
Formulas
The following formula can be used to calculate where an image will be formed,
given that you know the focal length of the mirror and the distance d
o
of the
object:
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
.
We follow the convention that distances measured from the reective side
of the mirror are positive, and distances behind the mirror are negative.
The magnication is dened as:
M =
h
i
h
o
=
[d
i
[
[d
o
[
How much bigger is the image compared to the object?
Though it might sound confusing, we will talk about magnication even
when the image is smaller than the object; in those cases we say we have
fractional magnication.
Examples
Visual examples
Mirrors reect light, so it is usual to see an image formed on the same side as
where it came from. This leads to the following convention:
1. If the image forms on the usual side (in front of the mirror), then we say
it has positive distance d
i
.
2. If the image forms behind the mirror, then it has negative d
i
.
Let us rst look at the kind of mirror that you see in metro tunnels: convex
mirror. These mirrors will give you a very broad view, and if someone is coming
around the corner the hope is that your peripheral vision will be able to spot
them in the mirror and you wont bump into each other.
244
Mirrors
I am going to draw R

and R

:
Note that the image is virtual, since it appears to form inside the mirror.
Here is a drawing of a concave mirror instead, with the rays R

and R

drawn again.
Can you add the ray R

(through the focus)? As you can see, any two rays

out of the three are sucient to gure out where the image will be: just nd
the point where the rays meet.
Here are two more examples where the object its placed closer and closer
to the mirror.
245
Mirrors
These are meant to illustrate that the same curved surface, and the same
object can lead to very dierent images depending on where the object is placed
relative to the focal point.
Numerical example 1
OK, lets do an exercise of the can you draw straight lines using a ruler type
now. You will need a piece of white paper, a ruler and a pencil. Go get this
stu, I will be waiting right here.
Q: A convex mirror (like in the metro) is placed at the origin. An object of
height 3[cm] is placed x = 5[cm] away from the mirror. Where will the image
be formed?
Geometric answer: Instead of trying to draw a curved mirror, we will
246
Mirrors
draw a straight line. This is called the thin lens approximation (in this case,
thin mirror) and it will make the drawing of lines much simpler. Take out the
ruler and draw the two rays R

and R

as I did:
Then I can use the ruler to measure out d
i
1.7cm.
Formula Answer: Using the formula
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
,
with the appropriate values lled in
1
5
+
1
d
i
=
1
2.6
,
or
d
i
= 1.0/(1.0/2.6 1.0/5) = 1.71[cm].
Nice.
Observe that (1) I used a negative focal point for the mirror since in some
sense the focal point is behind the mirror, and (2) the image is formed behind
the mirror, which means that it is virtual: this is where the arrow will appear
to an the observing eye drawn in the top left corner.
Numerical example 2
Now we have a concave mirror with focal length f = 2.6cm and we measure
the distances the same way (positive to the left).
247
Mirrors
Q: An object is placed at d
0
= 7[cm] from the mirror. Where will the image
form? What is the height of the image?
Geometric answer: Taking out the ruler, you can choose to draw any of
the three rays. I picked R

and R

since they are the easiest to draw:

Then measuring with the ruler I nd that d
i
4.3[cm], and that the image
is height h
i
1.9[cm], where negative height means that the image is upside
down.
Formula Answer: With the formula now. We start from
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
,
and ll in what we know
1
7
+
1
d
i
=
1
2.6
,
then solve for d
i
:
d
i
= 1.0/(1.0/2.6 1.0/7.0) = 4.136[cm].
To nd the height of the image we use
h
i
h
o
=
d
i
d
o
,
so
h
i
= 3
4.136
7.0
= 3 4.13/7.0 = 1.77[cm].
248
Lenses
You still need the drawing to gure out that the image is inverted though.
Generally, I would trust the numeric answers from the formula more, but
read the signs of the answers from the drawing. Distances in front of the mirror
are positive whereas images formed behind the mirror have negative distance.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curved mirror
5.6 Lenses
Denitions
To understand how lenses work, we imagine again some test object. (an arrow)
and the test image it forms.
d
o
: The distance of the object from the lens.
d
i
: The distance of the image from the lens.
f: The focal length of the lens.
h
o
: The height of the object.
h
i
: The height of the image.
M: The magnication M = h
i
/h
o
.
When drawing lens diagrams, we use the following representative rays:
R

: A horizontal incoming ray which gets redirected towards the focus

after it passes through the lens.
R

: A ray that passes through the focus and gets redirected horizontally
after the lens.
R

: A ray that passes exactly through the centre of the lens and travels
in a straight line.
249
Lenses
Formulas
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
M =
h
i
h
o
=
[d
i
[
[d
o
[
Examples
Visual
Fist consider the typical magnifying glass situation. You put the object close
to the lens, and looking from the side, the object will appear magnied.
A similar setup with a diverging lens. This time the image will appear to
the observer to be smaller than the object.
Note that in the above two examples, if you used the formula you would
get a negative d
i
value since the image is not formed on the right side. We
say the image is virtual.
250
Lenses
Now for an example where a real image is formed:
In this example all the quantities f, d
o
and d
i
are positive.
Numerical
An object is placed at a distance of 3[cm] from a magnifying glass of focal
length 5[cm]. Where will the object appear to be?
You should really try this on your own. Just reading about light rays is
kind of useless. Try drawing the above by yourself with the ruler. Draw the
three kinds of rays: R

, R

, and R

.
Here is my drawing.
Numerically we get
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
,
1
3.0
+
1
d
i
=
1
5.0
,
d
i
= 1.0/(1.0/5.0 1.0/3.0) = 7.50[cm].
251
Lenses
As you can see, drawings are not very accurate. Always trust the formula
for the numeric answers to d
o
, d
i
type of questions.
Multiple lenses
Imagine that the output image formed by the rst lens is the input image
to a second lens.
It may look complicated, but if you solve the problem in two steps (1) how
the object forms an intermediary image, and (2) how the intermediary image
forms the nal image you will get things right.
You can also trace all the rays as they pass through the double-lens appa-
ratus:
We started this chapter talking about real cameras, so
I want to nish on that note too. To form a clear image,
with variable focus and possibly zoom functionality, we
have to use a whole series of lenses, not just one or two.
For each lens though, we can use the formula and
calculate the eects of that lens on the light coming in.
Note that the real world is signicantly more compli-
252
Lenses
cated than the simple ray picture which we have been
using until now. For one, each frequency of light will have a slightly dierent
refraction angle, and sometimes the lens shapes will not be perfect parabolas,
so the light rays will not be perfectly redirected towards the focal point.
Discussion
Fresnel lens
Thicker lenses are stronger. The reason is that the curvature of a
thick lens is bigger and thus light will be refracted more when it hits
the surface. The actual thickness of the lens is of no importance.
The way rays get deected by lenses only depends on the angles of
incidence. Indeed, we can cut out all the middle part of the lens
and leave a highly curved surface parts. This is called a Fresnel
lens and it is used in car headlights.
253
Lenses
254
Chapter 6
Calculus
Calculus is useful math. It is useful for solving problems in physics, chem-
istry, computing, biology, business and many other areas of life. You need
calculus in order to do quantitative analysis of how functions change over time
(derivatives) or sum up all kinds of contributions that add up to a total (in-
tegration). Calculating the slope of a function is a very common task. The
inverse problem of nding a function given its slope is equally common. The
language of calculus will will allow you to speak precisely about the following
properties of functions: their slopes, their curvatures, their asymptotes, their
areas under the curve, etc.
255
Introduction
6.1 Introduction
In the physics chapter we developed an intuitive understanding of integrals
since we used this concept in order to calculate the position and the velocity of
an object given the knowledge of its acceleration. It is now time to study the
techniques of calculus more closely and with more mathematical rigour. Real
math is not so much about calculating things, but about seeing patterns and
relationships between concepts.
The only prerequisite knowledge for calculus is functions. You see, most
problems that you will nd on a calculus exam involve some function f(t) and
ask you to calculate some property of the function, hence the name calculus.
Let us now look at two real-world examples where calculus ideas are used.
Download example
Suppose you are downloading a large le to your computer. At t = 0 you clicked
Save as in your browser and started the download. Let f(t) represent the
size of the downloaded data. The number f(t) is what you would see if, at time
t, you clicked on the partially-downloaded le and checked how much space it
takes on your disk. If you are downloading a 700[Mb] le, then the download
progress bar at time t will correspond to the fraction
f(t)
700[Mb]
.
The derivative function f

(t) is a description of how the function f(t)

changes over time. In our example f

(t) is the download speed. Indeed, if

you are downloading at 100 [kb/s], then the function f(t) must increase by
100[kb] each second. If you maintain this download speed the le size will grow
uniformly: f(0) = 0[kb], f(1) = 100[kb], f(2) = 200[kb], . . ., f(100)=10[Mb].
The estimated time remaining is calculated by dividing the size of the part
remaining to be downloaded by the current download speed:
time remaining =
700 f(t)
f

(t)
[s].
The bigger the derivative is, the faster the download will nish.
256
Denitions
Inverse problem
Let us now consider this problem from the point of view of the router which
connects you to the internet. The router knows what download rate f

(t)[kb/s]
you had at all times during the download because it was sending you the data.
What is the download speed for you is the upload speed for the router.
The router does not have access to your computer and therefore does not
know the actual le size f(t) on your computer. Nevertheless, the router
can infer the information about the size of the le f(t) from the transmission
rate f

(t). The sum (integral) of the download rate between t = 0 and t =

corresponds to the total new downloaded data that appeared on your computer.
During this period, the change in the le size was
f = f() f(0) =
_

0
f

(t) dt.
Assuming that the le size starts from zero f(0) = 0[kb] at t = 0, the router
can use the integration procedure to nd f(), the le size on your computer
at t = :
f() =
_

0
f

(t) dt.
This example illustrates two very important ideas. The rst is the notion
of an integral
_
b
a
dt which is the calculation of the total of a function during
the time period from t = a until t = b. The second idea illustrated is the
inverse relationship between the integral and the derivative operations. If you
know the slope of a function f

(t), you can nd the value of the function f(t)

by integrating.
6.2 Denitions
Calculus is the study of functions f(x) over the real numbers R:
f : R R.
257
Denitions
The function f takes as input some number, usually called x and gives as
output another number f(x) = y. You are familiar with many functions and
have used them in many problems.
In this chapter we will learn about dierent operations that can be per-
formed on functions. It worth understanding these operations because of the
numerous applications which they have.
Dierential calculus
Dierential calculus is all about derivatives:
f

(x): the derivative of f(x) is the rate of change of f at x. The derivative

is also a function of the form
f

: R R,
The output of f

(x) represents the slope of a line parallel (tangent) to f

at the point (x, f(x)).
Integral calculus
Integral calculus is all about integration:

_
b
a
f(x) dx: the integral of f(x) from x = a to x = b corresponds to the
area under f(x) between a and b:
A(a, b) =
_
b
a
f(x) dx.
The
_
sign is a mnemonic for sum. The integral is the sum of f(x)
over that interval.
F(x) =
_
f(x) dx: the anti-derivative of the function f(x) contains the
information about the area under the curve for all limits of integration.
258
Denitions
The area under f(x) between a and b is computed as the dierence be-
tween F(b) and F(a):
A(a, b) =
_
b
a
f(x) dx = F(b) F(a).
Sequences and series
Functions are usually dened for continuous inputs x R, but there are also
functions which are dened only for natural numbers n N. Sequences are
the discrete analogue functions.
a
n
: sequence of numbers a
0
, a
1
, a
2
, a
3
, a
4
, . . .. You can think about each
sequence as a function
a : N R,
where the input n is an integer (index into the sequence) and the output
is a
n
which could be any number.
The integral of a sequence is called a series.

: sum. The summation sign is the short way to express the sum of
several objects:
a
3
+ a
4
+ a
5
+ a
6
+ a
7

3i7
a
i

7

i=3
a
i
.
Note that summations could go up to innity.

a
i
: the series corresponds to the running total of a sequence until n:
S
n
=
n

i=1
a
i
= a
1
+ a
2
+ + a
n1
+ a
n
.
259
Denitions
f(x) =

i=0
a
i
x
i
: a power series is a series which contains powers of
some variable x. Power series give us a way to express any function f(x)
as an innitely long polynomial. For example, the power series of sin(x)
is
sin(x) = x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!

x
7
7!
+
x
9
9!
+ . . . .
Dont worry if you dont understand all the notions and the new notation
in the above paragraphs. I just wanted to present all the calculus actors in
the rst scene. We will talk about each of them in more detail in the following
sections.
Limits
Actually, we have not mentioned the main actor yet: the limit. In calculus, we
do a lot of limit arguments in which we take some positive number > 0 and
we make it progressively smaller and smaller:
lim
0
: the mathematically rigorous way of saying that the number be-
comes smaller and smaller.
We can also take limits to innity, that is, we imagine some number N and we
make that number bigger and bigger:
lim
N
: the mathematical way of saying that the number N will get larger
and larger.
Indeed, it wouldnt be wrong to say that calculus is the study of the in-
nitely small and the innitely many. Working with innitely small quantities
an innitely large numbers can be tricky business but it is extremely important
that you become comfortable with the concept of a limit which is the rigorous
way of talking about innity. Before we learn about derivatives, integrals and
series we will spend some time learning about limits.
260
Innity
6.3 Innity
Lets say you have a length and you want to divide it into innitely many,
innitely short segments. There are innitely many of them, but they are
innitely short so they add up to the total length .
OK, that sounds complicated. Lets start from something simpler. We have
a piece of length and we want to divide this length into N pieces. Each piece
will have length:
=

N
.
Lets check that, together, the N pieces of length add up to the total length
of the string:
N = N

N
= .
Good.
Now imagine that N is a very large number. In fact it can take on any
value, but always larger and larger. The larger N gets, the more ne grained
the notion of small piece of string becomes. In this case we would have:
lim
N
= lim
N

N
= 0,
so eectively the pieces of string are innitely small. However, when you add
them up you will still get:
lim
N
(N) = lim
N
_
N

N
_
= .
The lesson to learn here is that, if you keep things well dened you can use
the notion of innity in your equations. This is the central idea of this course.
Innitely large
The number is really large. How large? Larger than any number you can
think of! Say you think of a number n, then it is true that > n. But no,
261
Innity
you say, actually I thought of a dierent number N > n, well still it will be
true that > N. In fact any nite number you can think of, no matter how
large will always be strictly smaller than .
Innitely small
If instead of a really large number, we want to have a really small number ,
we can simply dene it as the reciprocal of (one over) a really large number N:
= lim
N
N=
1
N
.
However small must get, it remains strictly greater than zero > 0. This is
ensured by the condition N ,= , otherwise if we would have lim
N
1
N
= 0.
The innitely small > 0 is a new beast like nothing you have seen before.
It is a non-zero number that is smaller than any number you can think of. Say
you think 0.00001 is pretty small, well it is true that 0.00001 > > 0. Then
you say, no actually I was thinking about 10
16
, a number with 15 zeros after
the decimal point. It will still be true that 10
16
> , or even 10
123
> > 0.
Like I said, I can make smaller than any number you can think of simply by
choosing N to be larger and larger, yet always remains non-zero.
Innity for limits
When evaluating a limit, we often make the variable x go to innity. This
is useful information, for example if we want to know what the function f(x)
looks like for very large values of x. Does it get closer and closer to some nite
number, or does it blow up? For example the negative-power exponential
function tends to zero for large values of x:
lim
x
e
x
= 0.
In the above examples we also saw that the inverse-x function also tends to
zero:
lim
x
1
x
= 0.
262
Innity
Note that in both cases, the functions will never actually reach zero. They
get closer and closer to zero but never actually reach it. This is why the limit
is a useful quantity, because it says that the functions get arbitrarily close to
0.
Sometimes innity might come out as an answer to a limit question:
lim
x3

1
3 x
= ,
because as x gets closer to 3 from below, i.e., x will take on values like 2.9,
2.99, 2.999, and so on and so forth, the number in the denominator will get
smaller and smaller, thus the fraction will get larger and larger.
Innity for derivatives
The derivative of a function is its slope, dened as the rise over run for an
innitesimally short run:
f

(x) = lim
0
rise
run
= lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)
x + x
.
Innity for integrals
The area under the curve f(x) for values of x between a and b, can be though
of as consisting of many little rectangles of width and height f(x):
f(a) + f(a + ) + f(a + 2) + + f(b ).
In the limit where we take innitesimally small rectangles, we obtain the exact
value of the integral
_
b
a
f(x) dx = A(a, b) = lim
0
[f(a) + f(a + ) + f(a + 2) + + f(b )] ,
263
Limits
Innity for series
For a given [r[ < 1, what is the sum
S = 1 + r + r
2
+ r
3
+ r
4
+ . . . =

k=0
r
k
?
Obviously, taking your calculator and performing the summation is not prac-
tical since there are innitely many terms to add.
For several such innite series, there is actually a closed form formula for
their sum. The above series is called the geometric series and its sum is S =
1
1r
. How were we able to tame the innite? In this case, we used the fact that
S is similar to a shifted version of itself S = 1 + rS, and then solved for S.
6.4 Limits
To understand the ideas behind derivatives and integrals, you need to under-
stand what a limit is and how to deal with the innitely small, innitely large
and the innitely many. In practice, using calculus doesnt actually involve
taking limits since we will learn direct formulas and algebraic rules that are
more convenient than doing limits. Do not skip this section though just be-
cause it is not on the exam. If you do so, you will not know what I mean
when I write things like 0, and lim in later sections.
Introduction in three acts
Zenos paradox
The ancient greek philosopher Zeno once came up with the following argument.
Suppose an archer shoots an arrow and sends it ying towards a target. After
some time it will have travelled half the distance, and then at some later time it
will have travelled the half of the remaining distance and so on always getting
closer to the target. Zeno observed that no matter how little distance remains
to the target, there will always be some later instant when the arrow will have
264
Limits
travelled half of that distance. Thus, he reasoned, the arrow must keep getting
closer and closer to the target, but never reaches it.
Zeno, my brothers and sisters, was making some sort of limit argument, but
he didnt do it right. We have to commend him for thinking about such things
centuries before calculus was invented (17th century), but shouldnt repeat his
mistake. We better learn how to take limits, because limits are important. I
mean a wrong argument about limits could get you killed for Gods sake! If
Zeno were an experimentalist instead of a theoretician and placed himself in
front of the said arrow, he would be dead by now.
Two monks
Two young monks were sitting in silence in a Zen garden one autumn after-
noon.
Can something be so small as to become nothing? asked one of the monks,
braking the silence.
No, replied the second monk, if it is something then it is not nothing.
Yes, but what if no matter how close you look you cannot see it, yet you know
it is not nothing?, asked the rst monk, desiring to see his reasoning to the
end.
The second monk didnt know what to say, but then he found a counterargu-
ment. What if, though I cannot see it with my naked eye, I could see it using
a magnifying glass?.
The rst monk was happy to hear this question, because he had already pre-
pared a response for it. If I know that you will be looking with a magnifying
glass, then I will make it so small that you cannot see with you magnifying
glass.
What if I use a microscope then?
I can make the thing so small that even with a microscope you cannot see it.
What about an electron microscope?
Even then, I can make it smaller, yet still not zero. said the rst monk vic-
toriously and then proceeded to add In fact, for any magnifying device you
can come up with, you just tell me the resolution and I can make the thing
265
Limits
smaller than can be seen.
They went back to concentrating on their breathing.
Epsilon and delta
The monks have the right reasoning but didnt have the right language to
express what they mean. Zeno has the right language, the wonderful Greek
language with letters like and , but he didnt have the right reasoning. We
need to combine aspects of both of the above stories to understand limits.
Lets analyze rst Zenos paradox. The poor brother didnt know about
physics and the uniform velocity equation of motion. If an object is moving
with constant speed v (we ignore the eects of air friction on the arrow), then
its position x as a function of time is given by
x(t) = vt + x
i
,
where x
i
is the initial location where the object starts from at t = 0. Suppose
that the archer who red the arrow was at the origin x
i
= 0 and that the target
is at x = L metres. The arrow will hit the target exactly at t = L/v seconds.
Shlook!
It is true that there are times when the arrow will be 1/2, 1/4, 1/8th,
1/16th, and so forth distance from the target. In fact there innitely many of
those fractional time instants before the arrow hits, but that is beside the point.
Zenos misconception is that he thought that these innitely many timestamps
couldnt all t in the timeline since it is nite. No such problem exists though.
Any non-zero interval on the number line contains innitely many numbers (Q
or R).
Now lets get to the monks conversation. They could have been talking
about the exponential function e
n
, or
1
n
or any function that goes to zero for
large n. We have that:
e
n
,= 0, n Z, yet lim
n
e
n
= 0.
The rst monk is trying to show that
lim
n
e
n
= 0,
266
Limits
and to convince the second monk he invents the following game. The second
monk announces a precision at which he will be convinced. The rst monk
then has to choose an N

such that for all n > N

we will have
[e
n
0[ < ,
thus the second monk will have no choice but to agree that indeed e
n
goes to
0. If a dierent precision is required, then a larger N

is chosen. The crucial

point in the argument is that we can make it go through for any precision
> 0 which may be required.
The real meaning of a limit:
lim
x
f(x) = L,
is that for any precision > 0, there exists a
starting point S

, after which f(x) equals its

limit L to within precision:
[f(x) L[ < , x S

.
Types of limits
Limits to innity
lim
x
f(x)
what happens to f(x) for very large values of x.
Limits to a number
The limit of f(x) approaching x = a from above (from the right) is denoted:
lim
xa
+
f(x)
Similarly, the expression
lim
xa

f(x)
267
Limits
describes what happens to f(x) as x approaches a from below (from the left),
i.e., with values like x = a , with > 0, 0. If both limits from the left
and from the right of some number are equal, then we can talk about the limit
as x a without specifying the direction:
lim
xa
f(x) = lim
xa
+
f(x) = lim
xa

f(x).
Continuity
A function f(x) is continuous at a if the limit of f as x a converges to f(a):
lim
xa
f(x) = f(a).
Most functions we will study in calculus are continuous, but not all functions
are. In particular functions which make sudden jumps are not continuous.
Formulas
We now switch gears into reference mode, as I will state a whole bunch known
formulas for limits of various kinds of functions. You are not meant to know
why these limit formulas are true, but simply understand what they mean.
The following statements tell you about the relative sizes of functions. If
the limit of the ratio of two functions is equal to 1, then these functions must
behave similarly in the limit. If the limit of the ratio goes to zero, then one
function must be much larger than the other in the limit.
Limits of trigonometric functions:
lim
x0
sin(x)
x
= 1, lim
x0
cos(x) = 1, lim
x0
1 cos x
x
= 0, lim
x0
tan(x)
x
= 1.
The number e is dened as one of the following limits:
e lim
n
_
1 +
1
n
_
n
= lim
0
(1 + )
1/
.
268
Limits
The rst limit corresponds to a compound interest calculation, with annual
interest rate of 100% and compounding performed innitely often.
For future reference, we state some other limits involving the exponential
function:
lim
x0
e
x
1
x
= 1, lim
n
_
1 +
x
n
_
n
= e
x
.
These are some limits involving logarithms:
lim
x0
+
x
a
ln(x) = 0, lim
x
ln
p
(x)
x
a
= 0, p <
lim
x0
ln(x + a)
x
= a, lim
x0
_
a
1/x
1
_
= ln(a).
A polynomial of degree p and the exponential function base a with a > 1
both go to innity as x goes to innity:
lim
x
x
p
= , lim
x
a
x
= .
Though both functions go to innity, the exponential function does so much
faster, so their relative ratio goes to zero:
lim
x
x
p
a
x
= 0, for all p R, [a[ > 1.
In computer science people make a big deal of this distinction when comparing
the running time of algorithms. We say that a function is computable if the
number of steps it takes to compute that function is polynomial in the size of
the input. If the algorithm takes an exponential number of steps, then for all
intents and purposes it is useless, because if you give it a large enough input
the function will take longer than the age of the universe to nish.
Other limits:
lim
x0
arc sin(x)
x
= 1, lim
x
x

x = 1.
269
Derivatives
Limit rules
If you are taking the limit of a fraction
f(x)
g(x)
, and you have lim
x
f(x) = 0
and lim
x
g(x) = , then we can informally write:
lim
x
f(x)
g(x)
=
lim
x
f(x)
lim
x
g(x)
=
0

= 0,
since both functions are helping to drive the fraction to zero.
Alternately if you ever get a fraction of the form

0
as a limit, then both
functions are helping to make the fraction grow to innity so we have

0
= .
LHopitals rule
Sometimes when evaluating limits of fractions
f(x)
g(x)
, you might end up with a
fraction like
0
0
, or

.
These are undecidable conditions. Is the eect of the numerator stronger or
the eect of the denominator stronger?
One way to nd out, is to compare the ratio of their derivatives. This is
called LHopitals rule:
lim
xa
f(x)
g(x)
H.R.
= lim
xa
f

(x)
g

(x)
.
6.5 Derivatives
The derivative of a function f(x) is another function, which we will call f

(x)
that tells you the slope of f(x). For example, the constant function f(x) = c
has slope f

(x) = 0, since a constant function is at. What is the derivative

of a line f(x) = mx + b? The derivative is the slope right, so we must have
f

(x) = m. What about more complicated functions?

270
Derivatives
Denition
The derivative of a function is dened as:
f

(x) lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)

.
You can think of as a really small number. I mean really small. The above
formula is nothing more than the rise-over-run rule for calculating the slope of
a line,
rise
run
=
y
x
=
y
f
y
i
x
f
x
i
=
f(x + ) f(x)
x + x
,
but by taking to be really small, we will get the slope at the point x.
Derivatives occur so often in math that people have come up with many
dierent notations for them. Dont be fooled by that. All of them mean the
same thing Df(x) = f

(x) =
df
dx
=

f = f.
Applications
Knowing how to take derivatives is very useful in life. Given some phenomenon
described by f(x) you can say how it changes over time. Many times we dont
actually care about the value of f

(x), just its sign. If the derivative is positive

f

(x) > 0, then the function is increasing. If f

(x) < 0 then the function is

decreasing.
When the function is at at a certain x then f

(x) = 0. The points where

f

(x) = 0 (the roots of f

(x)) are very important for nding the maximum

and minimum values of f(x). Recall how we calculated the maximum height
h that projectile reaches by rst nding the time t
top
when its velocity in the y
direction was zero y

(t
top
) = v(t
top
) = 0 and then substituting this time in y(t)
to obtain h = maxy(t) = y(t
top
).
Example Now lets take a derivative of f(x) = 2x
2
+ 3 to see how that
complicated-looking formula works:
f

(x) = lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)

= lim
0
2(x + )
2
+ 3 2x
2
+ 3

.
271
Derivative formulas
Lets simplify the right hand side a bit
2x
2
+ 4x +
2
2x
2

=
4x +
2

=
4x

+

2

.
Now when we take the limit, the second term disappears:
f

(x) = lim
0
_
4x

+

2

_
= 4x + 0.
Congratulations, you have just taken your rst derivative! The calculations
were not that complicated, but it was pretty long and tedious. The good news
is that you only need to calculate the derivative from rst principles only once.
Once you nd a derivative formula for a particular function, you can use the
formula every time you see a function of that form.
For example, here is a general derivative formula:
f(x) = x
n
f

(x) = nx
n1
.
Example Use the above formula to nd the derivatives of the following three
functions: f(x) = x
10
, g(x) =

x
3
, h(x) =
1
x
3
. In the rst case, we use
the formula directly to nd the derivative f

(x) = 10x
9
. In the second case, we
rst use the fact that square root is equivalent to an exponent of
1
2
to rewrite the
function as g(x) = x
3
2
, then using the formula we nd that g

(x) =
3
2
x
1
2
=
3
2

x.
We can also rewrite the third function as h(x) = x
3
and then compute the
derivative h

(x) = 3x
4
=
3
x
4
using the formula.
6.6 Derivative formulas
The table below shows the derivative formulas for a number of commonly used
functions. You will be using these derivative formulas a lot in the remainder
of this chapter so it might be a good idea to memorize them.
272
Derivative rules
F(x) derivative F

(x)
_
f(x)dx integral f(x)
a 0
x 1
af(x) af

(x)
f(x) + g(x) f

(x) + g

(x)
x
n
nx
n1
1/x = x
1
x
2

x = x
1
2
1
2
x

1
2
e
x
e
x
a
x
a
x
ln(a)
ln(x) 1/x
log
a
(x) (x ln(a))
1
sin(x) cos(x)
cos(x) sin(x)
tan(x) sec
2
(x) cos
2
(x)
csc(x)
1
sin(x)
sin
2
(x) cos(x)
sec(x)
1
cos(x)
tan(x) sec(x)
cot(x)
1
tan(x)
csc
2
(x)
sinh(x) cosh(x)
cosh(x) sinh(x)
sin
1
(x)
1

1x
2
cos
1
(x)
1

1x
2
tan
1
(x)
1
1+x
2
6.7 Derivative rules
Taking derivatives is a simple task: you just have to lookup the appropriate
formula in the table of derivative formulas. However the tables of derivatives
usually dont have the formulas for composite functions. In this section, we
will learn about some important rules for derivatives, so that you will know
273
Derivative rules
how to handle derivatives of composite functions.
Formulas
Linearity
The derivative of a sum of two functions is the sum of the derivatives:
[f(x) + g(x)]

= f

(x) + g

(x),
and for any constant a, we have
[af(x)]

= af

(x).
The fact that the derivative operation obeys these two conditions means that
derivatives are linear operations.
Product rule
The derivative of a product of two functions is obtained as follows:
[f(x)g(x)]

= f

(x)g(x) + f(x)g

(x).
Quotient rule
As a special case the product rule, we obtain the derivative rule for a fraction
of two functions:
d
dx
_
f(x)
g(x)
_

=
f

(x)g(x) f(x)g

(x)
g(x)
2
.
Chain rule
If you have a situation with an inner function and outer function like f(g(x)),
then the derivative is obtained in a two step process:
[f(g(x))]

= f

(g(x))g

(x).
274
Derivative rules
In the rst step you leave g(x) alone and focus on taking the derivative of
the outer function. Just copy over whatever g(x) is inside the f

expression.
The second step is to multiply the resulting expression by the derivative of the
inner function g

(x).
In words, the chain rule tells us that the rate of change of a composite func-
tion can be calculated as the product of the rate of change of the components.
Example
d
dx
_
sin(x
2
))

= cos(x
2
)[x
2
]

= cos(x
2
)2x.
More complicated example The chain rule also applies to functions of
functions of functions f(g(h(x))). To take the derivative, just start from the
outermost function and then work your way towards x.
[f(g(h(x)))]

= f

(g(h(x)))g

(h(x))h

(x).
Now lets try this
d
dx
_
sin(ln(x
3
))

= cos(ln(x
3
))
1
x
3
3x
2
= cos(ln(x
3
))
3
x
.
Simple right?
Examples
The above rules are all that you need to take the derivative of any function no
matter how complicated. To convince you of this, I will now show you some
examples of really hairy functions. Dont be scared by complexity: as long as
you follow the rules, you will get the right answer in the end.
Example Calculate the derivative of
f(x) = e
x
2
.
275
Derivative rules
We just need the chain rule for this one:
f

(x) = e
x
2
[x
2
]

= e
x
2
2x.
Example 2
f(x) = sin(x)e
x
2
.
We will need the product rule for this one:
f

(x) = cos(x)e
x
2
+ sin(x)2xe
x
2
.
Example 3
f(x) = sin(x)e
x
2
ln(x).
This is still the product rule, but now we will have three terms. In each term,
we take the derivative of one of the functions and multiply by the other two:
f

(x) = cos(x)e
x
2
ln(x) + sin(x)2xe
x
2
ln(x) + sin(x)e
x
2 1
x
.
Example 4 Ok lets go crazy now:
f(x) = sin(cos(tan(x))) .
We need a triple chain rule for this one:
f

(x) = cos(cos(tan(x))) [cos(tan(x))]

= cos(cos(tan(x))) sin(tan(x)) [tan(x)]

= cos(cos(tan(x))) sin(tan(x)) sec

2
(x).
276
Derivative rules
Explanations
Proof of the product rule
By denition, the derivative of f(x)g(x) is
(f(x)g(x))

= lim
0
f(x + )g(x + ) f(x)g(x)

.
Consider the numerator of the fraction. If we add and subtract f(x)g(x + ),
we can factor the expression into two terms like this:
f(x + )g(x + )
=0
..
f(x)g(x + ) + f(x)g(x + ) f(x)g(x)
= [f(x + ) f(x)]g(x + ) + f(x)[g(x + ) g(x)],
thus the expression for the derivative of the product becomes
(f(x)g(x))

=
_
lim
0
[f(x + ) f(x)]

g(x + ) + f(x)
[g(x + ) g(x)]

_
.
This looks almost exactly like the product rule formula, except that we have
g(x + ) instead of g(x). This is not a problem, though, since we assumed
that f(x) and g(x) are dierentiable functions, which implies that they are
continuous functions. For continuous functions, we have lim
0
g(x+) = g(x)
and we obtain the nal form of the product rule:
(f(x)g(x))

= f

(x)g(x) + f(x)g

(x).
Proof of the chain rule
Before we begin the proof, I want to make a remark on the notation used in
the denition of the derivative. I like the greek letter epsilon so I dened the
derivative of f(x) as
f

(x) = lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)

,
277
Derivative rules
but I could have used any other variable instead:
f

(x) lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)

lim
h0
f(x + h) f(x)
h
.
All that matters is that we divide by the same quantity that is added to x in
the numerator, and that this quantity goes to zero.
The derivative of f(g(x)) is
(f(g(x)))

= lim
0
f(g(x + )) f(g(x))

.
The trick is to dene a new quantity
= g(x + ) g(x),
and then substitute g(x + ) = g(x) + into the expression for the derivative
as follows
(f(g(x)))

= lim
0
f(g(x) + ) f(g(x))

.
This is starting to look more like a derivative formula, but the quantity added
in the input is dierent from the quantity by which we divide. To x this we
will multiply and divide by to obtain
lim
0
f(g(x) + ) f(g(x))

= lim
0
f(g(x) + ) f(g(x))

.
We now use the denition of the quantity and rearrange the fraction as
follows:
(f(g(x)))

= lim
0
f(g(x) + ) f(g(x))

g(x + ) g(x)

.
This is starting to look a lot like f

(g(x))g

(x), and in fact it is: taking the

limit 0 implies that the quantity () 0. This is because the function
g(x) is continuous: lim
0
g(x + ) g(x) = 0. And so the quantity is just
as good as for taking a derivative. Thus, we have proved that:
(f(g(x)))

= f

(g(x))g

(x).
278
Higher derivatives
Alternate notation
The presence of so much primes and brackets in the above expressions can
make them dicult to read. This is why we sometimes use a dierent notation
for derivatives. The three rules of derivatives in the alternate notation are as
follows:
Linearity:
d
dx
(f(x) + g(x)) =
df
dx
+
dg
dx
.
Product rule:
d
dx
(f(x)g(x)) =
df
dx
g(x) + f(x)
dg
dx
.
Chain rule:
d
dx
(f(g(x))) =
df
dg
dg
dx
.
6.8 Higher derivatives
In the previous section we learned how to calculate the derivative f

(x) of any
function f(x). The second derivative of f(x) is the derivative of the derivative
of f(x) and it is denoted as:
f

(x) [f

(x)]

d
dx
f

(x).
d
2
dx
2
f(x).
This process can be continued further in order to calculate higher derivatives
of f(x).
In practice, the rst and second derivatives are most important because
they have a geometrical interpretation. The rst derivative of f(x) describes
the slope of f(x) while the second derivative describes the curvature of f(x).
Denitions
f(x): A function.
279
Higher derivatives
f

(x): The rst derivative of the function f(x). The rst derivatives
contains the information about the slope of the function.
f

(x): The second derivative of the function f(x). The second derivative
contains the information about the curvature of the function f(x).
If f

(x) > 0, then the function f(x) is convex (opens upwards).

If f

(x) < 0, then the function f(x) is concave (opens downwards).

f

(x) f
(3)
(x): The third derivative of the function f(x).
f
(n)
(x): The n
th
derivative of the function f(x).
Second derivative
The second derivative describes the change in the value of the rst derivative.
To obtain f

(x) we compute the derivative of f

(x).
The second derivative tells you about the curvature of the function f(x).
If the curvature of a function is positive (f

(x) > 0), this means that the slope

of the function is increasing so the function must be curving upwards. Negative
curvature means the function curves downwards.
Example Calculate the second derivatives of the functions u(x) = x
2
and
d(x) = x
2
, and comment on the shape of these functions.
To solve this problem, we rst calculate the rst derivatives u

(x) = 2x
and d

(x) = 2x. We obtain the second derivatives by taken the derivatives

of the rst derivative: u

(x) = 2 and d

(x) = 2. The fact that the second

derivative is positive means that the curvature of the function u(x) is always
positive. The function u(x) is convex: it opens upwards. On the other hand
d(x) is concave: it opens downwards.
The function u(x) and d(x) are canonical examples of functions with posi-
tive and negative curvature. If a function f(x) has positive curvature at a point
x

(f

(x

) > 0), then the function locally resembles u(x x

) = (x x

)
2
. If,
on the other hand, the second derivative of f(x) is negative at x

, then the
function locally resembles d(x x

) = (x x

)
2
. In other words, the terms
convex and concave refer to the u-likeness vs. d-likeness property of functions.
280
Optimization: calculus killer app
Higher derivatives
If we take the derivative of the derivative of the derivative of f(x) we obtain
the third derivative of the function. This process can be continued further to
obtain the n
th
derivative of the function:
f
(n)
(x)
d
n
dx
n
f(x)
d
dx
d
dx

d
dx
. .
n
f(x).
Higher derivatives do not have an obvious geometrical interpretation. How-
ever, if you are given a function f(x) such that f

(x) > 0, then the function

f(x) must be +x
3
-like. Alternately, if f

(x) < 0, then the function must

resemble x
3
.
Later in this chapter, we will learn how to compute the Taylor series of a
function, which is a procedure used to nd polynomial approximations to any
function f(x):
f(x) a
0
+ a
1
x + a
2
x
2
+ a
3
x
3
+ a
4
x
4
+ + a
n
x
n
.
The values of the coecients a
0
, a
1
, . . ., a
n
in the approximation will require
computing higher derivatives of f(x). The coecient a
n
tells us whether f(x)
is more similar to +x
n
or x
n
.
Example Compute the third derivative of f(x) = sin(x).
The rst derivative is f

(x) = cos(x). The second derivative will be f

(x) =
sin(x) and so the third derivative must be f

(x) = cos(x).
6.9 Optimization: calculus killer app
The reason why you need to learn about derivatives is that this skill will allow
you to optimize any function. Suppose you have control over the input of the
function f(x) and you want to pick the best value of x. Best usually means
maximum (if the function measures something good like prots) or minimum
(if the function describes something bad like costs).
281
Optimization: calculus killer app
Example The drug boss for the whole of lower Chicago has recently had a
lot of problems with the police intercepting his people on the street. It is clear
that the more drugs he sells the more, money he will make, but if he starts to
sell too much, then the police arrests start to become more frequent and he
loses money.
Fed up with this situation, he decides he needs to nd the optimal amount
of drugs to put out on the streets: as much as possible, but not too much
for the police raids to kick in. So one day he tells his brothers and sisters in
crime to leave the room and picks up a pencil and a piece of paper to do some
calculus.
If x is the amount of drugs he puts out on the street every day, then the
amount of money he makes is given by the function:
f(x) = 3000xe
0.25x
,
where the linear part 3000x represents his prots if there is no police and the
e
0.25x
represents the eects of the police stepping up their actions when more
drugs is pumped on the street.
Looking at the function he asks What is the value of x which will give
me the most prots from my criminal dealings? Stated mathematically, he is
282
Optimization: calculus killer app
asking for
argmax
x
3000xe
0.25x
= ?,
which is read nd the value of the argument x that gives the maximum value
of f(x).
He remembers the steps required to nd the maximum of a function from
a conversation with a crooked stock trader he met in prison. First he must
take the derivative of the function. Because the function is a product of two
functions, he has to use the product rule (fg)

= f

g +fg

. When he takes the

derivative of f(x) he gets:
f

(x) = 3000e
0.25x
+ 3000x(0.25)e
0.25x
.
Whenever f

(x) = 0 this means the function f(x) has zero slope. A maxi-
mum is just the kind of place where there is zero slope: think of the peak of a
mountain that has steep slopes to the left and to right, but right at the peak
it is momentarily horizontal.
So when is the derivative zero?
f

(x) = 3000e
0.25x
+ 3000x(0.25)e
0.25x
= 0.
We can factor out the 3000 and the exponential function to get
3000e
0.25x
(1 0.25x) = 0.
Now 3000 ,= 0 and the exponential function e
0.25x
is never equal to zero either
so it must be the term in the bracket which is equal to zero:
(1 0.25x) = 0,
or x = 4. The slope of f(x) is equal to zero when x = 4. This correspond to
the peak of the curve.
Right then and there the crime boss called his posse back into the room
and proudly announced that from now on his organization will put out exactly
four kilograms of drugs on the street per day.
283
Optimization algorithm
Boss, how much will we make per day if we sell four kilograms?, asks one of
the gangsters in sweatpants.
We will make the maximum possible!, replies the boss.
Yes I know Boss, but how much money is the maximum?
The dude in sweatpants is asking a good question. It is one thing to know
where the maximum occurs and it is another to know the value of the function
at this point. He is asking the following mathematical question:
max
x
3000xe
0.25x
= ?.
Since we already know the value x

= 4 where the maximum occurs, we simply

have to plug it into the function f(x) to get:
max
x
f(x) = f(4) = 3000(4)e
0.25(4)
=
12000
e
4414.55.
After that conversation, everyone, including the boss, started to question their
choice of occupation in life. Is crime really worth it when you do the numbers?
As you may know, the system is obsessed with this whole optimization
thing. Optimize to make more prots, optimize to minimize costs, optimize
stealing of natural resources from Third World countries, optimize anything
that moves basically. Therefore, the system wants you, the young and powerful
generation of the future, to learn this important skill and become faithful em-
ployees in the corporations. They want you to know so that you can help them
optimize things, so that the whole enterprise will continue to run smoothly.
Mathematics makes no value judgments about what should and should
not be optimized; this part is up to you. If, like me, you dont want to use
optimization for system shit, you can use calculus for science. It doesnt matter
whether it will be physics or medicine or building your own business, it is all
good. Just stay away from the system. Please do this for me.
6.10 Optimization algorithm
In this section we show and explain the details of the algorithm for nding the
maximum of a function. This is called optimization, as in nding the optimal
284
Optimization algorithm
value(s).
Say you have the function f(x) that represents a real world phenomenon.
For example, f(x) could represent how much fun you have as a function of
alcohol consumed during one evening. We all know that too much x and the
fun stops and you nd yourself, like the Irish say, talking to God on the big
white phone. Too little x and you might not have enough Dutch courage to
chat up that girl/guy from the table across the room. To have as much fun
as possible, you want to nd the alcohol consumption x

where f takes on its

maximum value.
This is one of the prominent applications of calculus (optimization not
alcohol consumption). This is why you have been learning about all those
limits, derivative formulas and dierentiation rules in the previous sections.
Denitions
x: the variable we have control over.
[x
i
, x
f
]: some interval of values where x can be chosen from, i.e., x
i

x x
f
. These are the constraints on the optimization problem. (For
the drinking optimization problem x 0 since you cant drink negative
alcohol, and probably x < 2 (in litres of hard booze) because roughly
around there you will die from alcohol poisoning. So we can say we are
searching for the optimal amount of alcohol x in the interval [0, 2].)
f(x): the function we want to optimize. This function has to be dier-
entiable, meaning that we can take its derivative.
f

(x): The derivative of f(x). The derivative contains the information

about the slope of f(x).
maximum: A place where the function reaches a peak. Furthermore,
when there are multiple peaks, we call the highest of them the global
maximum, while all others are called local maxima.
minimum: A place where the function reaches a low point: the bottom
of a valley. The global minimum is the lowest point overall, whereas a
local minimum is only the minimum in some neighbourhood.
285
Optimization algorithm
extremum: An extremum is a general term that includes maximum and
minimum.
saddle point: A place where f

(x) = 0 but that point is neither a max

nor a min. Ex: f(x) = x
5
when x = 0.
Suppose some function f(x) has a global maximum at x

and the value of

that maximum is f(x

) = M. The following mathematical notations apply:

argmax
x
f(x) = x

, to refer the location (the argument) where the

maximum occurs.
max
x
f(x) = M, to refer to the maximum value.
Algorithm for nding extrema
Input: Some function f(x) and a constraint region C = [x
i
, x
f
].
Output: The location and value of all maxima and minima of f(x).
You should proceed as follows to nd the extrema of a function:
1. First look at f(x). If you can, plot it. If not, just try to imagine it.
2. Find the derivative f

(x).
3. Solve the equation f

(x) = 0. There will usually be multiple solutions.

Make a list of them. We will call this the list of candidates.
4. For each candidate x

in the list check if is a max, a min or a saddle

point.
If f

(x

0.1) is positive and f

(x

+0.1) is negative, then the point

x

is a max. The function was going up, then attens at x

then
goes down after x

. Therefore x

must be a peak.
If f

(x

0.1) is negative and f

(x

+0.1) is positive, then the point

x

is a min. The function goes down, attens then goes up, so the
point must be a minimum.
286
Optimization algorithm
If f

(x

0.1) and f

(x

+ 0.1) have the same sign, then the point

x

is a saddle point. Remove it from the list of candidates.

5. Now go through the list one more time and reject all candidates x

that
do not satisfy the constraints C. In other words if x [x
i
, x
f
] it stays, but
if x , [x
i
, x
f
], we remove it since it is not feasible. For example, if you
have a candidate solution in the alcohol consumption problem that says
you should drink 5[L] of booze, you have to reject it, because otherwise
you would die.
6. Add x
i
and x
f
to the list of candidates. These are the boundaries of
the constraint region and should also be considered. If no constrain was
specied use the default constraint x R [, ] and add and
to the list.
7. For each candidate x

, calculate the function value f(x

).
The resulting list is a list of local extrema: maxima, minima and endpoints.
The global maximum is the largest value from the list of local maxima. The
global minimum is the smallest of the local minima.
Note that in dealing with points at innity like x

= , you are not actually

calculating a value but the limit lim
x
f(x). Usually the function either blows
up f() = (like x, x
2
, e
x
, . . .), drops down indenitely f() = (like
x, x
2
, e
x
, . . .), or reaches some value (like lim
x
1
x
= 0, lim
x
e
x
= 0).
If a function goes to positive it doesnt have a global maximum: it simply
keeps growing indenitely. Similarly, functions that go towards negative
dont have a global minimum.
Example 1 Find all the maxima and minima of the function
f(x) = x
4
8x
2
+ 356.
Since no interval is specied we will use the default interval x R =
, . Lets go through the steps of the algorithm.
287
Optimization algorithm
1. We dont know how a x
4
function looks like, but it is probably similar to
the x
2
it goes up to innity on the far left and the far right.
2. Taking the derivative is simple for polynomials:
f

(x) = 4x
3
16x.
3. Now we have to solve
4x
3
16x = 0,
which is the same as
4x(x
2
4) = 0,
which is the same as
4x(x 2)(x + 2) = 0.
So our list of candidates is x = 2, x = 0, x = 2.
4. For each of these we have to check if it is a max, a min or a saddle point.
(a) For x = 2, we check f

(2.1) = 4(2.1)(2.1 2)(2.1 + 2) < 0

and f

(1.9) = 4(1.9)(1.9 2)(1.9 + 2) > 0 so x = 2 must

be minimum.
(b) For x = 0 we try f

(0.1) = 4(0.1)(0.1 2)(0.1 + 2) > 0 and

f

(0.1) = 4(0.1)(0.1 2)(0.1 + 2) < 0 so we have a maximum.

(c) For x = 2, we check f

(1.9) = 4(1.9)(1.9 2)(1.9 + 2) < 0 and

f

(2.1) = 4(2.1)(2.1 2)(2.1 +2) > 0 so x = 2 must be a minimum.

5. We dont have any constraints so all of the above candidates make the
cut.
6. We add the two constraint boundaries and to the list of can-
didates. At this point our nal shortlist of candidates contains x =
, x = 2, x = 0, x = 2, x = .
288
Optimization algorithm
7. We now evaluate the function f(x) for each of the values to get location-
value pairs (x, f(x)) like so: (, ), (2, 340), (0, 356), (2, 340),
(, ). Note that f() = lim
x
f(x) =
4
8
2
+ 356 =
and same for f() = .
We are done now. The function has no global maximum since it goes up
to innity. It has a local maximum at x = 0 with value 356 and two global
minima at x = 2 and x = 2 both of which have value 340. Thank you, come
again.
Alternate algorithm
Instead of checking nearby points to the left and to the right of each critical
point, we can use an alternate Step 4 of the algorithm known as the second
derivative test. Recall that the second derivative tells you the curvature of the
function: if the second derivative is positive at a critical point x

, then the
point x

must be a minimum. If on the other hand the second derivative at a

critical point is negative, then the function must be a maximum at x

. If the
second derivative is zero, the test is inconclusive.
Alternate Step 4
For each candidate x

in the list check if is a max, a min or a saddle

point.
If f

(x

) < 0 then x

is a max.
If f

(x

) > 0 then x

is a min.
If f

(x

) = 0 then, revert back to checking nearby values: f

(x

)
and f

(x

+ ), to determine if x

is max, min or saddle point.

Limitations
The above optimization algorithm applies to dierentiable functions of a sin-
gle variable. It just happens to be that most functions you will face in life are
of this kind, so what you have learned is very general. Not all functions are
289
Implicit dierentiation
dierentiable however. Functions with sharp corners like the absolute value
function [x[ are not dierentiable everywhere and therefore we cannot use the
algorithms above. Functions with jumps in them (like the Heaviside step func-
tion) are not continuous and therefore not dierentiable either so the algorithm
cannot be used on them either.
There are also more general kinds of functions and optimization scenarios.
We can optimize functions of multiple variables f(x, y). You will learn how to
do this in multivariable calculus. The techniques will be very similar to the
above, but with more variables and intricate constraint regions.
At last, I want to comment on the fact that you can only maximize one
function. Say the Chicago crime boss in the example above wanted to maximize
his funds f(x) and his gangster street cred g(x). This is not a well posed
problem, either you maximize f(x) or you maximize g(x), but you cant do
both. There is no reason why a single x will give the highest value for f(x) and
g(x). If both functions are important to you, you can make a new function
that combines the other two F(x) = f(x) + g(x) and maximize F(x). If
gangster street cred is three times more important to you than funds, you
could optimize F(x) = f(x) + 3g(x), but it is mathematically and logically
impossible to maximize two things at the same time.
Exercises
The function f(x) = x
3
2x
2
+x has a local maximum on the interval x [0, 1].
Find where this maximum occurs and the value of f at that point. ANS:
_
1
3
,
4
27
_
.
6.11 Implicit dierentiation
You can take the derivative
dy
dx
of any relation involving y and x in order to
nd the slope.
As an example, consider the relation that describes a circle of radius R:
x
2
+ y
2
= R
2
.
290
Implicit dierentiation
We are given a point P = (x
P
, y
P
) that lies on the circle and asked to nd the
slope of the circle at that point. We begin by taking the implicit derivative of
the relation that describes the circle
_
x
2
+ y
2
= R
2

2x + 2y
dy
dx
= 0.
After rearranging the terms a bit, we nd that the slope of the circle at point
P = (x
P
, y
P
) is given by
dy
dx
=
x
P
y
P
.
You can check that the slope predicted at P = (0, R) is 0 (the circle is at at
the top) and that at P = (R, 0), the slope is innite since the tangent to the
circle is vertical.
As you can see there is nothing fancy going on, we just went through and
took the derivative of each term in the equation, and then used the result to
isolate the slope
dy
dx
. In particular we didnt have to explicitly nd the y as a
function of x, (which is actually possible y = f(x) =

R
2
x
2
). We took
the derivative directly on expression describing the circle treating implicitly y
is a function of x.
Denitions
g(x, y) = 0: a relation between the variables x and y.

_
g(x, y)

= 0: the implicit derivative of the expression with respect to

the variable x.
Examples
Corporate Joe In corporate America, a mans ego E is related to his salary
S by the following equation:
E
2
= S
3
.
291
Implicit dierentiation
Assume that both E and S are implicitly functions of time. What is the rate
of change of the ego of dirty Joe the insurance analyst, when he is making 60k
and his salary is increasing at a rate of 5k per year?
We are told that
dS
dt
= 5000 and we are asked to nd
dE
dt
when S = 60000.
To do this we rst take the implicit derivative of the salary-to-ego relation as
follows:
2E
dE
dt
= 3S
2
dS
dt
.
We are interested in the point where S = 60000. To nd Joes ego at that point,
we use the original relation E
2
= S
3
and solving for E we nd E =

60000
3
=
14696938.46 ego points. Substituting all these values into the derivative of the
relation we nd that
2(14696938.46)
dE
dt
= 3(60000)
2
(5000).
Joes ego is growing at
dE
dt
=
3(60000)
2
(5000)
2(14696938.46)
= 1837117.31 ego points per year.
Error bars You want to calculate the precision associated with your mea-
surement of the kinetic energy of some particle. Recall that the formula for the
kinetic energy is K =
1
2
mv
2
. Your measurement of the mass m has precision
3%, and the measurement of the velocity has precision 2%. What will be the
precision of your calculation for the kinetic energy?
The precision of any measurement is dened as ratio of the error divided by
the quantity itself. We report our measurement of some quantity Q as QdQ.
The relative error (in percent) is
dQ
Q
.
In this case we want to nd
dK
K
and we are told
dm
m
= 0.03 and
dv
v
= 0.02.
We proceed by calculus, taking the implicit derivative of the expression for
kinetic energy:
dK = d
_
1
2
mv
2
_
=
1
2
(dm)v
2
+ mv(dv),
where we used the product rule of derivatives. In order to obtain ratios, we
292
Integrals
divide both sides by K to obtain:
dK
K
=
1
2
dmv
2
+ mvdv
1
2
mv
2
=
dm
m
+ 2
dv
v
,
so the precision of the kinetic energy measurement is
dK
K
= 0.03+2(0.02) = 0.07
or 7%.
Explanations
The above examples illustrate that derivative rules are applicable very gen-
erally. Indeed we can talk about the dierential or change in dQ for any
quantity Q.
6.12 Integrals
We now begin our discussion of integrals, which is the second topic in calculus.
Integrals are a fancy way to add up the value of a function to get the whole or
the sum of its values over some interval. Normally integral calculus is taught as
a separate course after dierential calculus, but this separation is not necessary
and can be even counter-productive.
The derivative f

(x) measures the change in f(x), i.e., the derivative mea-

sures the dierences in f for an -small change in the input variable x:
derivative f(x + ) f(x).
Integrals, on the other hand, measure the sum of the values of f, between a
and b at regular intervals of :
integral f(a) + f(a + ) + f(a + 2) + . . . + f(b 2) + f(b ).
The best way to understand integration is to think of it as the opposite op-
eration of dierentiation: adding up all the changes in function gives you the
function value.
293
Integrals
In Calculus I we learned how to take a function f(x) and nd its derivative
f

(x). In integral calculus, we will be given a function f(x) and we will be

asked to nd its integral on various intervals.
Denitions
These are some concepts that you should already be familiar with:
R: The set of real numbers.
f(x): A function:
f : R R,
which means that f takes as input some number (usually we call that
number x) and it produces as an output another number f(x) (sometimes
we also give an alias for the output y = f(x)).
lim
0
: limits are the mathematically rigorous way of speaking about
very small numbers.
f

(x): the derivative of f(x) is the rate of change of f at x:

f

(x) = lim
0
f(x + ) f(x)

.
The derivative is also a function of the form
f

: R R.
The function f

(x) represents the slope of the function f(x) at the point

(x, f(x)).
These are the new concepts:
x
i
= a: where the integral starts, i.e., some given point on the x axis.
x
f
= b: where the integral stops.
A(x
i
, x
f
): The value of the area under the curve f(x) from x = x
i
to
x = x
f
.
294
Integrals

_
f(x) dx: the integral of f(x). More precisely we can dene the an-
tiderivative of f(x) as follows:
F(b) =
_
b
0
f(x)dx + F(0).
The area A of the region under f(x) from x = a to x = b is given by:
_
b
a
f(x)dx = F(b) F(a) = A(a, b).
The
_
sign is a mnemonic for sum. Indeed the integral is nothing more
than the sum of f(x) for all values of x between a and b:
A(a, b) = lim
0
[f(a) + f(a + ) + . . . + f(b 2) + f(b )] ,
where we imagine the total area broken-up into thin rectangular strips
of width and height f(x).
The name antiderivative comes from the fact that
F

(x) = f(x),
so we have:
F(x)= int(di(F(x))) =
_
x
0
_
d
dt
F(t)
_
dt =
_
x
0
f

(t) dt = F(x).
Indeed, the fundamental theorem of calculus, tells us that the derivative
and integral are inverse operations, so we also have:
f(x)= di(int(f(x))) =
d
dx
__
x
0
f(t)dt
_
=
d
dx
[F(x) F(0)] = f(x).
295
Integrals
Formulas
Riemann Sum
The Riemann sum is a good way to dene the integral from rst principles.
We will brake up the area under the curve into many little strips of height
varying according to f(x). To obtain the total area, we sum-up all the areas
of the rectangles. We will discuss Riemann sums in the next section, but rst
we look at the properties of integrals.
Area under the curve
The value of an integral corresponds to the area A, under
the curve f(x) between x = a and x = b:
A(a, b) =
_
b
a
f(x) dx.
For certain functions it is possible to nd an anti-
derivative function F(), which describes the running to-
tal of the area under the curve starting from some arbi-
trary left endpoint and going all the way until t = . We can compute the area
under f(t) between a and b by looking at the change in F() between from a
to b.
A(a, b) = F(b) F(a).
We can illustrate the reasoning behind the above formula graphically:
The area A(a, b) is equal to the running total until x = b minus the
running total until x = a.
296
Integrals
Indenite integral
The problem of nding the anti-derivative is also called integration. We say
that we are nding an indenite integral, because we havent dened the limits
x
i
and x
f
.
So an integration problem is one in which you are given the f(x), and you
have to nd the function F(x). For example, if f(x) = 3x
2
, then F(x) = x
3
.
This is called nding the integral of f(x).
Denite integrals
A denite integral species the function to integrate as well as the limits of
integration x
i
and x
f
:
_
x
f
=b
x
i
=a
f(x) dx =
_
b
a
f(x) dx.
To nd the value of the denite integral rst calculate the indenite integral
(the antiderivative):
F(x) =
_
f(x) dx,
and then use it to compute the area as the dierence of F(x) at the two
endpoints:
A(a, b) =
_
x=b
x=a
f(x) dx = F(b) F(a) F(x)

x=b
x=a
.
Note the new vertical bar notation: g(x)

= g() g(), which is

shorthand notation to denote the expression to the left evaluated at the top
limit minus the same expression evaluated at the bottom limit.
Example What is the value of the integral
_
b
a
x
2
dx? We have
_
b
a
x
2
dx =
1
3
x
3

x=b
x=a
=
1
3
(b
3
a
3
).
297
Integrals
Signed area
If a < b and f(x) > 0, then the area
A(a, b) =
_
b
a
f(x) dx,
will be positive.
However if we swap the limits of integration, in other words we start at
x = b and integrate backwards all the way to x = a, then the area under the
curve will be negative! This is because dx will always consist of tiny negative
steps. Thus we have that:
A(b, a) =
_
a
b
f(x) dx =
_
b
a
f(x) dx = A(a, b).
In all expressions involving integrals, if you want to swap the limits of integra-
tion, you have to add a negative sign in front of the integral.
The area could also come out negative if we integrate a negative function
from a to b. In general, if f(x) is above the x axis in some places these will
be positive contributions to the total area under the curve, and places where
f(x) is below the x axis will count as negative contributions to the total area
A(a, b).
Additivity
The integral from a to b plus the integral from b to c is equal to the integral
from a to c:
A(a, b) + A(b, c) =
_
b
a
f(x) dx +
_
c
b
f(x) dx =
_
c
a
f(x) dx = A(a, c).
Linearity
Integration is a linear operation:
_
[f(x) + g(x)] dx =
_
f(x) dx +
_
g(x) dx,
298
Integrals
for arbitrary constants , .
Recall that this was true for dierentiation:
[f(x) + g(x)]

= f

(x) + g

(x),
so we can say that the operations of calculus as a whole are linear operations.
The integral as a function
So far we have looked only at denite integrals where the limits of integration
were constants x
i
= a and x
f
= b, and so the integral was a number A(a, b).
More generally, we can have one (or more) variable integration limits. For
example we can have x
i
= a and x
f
= x. Recall that area under the curve
f(x) is, by denition, computed as a dierence of the anti-derivative function
F(x) evaluated at the limits:
A(x
i
, x
f
) = A(a, x) = F(x) F(a).
The expression A(a, x) is a bit misleading as a function name since it looks
like both a and x are variable when in fact a is a constant parameter, and only
x is the variable. Lets call it A
a
(x) instead.
A
a
(x) =
_
x
a
f(t) dt = F(x) F(a).
Two observations. First, note that A
a
(x) and F(x) dier only by a constant,
so in fact the anti-derivative is the integral up to a constant which is usually
not important. Second, note that because the variable x appears in the upper
limit of the expression, I had to use a dummy variable t inside the integral. If
we dont use a dierent variable, we could confuse the running variable inside
the integral, with the limit of integration.
Fundamental theorem of calculus
Let f(x) be a continuous function, and let F(x) be its antiderivative on the
interval [a, b]:
F(x) =
_
x
a
f(t) dt,
299
Integrals
then, the derivative of F(x) is equal to f(x):
F

(x) = f(x),
for any x (a, b).
We see that dierentiation and integration are inverse operations:
F(x)= int (di(F(x))) =
_
x
0
_
d
dt
F(t)
_
dt =
_
x
0
f(t) dt = F(x) + C,
f(x)= di(int(f(x))) =
d
dx
__
x
0
f(t)dt
_
=
d
dx
[F(x) F(0)] = f(x).
We can think of the inverse operators
d
dt
and
_
dt symbolically on the
same footing as the other mathematical operations that you know about. The
usual equation solving techniques can then be applied to solve equations which
involve derivatives. For example, suppose that you want to solve for f(t) in
the equation
d
dt
f(t) = 100.
To get to f(t) we must undo the
d
dt
operation. We apply the integration
operation to both sides of the equation:
_ _
d
dt
f(t)
_
dt = f(t) =
_
100 dt = 100t + C.
The solution to the equation f

(t) = 100 is f(t) = 100t + C where C is called

the integration constant.
Gimme some of that
OK, enough theory. Lets do some anti-derivatives. But how does one do
anti-derivatives? Its in the name, really. Derivative and anti. Whatever the
derivative does, the integral must do the opposite. If you have:
F(x) = x
4
d
dx
F

(x) = 4x
3
f(x),
300
Integrals
then it must be that:
f(x) = 4x
3
R
dx
F(x) = x
4
+ C.
Each time you integrate, you will always get the answer up to an arbitrary
additive constant C, which will always appear in your answers.
Let us look at some more examples:
The integral of cos is:
_
cos d = sin + C,
since
d
d
sin = cos , and similarly the integral for sin is:
_
sin d = cos + C,
since
d
d
cos = sin .
The integral of x
n
for any number n ,= 1 is:
_
x
n
dx =
1
n + 1
x
n+1
+ C,
since
d
d
x
n
= nx
n1
.
The integral of x
1
=
1
x
is
_
1
x
dx = ln x + C,
since
d
dx
ln x =
1
x
.
I could go on but I think you get the point: all the derivative formulas you
learned can be used in the opposite direction as an integral formula.
301
Integrals
With limits now
What is the area under the curve f(x) = sin(x), between x = 0 and x = ?
First we take the anti derivative
F(x) =
_
sin(x) dx = cos(x) + C.
Now we calculate the dierence between F(x) at the end-point minus F(x) at
the start-point:
A(0, ) =
_
x=
x=0
sin(x) dx
= [cos(x) + C]
. .
F(x)

0
= [cos + C] [cos(0) + C]
= cos(0) cos = 1 (1) = 2.
The constant C does not appear in the answer, because it is in both the
upper and the lower limits.
What next
If integration is nothing more than backwards dierentiation and you already
know dierentiation inside out from dierential calculus, you might be won-
dering what you are going to do during an entire semester of integral calculus.
For all intents and purposes, if you understood the conceptual material in this
section, then you understand integral calculus. Give yourself a tap on the back
you are done.
The establishment, however, doesnt just want you to know the concepts
of integral calculus, but also wants you to know how to apply them in the
real world. Thus, you need not only understand, but also practice the tech-
niques of integration. There are a bunch of techniques, which allow you to
integrate complicated functions. For example, if I asked you to integrate
302
Integrals
f(x) = sin
2
(x) = (sin(x))
2
from 0 to and you look in the formula sheet
you wont nd a function F(x) whos derivative equals f(x). So how do we
solve:
_

0
sin
2
(x) dx =?.
One way to approach this problem is to use the trigonometric identity which
says that sin
2
(x) =
1cos(2x)
2
so we will have
_

0
sin
2
(x)dx =
_

0
_
1
2

1
2
cos(2x)
_
dx =
1
2
_

0
1 dx
. .
T
1

1
2
_

0
cos(2x) dx
. .
T
2
.
The fact that we can split the integral into two parts, and factor out the
constant
1
2
comes from the fact that integration is linear.
Lets continue the calculation of our integral, where we left o:
_

0
sin
2
(x) dx = T
1
T
2
.
The value of the integral in the rst term is:
T
1
=
1
2
_

0
1 dx =
1
2
x

0
=
0
2
=

2
.
The value of the second term is
T
2
=
1
2
_

0
cos(2x) dx =
1
4
sin(2x)

0
=
sin(2) sin(0)
4
=
0 0
4
= 0.
Thus we nd the nal answer for the integral to be:
_

0
sin
2
(x) dx = T
1
T
2
=

2
0 =

2
.
Do you see how integration can quickly get tricky? You need to learn all
kinds of tricks to solve integrals. I will teach you all the necessary tricks, but
to become procient you cant just read: you have to practice the techniques.
Promise me you will practice! As my student, I expect nothing less than a
total ass kicking of the questions you will face on the nal exam.
303
Riemann Sum
6.13 Riemann Sum
We dened the integral operation
_
f(x) dx as the inverse operation of
d
dx
,
but it is important to know how to think of the integral operation on its own.
No course on calculus would be complete without a telling of the classical
rectangles story of integral calculus.
Denitions
x: R, the argument of the function.
f(x): a function f : R R.
x
i
: where the sum starts, i.e., some given point on the x axis.
x
f
: where the sum stops.
A(x
i
, x
f
): Exact value of the area under the curve f(x) from x = x
i
to
x = x
f
.
S
n
(x
i
, x
f
): An approximation to the area A in terms of n rectangles.
s
k
: Area of k-th rectangle when counting from the left.
In the picture on the right, we are approximat-
ing the function f(x) = x
3
5x
2
+x + 10 between
x
i
= 1 and x
f
= 4 using n = 12 rectangles. The
sum of the areas of the 12 rectangles is what we call
S
12
(1, 4). We say that S
12
(1, 4) A(1, 4).
Formulas
The main formula you need to know is that the
combined area approximation is given by the sum
of the areas of the little rectangles:
S
n
=
n

k=1
s
k
.
304
Riemann Sum
Each of the little rectangles has an area s
k
given by its height multiplied
by its width. The height of each rectangle will vary, but the width is constant.
Why constant? Riemann gured that having each rectangle with a constant
width x would make it very easy to calculate the approximation. The total
length of the interval from x
i
to x
f
is (x
f
x
i
). If we divide this length into n
equally spaced segments, each of width x given by:
x =
x
f
x
i
n
.
OK, we have the formula for the width gured out, lets see what the height
will be for the k-th rectangle, where k is our counter from left to right in the
sequence of rectangles. The height of the function varies as we move along the
x axis. For the rectangles, we pick isolated samples of f(x) for the following
values
x
k
= x
i
+ kx, for k 1, 2, 3, . . . , n,
all of them equally spaced x apart.
The area of each rectangle is height times width:
s
k
= f(x
i
+ kx)x.
Now, my dear students, I want you to stare at the above equation and do
some simple calculations to check that you understand. There is no point in
continuing if you are just taking my word for it. Verify that when k = 1,
the formula gives the area of the rst little rectangle. Verify also that when
k = n, the formula for the x
n
gives the right value (x
f
).
Ok lets put our formula for s
k
in the sum where it belongs. The Riemann
sum approximation using n rectangles is given by
S
n
=
n

k=1
f(x
i
+ kx)x,
where x =
|x
f
x
i
|
n
.
Let us get back to the picture where we try to approximate the area under
the curve f(x) = x
3
5x
2
+ x + 10 by using 12 pieces.
305
Riemann Sum
For this scenario the value we would get for the 12-rectangle approximation
to the area under the curve with
S
12
=
12

k=1
f(x
i
+ kx)x = 11.802662.
You shouldnt trust me though, but always check for yourself using live.sympy.org
by typing in the following expressions:
>>> n=12.0; xk = -1 + k*5/n; sk = (xk**3-5*xk**2+xk+10)*(5/n);
>>> summation( sk, (k,1,n) )
11.802662...
More is better
Who cares though? This is such a crappy approximation! You can clearly
see that some rectangles lie outside of the curve (overestimates), and some are
too far inside (underestimates). You might be wondering why I wasted so much
of your time to achieve such a lousy approximation. We have not been wasting
our time. You see, the Riemann sum formula S
n
gets better and better as you
cut the region into smaller and smaller rectangles.
With n = 25, we get a more ne grained ap-
proximation in which the sum of the rectangles is
given by:
S
25
=
25

k=1
f(x
i
+ kx)x = 12.4.
306
Riemann Sum
Then for n = 50 we get:
S
50
= 12.6625.
For n = 100 the sum of the rectangles ar-
eas is starting to look pretttttty much like the
function. The calculation gives us S
100
= 12.790625.
For n = 1000 we get S
1000
= 12.9041562
which is very close to the actual value of the
area under the curve:
A(1, 4) = 12.91666 . . .
You see in the long run, when n gets really
large the rectangle approximation (Riemann
sum) can be made arbitrarily good. Imagine
you cut the region into n = 10000 rectangles,
wouldnt S
10000
(1, 4) be a pretty accurate approximation of the actual area
A(1, 4)?
Integral
The fact that you can approximate the area under the curve with a bunch of
rectangles is what integral calculus is all about. Instead of mucking about with
bigger and bigger values of n, mathematicians go right away for the kill and
make n go to innity.
In the limit of n , you can get arbitrarily close approximations to
the area under the curve. All this time, that which we were calling A(1, 4)
was actually the integral of f(x) between x = 1 and x = 4, or written
mathematically:
A(1, 4)
_
4
1
f(x) dx lim
n
S
n
= lim
n
n

k=1
f(x
i
+ kx)x.
307
Fundamental theorem of calculus
While it is not computationally practical to make n , we can convince
ourselves that the approximation becomes better and better as n becomes
larger. For example the approximation using n = 1M rectangles is accurate up
to the fourth decimal place as can be veried using the following commands
on live.sympy.org:
>>> n=1000000.0; xk = -1 + k*5/n; sk = (xk**3-5*xk**2+xk+10)*(5/n);
>>> summation( sk, (k,1,n) )
12.9166541666563
>>> integrate( x**3-5*x**2+x+10, (x,-1,4) ).evalf()
12.9166666666667
In practice, when we want to compute the area under the curve, we dont
use Riemann sums. There are formulas for directly calculating the integrals of
functions. In fact, you already know the integration formulas: they are simply
the derivative formulas used in the opposite direction. In the next section we
will discuss the derivative-integral inverse relationship in more details.
Links
[ Riemann sum wizard ]
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RiemannSum.html
6.14 Fundamental theorem of calculus
Though it may not be apparent at rst, the study of derivatives (Calculus I) and
integrals (Calculus II) are intimately related. Dierentiation and integration
are inverse operations.
You have previously studied the inverse relationship for functions. Recall
that for any bijective function f (a one-to-one relationship) there exists an
inverse functions f
1
which undoes the eects of f:
(f
1
f)(x) f
1
(f(x)) = x.
308
Fundamental theorem of calculus
and
(f f
1
)(y) f(f
1
(y)) = y.
The circle stands for composition of functions, i.e., rst you apply one func-
tion and then you apply the second function. When you apply a function
followed by its inverse to some input you get back the original input.
The integral is the inverse operation to the derivative. If perform the in-
tegral operation followed by the derivative operation on some function, you will
get back the same function. This is stated more formally as the Fundamental
Theorem of Calculus.
Statement
Let f(x) be a continuous function and let F(x) be its antiderivative on the
interval [a, b]:
F(x) =
_
x
a
f(t) dt,
then, the derivative of F(x) is equal to f(x):
F

(x) = f(x),
for any x (a, b).
Thus, we see that dierentiation is the inverse operation of integra-
tion. We obtained F(x) by integrating f(x). If we then take the derivative
of F(x) we get back to f(x). It works the other way too. If you integrate
a function and then take its derivative, you get back to the original function.
Dierential calculus and integral calculus are two sides of the same coin. If you
understand this fact, then you understand something very deep about calculus.
Note that F(x) is not a unique anti-derivative. We can add an arbitrary
constant C to F(x) and it will still satisfy the above conditions since the
derivative of a constant is zero.
309
Fundamental theorem of calculus
Formulas
If you are given some function f(x), you take its integral and then take the
derivative of the result, you will get back the same function:
_
d
dx

_
dx
_
f(x)
d
dx
_
x
a
f(t)dt = f(x).
Alternately, you can rst take the derivative, and then take the integral, and
you will get back the function (up to a constant):
__
dx
d
dx
_
f(x)
_
x
a
f

(t)dt = f(x) f(a).

Note that we had to use a dummy variable t inside the integral since x is
used in the limit. Indeed, all integrals are functions of their limits and the
inner variable is not important: we could write
_
x
a
f(y) dy or
_
x
a
f(z) dz or
even
_
x
a
f() d and the answer for all of these will be F(x) F(a).
Discussion
As a consequence of the Fundamental theorem, you can reuse all your knowl-
edge of dierential calculus to solve integrals.
Example: Reverse engineering Suppose you are asked nd this integral:
_
x
2
dx.
Using the Fundamental theorem, we can rephrase this question as the search
for some function F(x) such that
F

(x) = x
2
.
Now since you remember your derivative formulas well, you will guess right
away that F(x) must contain a x
3
term. This is because you get back quadratic
310
Proof of the Fundamental theorem
term when you take the derivative of cubic term. So we must have F(x) = cx
3
,
for some constant c. We must pick the constant that makes this work out:
F

(x) = 3cx
2
= x
2
,
therefore c =
1
3
and the integral is:
_
x
2
dx =
1
3
x
3
+ C.
Did you see what just happened? We were able to take an integral using only
derivative formulas and reverse engineering. You can check that, indeed,
d
dx
_
1
3
x
3

= x
2
.
You can also use the Fundamental theorem to check your answers.
Example: Integral verication Suppose a friend tells you that
_
ln(x)dx = x ln(x) x + C,
but he is a shady character and you dont trust him. How can you check his
answer? If you had a smartphone handy, you can check on live.sympy.org,
but what if you just have pen and paper? If x ln(x) x is really the antideriva-
tive of ln(x), then by the Fundamental theorem of calculus, if we take the
derivative we should get back ln(x). Lets check:
d
dx
[x ln(x) x] =
d
dx
[x] ln(x) + x
_
d
dx
ln(x)
_
. .
product rule

d
dx
[x] = 1 ln(x)+x
1
x
1 = ln(x).
OK, so your friend is correct.
6.15 Proof of the Fundamental theorem
There exists an unspoken rule in mathematics which states that if the word
theorem appears in your writing, it has to be followed by the word proof. We
311
Proof of the Fundamental theorem
therefore have to look into the proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
(FTC). It is not that important that you understand the details of the proof,
but I still recommend that you read this section for your general math culture.
If you are in a rush though, feel free to skip it.
Before we get to the proof of the FTC, let me rst introduce the squeezing
principle, which will be used in the proof. Suppose you have three functions
f, , and u, such that:
(x) f(x) u(x) for all x.
We say that (x) is a lower bound on f(x) since its graph is always below that
of f(x). Similarly u(x) is an upper bound on f(x). Whatever the value of f(x)
is, we know that it is in between that of (x) and u(x).
Suppose that u(x) and (x) both converge to the same limit L:
lim
xa
(x) = L, and lim
xa
u(x) = L,
then it must be true that f(x) also converges to the same limit:
lim
xa
f(x) = L.
This is true because the function f is squeezed between and u; it has no other
choice than to converge to the same limit.
Proof
The formula for the derivative of F(x) looks like this:
F

(x) = lim
0
F(x + ) F(x)

.
Let us look more closely at the term in the numerator, and express it in terms
of the denition of F(x):
F(x + ) F(x) =
_
x+
a
f(t) dt
_
x
a
f(t) dt
=
_
x+
x
f(t) dt.
312
Proof of the Fundamental theorem
Thus the dierence of F(x + ) and F(x) is
just the integral of f(x) between x and x+. The
region which corresponds to this dierence looks
like a long narrow strip of width and height
varying according to f(x):
_
x+
x
f(t) dt width
. .

height
. .
?
.
Let us dene the maximum and minimum values of the height of the func-
tion f(x) on that interval:
M max
t[x,x+]
f(t), m min
t[x,x+]
f(t).
By denition, the quantities m and M provide a lower and an upper bound on
the quantity we are trying to study:
m
_
x+
x
f(t) dt M.
Recall that we said that f is continuous in the theorem statement. If f is
continuous then as 0 we will have:
lim
0
f(x + ) = f(x).
In fact, as 0 all the values of f on the shortening interval [x, x+] will
approach f(x). In particular, both the minimum value m and the maximum
value M will approach f(x):
lim
0
f(x + ) = f(x) = lim
0
m = lim
0
M.
So starting from the inequality,
m
_
x+
x
f(t) dt M,
313
Proof of the Fundamental theorem
and taking the limit as 0 we get:
lim
0
m lim
0
_
x+
x
f(t) dt lim
0
M,
lim
0
f(x) lim
0
_
x+
x
f(t) dt lim
0
f(x),
Using the squeezing principle, we can arm that
lim
0
_
x+
x
f(t) dt = lim
0
f(x). ()
To complete the proof, we substitute this expression into the derivative
formula:
F

(x) = lim
0
F(x + ) F(x)

= lim
0
_
x+
x
f(t) dt

( by the denition of F)
= lim
0
f(t)

( by using equation () )
= f(x) lim
0

= f(x).
We have thus proved that, for all continuous functions f(x), we have:
_
d
dx

_
dx
_
f(x)
d
dx
_
x
a
f(t)dt = f(x).
Integrals look at the accumulation of some quantity, whereas derivatives
look at the incremental changes. In words, the Fundamental theorem says that
the change in the accumulation of f is just f itself. Taking the derivative after
taking an integral is as if someone asked you to add up a long list of numbers,
and in each step state by how much the sum has changed. You dont need to
add or subtract anything, just read out loud all the values in the list.
314
Techniques of integration
Links
[ Another proof of the FTC ]
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/4/ftc.9/int1.html
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/4/ftc.9/int2.html
6.16 Techniques of integration
The operation of taking the integral of some function is usually much more
complicated than that of taking the derivative. In fact, you can take the
derivative of any function no matter how complex simply by using the
product rule, the chain rule and the derivative formulas. The same is not true
for integrals.
There are plenty of integrals for which there is no closed form solution,
which means that the function doesnt have an anti-derivative. There simply
doesnt exist a simple procedure to follow, such that you input a function and
you turn the crank until the integral comes out. Integration is a bit of an
art.
What can we integrate then and how? Back in the day, scientists used
to collect big tables with integral formulas for various complicated functions.
That is what you can lookup-integrate.
There are also some integration techniques which can help you make com-
plicated integrals simpler. Think of the techniques below, as adapters you need
to use for cases when the function you are trying to integrate doesnt appear
in your table of integrals, but a similar one is in the table.
The intended audience for this chapter are Calculus II students. This is
exactly the kind of skills which you will be asked to show on the nal. Instead
of using the table of integrals to lookup some complicated integral, you have
know how to make your own table.
For people interested in learning physics, I will honestly tell you that if you
skip this section you wont miss much. You should just read the section on
substitution which is the important one, but dont bother reading the details
of all the recipes for integrating things. For most intents and purposes, once
315
Techniques of integration
you understand what an integral is, you can use a computer to calculate it. A
good tool for this is the computer algebra system at live.sympy.org.
>>> integrate( sin(x) )
-cos(x)
>>> integrate( x**2*exp(x) )
x**2*exp(x) - 2*x*exp(x) + 2*exp(x)
You can use sympy for all your integration needs.
For those of you reading this book for general culture and who want to
understand what calculus is without having to write a nal exam on it, consider
the next couple of pages as an ethnographic survol of the academic realities
in which bright rst year students are forced to integrate things they dont
want to integrate and this for many long hours. Just picture some unlucky
science student locked up in her room doing calculus and hundreds of dangling
integrals grabbing at her with their hooks, keeping her away from her friends.
Actually, it is not that bad. There are, like, four tricks to learn and if you
practice you can learn all of them in a week or so. Mastering these four tricks
is essentially the entire Calculus II class. If you understand the material in this
section, you will be done with integral calculus and you will have two months
to chill.
Substitution
Say you are integrating some complicated function which contains a square
root

x. You are wondering how to go about computing this integral:
_
1
x

x
dx = ?
Sometimes you can simplify the integral by substituting a new variable in
the expression. Let u =

x. Substitution is like search-and-replace in a word

316
Techniques of integration
processor. Every time you see the expression

x, you have to replace it with
u:
_
1
x

x
dx =
_
1
u
2
u
dx.
Note that we also replaced x = (

x)
2
with u
2
.
We are not done yet. When you change from the x variable to the u variable,
you have to be thorough. You have to change the dx to a du also. Can we just
replace dx with du? Unfortunately no, otherwise it would be like saying that
the short step du is equal in length to the short step dx, which is only true
for the trivial substitution u = x.
To nd the relation between the innitesimals we take the derivative:
u(x) =

x u

(x) =
du
dx
=
1
2

x
.
For the next step, I need you to stop thinking about the expression
du
dx
as a
whole, but think about it as a rise-over-run fraction which can be split. Lets
take the run dx to the other side of the equation:
du =
1
2

x
dx,
and to isolate dx, we multiply both sides by 2

x:
dx = 2

x du = 2u du,
where in the last step I used the fact that u =

x again.
Now we have an expression for dx entirely in terms of us. Lets see what
that gives:
_
1
x

x
dx =
_
1
u
2
u
2u du =
_
2
u 1
du.
We can now recognize the general form
1
x
which has integral ln(x), but we
have to account for the 1 shift inside the function. The integral therefore is:
_
1
x

x
dx =
_
2
u 1
du = 2 ln(u 1) = 2 ln(

x 1).
317
Techniques of integration
Note that in the last step we changed back to the x variable, to give the nal
answer. The variable u exists only in our calculation. We invented it out of
thin air, when we said Let u =

x in the beginning. It is only natural to
convert back to the original variable x in the last step.
Notice what happened thanks to the substitution? The integral got simpler
since we got rid of the square roots. On the outside we had just an extra u
appearing, which ends up cancelling with the u in the denominator making
things even simpler. In practice, substituting inside f is the easy part. The
hard part is making sure that our choice of substitution leads to a replacement
for dx which helps to make the integral simpler.
For denite integrals, i.e., integrals that have explicit limits, there is an
extra step that we need to take when changing variables: we have to change
the x limits of integration to u limits. In our expression, when changing to the
u variable, we would have to write:
_
b
a
1
x

x
dx =
_
u(b)
u(a)
2
u 1
du.
If the integral had asked for the integral between x
i
= 4 and x
f
= 9, then the
new limits will be u
i
=

4 = 2 and u
f
=

9 = 3, so we will have:
_
9
4
1
x

x
dx =
_
3
2
2
u 1
du = 2 ln(u 1)

3
2
= 2(ln(2) ln(1)) = 2 ln(2).
OK, so lets recap. Substitution involves three steps:
1. Replace all occurrences of u(x) with u.
2. Replace dx with
1
u

(x)
du.
3. If there are limits, replace the x limits with u limits.
If the resulting integral is simpler to solve then good for you!
318
Techniques of integration
Example We are asked to nd
_
tan(x) dx. We know that tan(x) =
sin(x)
cos(x)
,
so we can use the substitution u = cos(x), du = sin(x)dx as follows:
_
tan(x)dx =
_
sin(x)
cos(x)
dx
=
_
1
u
du
= ln [u[ + C
= ln [ cos(x)[ + C.
Integrals of trig functions
Because sin, cos, tan and the other trig functions are related, we can often
express one function in terms of another in order to simplify integrals.
Recall the trigonometric identity:
cos
2
(x) + sin
2
(x) = 1,
which is the statement of Pythagoras theorem.
If we choose to make the substitution u = sin(x), then we can replace all
kinds of trigonometric terms with the new variable u:
sin
2
(x) = u
2
,
cos
2
(x) = 1 sin
2
(x) = 1 u
2
,
tan
2
(x) =
sin
2
(x)
cos
2
(x)
=
u
2
1 u
2
.
Of course the change of variable u = sin(x) means that you have to change
the du = u

(x)dx = cos(x)dx so there better be something to cancel this cos(x)

term in the integral.
Let me show you one example when things work out perfectly. Suppose m
is some arbitrary number, and you have to integrate:
_
(sin(x))
m
cos
3
(x) dx
_
sin
m
(x) cos
3
(x) dx.
319
Techniques of integration
This integral contains m powers of the sin function and a three powers of the
cos function. Let us split the cos term into two parts:
_
sin
m
(x) cos
3
(x) dx =
_
sin
m
(x) cos
2
(x) cos(x) dx.
Making the change of variable u = sin(x), du = cos(x)dx means that we
can replace sin
m
(x) by u
m
, and cos
2
(x) = 1 u
2
in the above expression to
get:
_
sin
m
(x) cos
2
(x) cos(x) dx =
_
u
m
_
1 u
2
_
cos(x) dx.
Conveniently we happen to have dx =
1
cos(x)
du so the complete change of
variable step is:
_
sin
m
(x) cos
2
(x) cos(x) dx =
_
u
m
_
1 u
2
_
cos(x)
1
cos(x)
du
=
_
u
m
_
1 u
2
_
du.
This is what I was talking about earlier about having an extra cos(x) to
cancel the one that will appear from the dx du change.
What is the answer then? It is a simple integral of a polynomial:
_
u
m
_
1 u
2
_
du =
_
_
u
m
du u
m+2
_
du
=
1
m + 1
u
m+1

1
m + 3
u
m+3
=
1
m + 1
sin
m+1
(x)
1
m + 3
sin
m+3
(x).
You might be wondering how useful this substitution technique really is.
I mean how often do you have to integrate such a particular combinations of
sin and cos powers so that the substitution works out perfectly. You would
surprised! Sins and cos functions are used a lot in this thing called the Fourier
transform, which is a way of expressing a sound wave f(t) in terms of the
320
Techniques of integration
frequencies it contains. Also on exams, they love to test this kinds of things.
Teachers often want to check if you can do integrals and substitutions and they
check if you remember all the trigonometric identities, which you are supposed
to have learned in high school.
What other trigonometric functions should you know how to integrate? On
an exam you should try any possible substitution you can think of, combined
with any trigonometric identity that seems to simplify things. Some common
ones are described below.
Cos
Just as we can substitute sin, we can also substitute u = cos(x) and use
sin
2
(x) = 1 u
2
. Again, this substitution only makes sense if you have a sin
left over somewhere in the integral to cancel with the dx =
1
sin(x)
du.
Tan and sec
We can get some more mileage out of cos
2
(x) + sin
2
(x) = 1. If we divide both
sides by cos
2
(x) we get:
1 + tan
2
(x) = sec
2
(x)
1
cos
2
(x)
,
which is useful because u = tan(x) gives du = sec
2
(x)dx so you can often kill
o even powers of sec
2
(x) in integrals of the form
_
tan
m
(x) sec
n
(x) dx.
Even powers of sin and cos
There are other trigonometric identities called half-angle and double-angle for-
mulas which give you formulas like:
sin
2
(x) =
1
2
(1 cos(2x)), cos
2
(x) =
1
2
(1 + cos(2x)).
These are useful if you have to integrate even powers of sin and cos.
321
Techniques of integration
Example Lets see how we would nd I =
_
sin
2
(x) cos
4
(x) dx:
I =
_
sin
2
(x) cos
4
(x) dx
=
_ _
1
2
(1 cos(2x))
__
1
2
(1 + cos(2x))
_
2
dx,
=
1
8
_
_
1 cos
2
(2x) + cos(2x) cos
3
(2x)
_
dx.
=
1
8
_
_
1 cos
2
(2x) + cos(2x) cos
2
(2x) cos(2x)
_
dx
=
1
8
_ _
1
1
2
(1 + cos(4x)) + cos(2x) (1 sin
2
(2x))cos(2x)
_
dx
=
1
8
_
_
_
1
2

1
2
cos(4x) + sin
2
(2x)
. .
u
2
cos(2x)
_
_
dx
=
1
8
_
x
2

sin(4x)
8
+
sin
3
(2x)
6
_
=
x
16

sin(4x)
64
+
sin
3
(2x)
48
+ C.
There is no limit to the number of combinations of simplication steps
you can try. On a homework question or an exam, the teacher will ask for
something simple. You just have to nd the right substitution.
Sneaky example Sometime, the substitution is not obvious at all, as in the
case of
_
sec(x)dx. To nd the integral you need to know the following trick:
multiply and divide by tan(x) + sec(x).
322
Techniques of integration
What we get is
_
sec(x) dx =
_
sec(x) 1 dx
=
_
sec(x)
tan(x) + sec(x)
tan(x) + sec(x)
dx
=
_
sec
2
(x) + sec(x) tan(x)
tan(x) + sec(x)
dx
=
_
1
u
du
= ln [u[ + C
= ln [ tan(x) + sec(x)[ + C,
where in the fourth line we used the substitution u = tan(x) + sec(x) and
du = (sec
2
(x) + tan(x) sec(x))dx.
I highly recommend you view and practice all the examples you can get
your hands on. Dont bother memorizing any recipes though, you will do just
as well with trial and error.
Trig substitution
Often times when doing integrals for physics we get terms of the form

a
2
x
2
,

a
2
+ x
2
or

x
2
a
2
which are not easy to handle. In each of the above three
cases, we can do a trig substitution, in which we substitute x with one of the
trigonometric functions a sin(), a tan() or a sec(), and the resulting integral
becomes much simpler.
Sine substitution
Consider an integral which contains an expression of the form

a
2
x
2
. If we
use the substitution x = a sin , the complicated square-root expression will
get simpler:

a
2
x
2
=
_
a
2
a
2
sin
2
= a
_
1 sin
2
= a cos ,
323
Techniques of integration
because we have cos
2
= 1 sin
2
. The transformed integral now involves a
trigonometric function which we know how to integrate.
Once we nd the integral in terms of , we have to
convert the various expressions in the answer back to
the original variables x and a:
sin =
x
a
, cos =

a
2
x
2
a
, tan =
x

a
2
x
2
,
csc =
a
x
, sec =
a

a
2
x
2
, cot =

a
2
x
2
x
.
Example 1 Suppose you are asked to calculate
_
1 x
2
dx.
We will approach the problem by making the substitution
x = sin , dx = cos d,
which is the simplest case of the sine substitution with a = 1.
We proceed as follows:
_

1 x
2
dx =
_
_
1 sin
2
cos d
=
_
cos
2
d
=
1
2
_
[1 + cos 2] d
=
1
2
+
1
4
sin 2
=
1
2
+
1
2
sin cos
=
1
2
sin
1
(x) +
1
2
x
1

1 x
2
1
.
Note how in the last step we used the triangle diagram
to read o the values of , sin and cos from the tri-
angle. The substitution x = sin means the hypotenuse
in the diagram should be of length 1, and the opposite side is of length x.
324
Techniques of integration
Example 2 We want to compute
_
_
a+x
ax
dx. We can rewrite this fraction
as follows:
_
a + x
a x
=
_
a + x
a x
1
1
=
_
a + x
a x
a + x
a + x
=
a + x

a
2
x
2
.
Next we can make the substitution
x = a sin , dx = a cos d,
_
a + x

a
2
x
2
dx =
_
a + a sin
a cos
a cos d
= a
_
[1 + sin ] d
= a [ cos ]
= a sin
1
_
x
a
_
a

a
2
x
2
a
= a sin
1
_
x
a
_

a
2
x
2
.
Tan substitution
When an integral contains

a
2
+ x
2
, we use the substi-
tution:
x = a tan , dx = a sec
2
d.
Because of the identity 1 +tan
2
= sec
2
, the square
root expression will simplify drastically:

a
2
+ x
2
=
_
a
2
+ a
2
tan
2
= a
_
1 + tan
2
= a sec .
Simplication is a good thing. You are much more likely
to be able to nd the integral in terms of , using trig
identities, than in terms of

a
2
+ x
2
.
325
Techniques of integration
Once you calculate the integral in terms of , you will
want to convert the answer back into x coordinates. To
do this, you need to use a triangle labeled according to
our substitution:
tan =
x
a
=
opp
adj
.
The equivalent of sin in terms of x is going to be sin
opp
hyp
=
x

a
2
+x
2
.
Similarly, the other trigonometric functions are dened as various ratios of a,
x and

a
2
+ x
2
.
Example Calculate
_
1
x
2
+1
dx.
The denominator of this function is equal to
_
1 + x
2
_
2
. This suggests
that we try to substitute x = tan and use the identity 1 + tan
2
= sec
2
.
With this substitution, we obtain that dx = sec
2
d and thus:
_
1
x
2
+ 1
dx =
_
1
tan
2
+ 1
sec
2
d
=
_
1
sec
2

sec
2
d
=
_
1 d
=
= tan
1
(x) + C.
Obfuscated example What if we dont have x
2
+ 1 in the denominator (a
second degree polynomial with a missing linear term), but a full second degree
polynomial like:
1
y
2
6y + 10
.
How would you integrate something like this? If there were no 2y, you would
be able to use the tan substitution as above or perhaps you can lookup the
326
Techniques of integration
formula
_
1
x
2
+1
dx = tan
1
(x) in the table of integrals. But there is no formula
for
_
1
y
2
6y + 10
dy,
in the table so how should you proceed.
We will use the good old substitution technique u = . . . and a high-school
algebra trick called completing the square in order to rewrite the fraction
inside the integral so that it looks like (y h)
2
+k, i.e., with no middle term.
The rst step is to nd by inspection the values of h and k:
1
y
2
6y + 10
=
1
(y h)
2
+ k
=
1
(y 3)
2
+ 1
.
The square completed quadratic expression has no linear term, which is what
we wanted. We can now use the substitution x = y 3 and dx = dy to obtain
an integral which we know how to solve:
_
1
y
2
6y + 10
dy =
_
1
(y 3)
2
+ 1
dy =
_
1
x
2
+ 1
dx = tan
1
(x) = tan
1
(y3).
Sec substitution
In the last two sections we learned how to deal with

a
2
x
2
,

x
2
+ a
2
and
so only the last option remains:

x
2
a
2
.
Recall the trigonometric identity 1+tan
2
= sec
2
, or rewritten dierently
we get
sec
2
1 = tan
2
.
The appropriate substitution for terms like

x
2
a
2
,
is the following:
x = a sec , dx = a tan sec d.
The substitution method and procedure is the same
as in both previous cases, so we will not get into the
327
Techniques of integration
details. We label the sides of the triangle in the appropriate fashion, namely:
sec =
x
a
=
hyp
opp
,
and use this triangle when we are converting back from to x in the nal steps.
Interlude
By now, things are starting to get pretty tight for your Calculus teacher. You
are starting to know how to handle any kind of integral he can throw at you:
polynomials, fractions with x
2
plus or minus a
2
and square roots. He cant
even use the dirty old trigonometric tricks, with the sin, the cos and the tan
since you know that too. What options are there left for him to come up with
an integral that you wouldnt know how to solve?
OK, I am exaggerating, but you should at least feel, by now, that you know
how to do some integrals that you didnt know before. Just remember to come
back to this section when you are hit with some complicated integral. When
this happens, check to see which of the examples in this section looks the most
similar and use the same approach. Dont bother memorizing the steps in each
problem. The substitution u = . . . may be dierent from any problem that
you have seen so far. You should think of integration techniques like general
recipe ideas which you must adapt depending on the ingredients that you have
to work with.
The most important integration techniques is substation. Recall the steps
involved: (1) the change of variable u = . . ., (2) the associated dx to du change
and (3) the change in the limits of integration required for denite integrals.
With medium to advanced substitution skills you will get at least an 80% on
your Calculus II nal.
Where is the remaining 20% of the exam going to come from? There are
two more recipes to go. I know all these tricks that I have been throwing at you
during the last ten pages may seem arduous and dicult to understand, but
this is what you got yourself into when you signed-up for the course Integral
Calculus: there are integrals and you calculate them.
328
Techniques of integration
The good news is that we are almost done. There is just one more trick
to go, and nally I will tell you about integration by parts, which is kind of
the analogue of the product rule for derivatives (fg)

= f

g + fg

.
Partial fractions
Suppose you have to integrate a rational function
P(x)
Q(x)
, where P and Q are
polynomials.
For example, you could be asked to integrate
P(x)
Q(x)
=
Dx + E
Fx
2
+ Gx + H
,
where D, E, F, G and H are arbitrary constants. To get even more specic,
lets say you are asked to calculate:
_
3x + 1
x
2
+ x
dx.
By magical powers, I can transform the function in this integral into two
partial fractions as follows:
_
3x + 1
x
2
+ x
dx =
_ _
1
x
+
2
x + 1
_
dx =
_
1
x
dx +
_
2
x + 1
dx,
in which both terms will give something ln-like when integrated (since
d
dx
ln(x) =
1
x
). The nal answer is:
_
3x + 1
x
2
+ x
dx = ln [x[ + 2 ln [x + 1[ + C.
How did I split the problem into partial fractions? Is it really magic or
is there a method? There is a little bit of both. The method part is that I
assumed that there exist constants A and B such that
3x + 1
x
2
+ x
=
3x + 1
x(x + 1)
=
A
x
+
B
x + 1
,
329
Techniques of integration
and then I solved the above equation for A and B, by computing the sum of
the two fractions:
3x + 1
x(x + 1)
=
A(x + 1) + Bx
x(x + 1)
.
The magic part is the fact that you can solve for two unknowns in one
equation. The relevant part of the equation is just the numerator because
both sides have the same denominator. To nd A and B we have to solve
3x + 1 = (3)x + (1)1 = A(x + 1) + Bx = (A + B)x + (A)1.
To solve this you just have to group the unknown constants into bunches and
then read o their value from the equation. The bunch of numbers in front of
the constant 1 on the left hand side is (1) and the coecient of 1 on the right
hand is A, so A = 1. Similarly you can deduce that B = 2 from A + B = 3
having found that A = 1 in the rst step.
Another way of looking at this, is that the equation
3x + 1 = A(x + 1) + Bx
must hold for all values of the variable x. If we put in x = 0 we get 1 = A and
putting x = 1 gives 2 = B so B = 2.
The above problem highlights the power of the partial fractions method
for attacking integrals of polynomial fractions
P(x)
Q(x)
. Most of the work goes
into some high-school math (factoring and nding unknowns) and then you
do some simple calculus steps once you have split the problem into partial
fractions. Some people call this method separation of quotients, but whatever
you call it, it is clear that having a way to split a fraction into multiple parts
is a good thing:
3x + 1
x
2
+ x
=
A
x
+
B
x + 1
.
How many parts are there going to be for a fraction
P(x)
Q(x)
? What will each
part look like? The answer is that there will be as many as the degree of the
polynomial Q(x), which is in the denominator of the fraction. Each part will
consist of one of the factors of Q(x).
Here is the general procedure:
330
Techniques of integration
1. Split the denominator Q(x) into the product of parts (factorize), and for
each part assume an appropriate partial fraction term on the right. You
will get three types of fractions:
Simple factors like (x )
1
. For each of these you should assume a
partial fraction of the form:
A
x
,
as in the above example.
Repeated factors like (x)
n
for which we have to assume n dierent
terms on the right hand side:
B
x
+
C
(x )
2
+ +
F
(x )
n
.
If the denominator contains a portion ax
2
+ bx + c that cannot be
factored, like x
2
+ 1 for example, we have to keep it as whole and
assume that a term of the form:
Gx + H
ax
2
+ bx + c
exists on the right hand side. A polynomial ax
2
+bx +c cannot be
factored if b
2
< 4ac, which means it has no real roots r
1
, r
2
such
that ax
2
+ bx + c = (x r
1
)(x r
2
).
2. Add together all the parts on the right hand side by rst cross multiplying
them to set all the fractions to a common denominator. If you followed
the steps correctly in Part 1, the least common denominator (LCD) will
turn out to be Q(x), so both sides will have the same denominator.
Solve for the unknown coecients A, B, C, . . . in the numerators. Find
the coecients of each power of x on the right hand side and set them
equal to the corresponding coecient in the numerator P(x) of the left
hand side.
331
Techniques of integration
3. Use the appropriate integral formula for each kind of term:
For simple factors we have
_
1
x
dx = Aln [x [ + C.
For higher powers in the denominator we have
_
1
(x )
m
dx =
1 m
(x )
m1
+ C.
For the quadratic denominator terms with matching numerator
terms we can obtain:
_
2ax + b
ax
2
+ bx + c
dx = ln [ax
2
+ bx + c[ + C.
For quadratic terms with just a constant on top we use a two step
substitution process. First we change to a complete-the-square vari-
able y = x h:
_
1
ax
2
+ bx + c
dx =
_
1/a
(x h)
2
+ k
dx =
1
a
_
1
y
2
+ k
dy,
and then we use a trig substitution y =

k tan to get
1
a
_
1
y
2
+ k
dy =

k
a
tan
1
_
y

k
_
=

k
a
tan
1
_
x h

k
_
.
Example Find
_
1
(x+1)(x+2)
2
dx?
Here P(x) = 1 and Q(x) = (x+1)(x+2)
2
. If I wanted to be sneaky, I could
have asked for
_
1
x
3
+5x
2
+8x+4
dx, instead which is actually the same question,
but you have to do the factoring yourself.
According to the recipe outlined above, we have to look for a split fraction
of the form:
1
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
=
A
x + 1
+
B
x + 2
+
C
(x + 2)
2
.
332
Techniques of integration
To make the equation more explicit, let us add the fractions on the right. We
set all of them to a the least common denominator and add up:
1
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
=
A
x + 1
+
B
x + 2
+
C
(x + 2)
2
=
A(x + 2)
2
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
+
B(x + 1)(x + 2)
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
+
C(x + 1)
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
=
A(x + 2)
2
+ B(x + 1)(x + 2) + C(x + 1)
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
.
The denominators are the same on both sides in the above equation, so we
can focus our attention on the numerator:
A(x + 2)
2
+ B(x + 1)(x + 2) + C(x + 1) = 1.
We choose three dierent values of x in order to nd the values of A, B and
C:
x = 0 1 = 2
2
A + 2B + C
x = 1 1 = A
x = 2 1 = C
so A = 1, B = 1, C = 1, and thus
1
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
=
1
x + 1

1
x + 2

1
(x + 2)
2
.
We can now calculate the integral by integrating each of the terms:
_
1
(x + 1)(x + 2)
2
dx = ln(x + 1) ln(x + 2) +
1
x + 2
+ C.
Integration by parts
Suppose you have to integrate the product of two functions. If one of the
functions happens to look like the derivative of a function that you recognize,
then you can do the following trick:
_
f(x)g

(x) dx = f(x)g(x)
_
f

(x)g(x) dx.
333
Techniques of integration
This means that you can shift the work to evaluating a dierent integral
where one function is replaced by its derivative and another is replaced by its
integral.
Derivatives tend to simplify functions whereas integrals make functions
more complicated, so such shifting of work can be quite benecial: you will
save yourself some work on integrating the f part, but you will do more work
on the g part.
It is easier to remember the integration by parts formula in the shorthand
notation:
_
u dv = uv
_
v du.
In fact, you can think of integration by parts as a form of double substitution,
where you replace u and dv at the same time. To be sure of what is going on,
I recommend you always make a little table like this:
u = dv =
du = v =
and ll in the blanks. The rst row consists of the two parts that you see in
your original problem. Then you dierentiate in the left column, and integrate
in the right column. If you do this, using the integration by parts formula will
be really easy since you have all your expressions ready.
For denite integrals the integration by parts rule needs to take into account
the evaluation at the limits:
_
b
a
u dv = (uv)

b
a

_
b
a
v du,
which tells us to evaluate the dierence of the value of uv at the two endpoints
and then subtract the switched integral with the same endpoints.
Example 1 Find
_
xe
x
dx. We identify the good candidates for u and dv in
the original expression, and perform all the work necessary for the substitution:
u = x dv = e
x
dx,
du = dx v = e
x
.
334
Techniques of integration
Next we apply the integration by parts formula
_
u dv = uv
_
v du,
to get the following:
_
xe
x
dx = xe
x

_
e
x
dx
= xe
x
e
x
+ C.
Example 2 Find
_
x sin x dx. We choose u = x and dv = sin xdx. With
these choices, we have du = dx and v = cos x, and integrating by parts we
get:
_
x sin x dx = x cos x
_
(cos x) dx
= x cos x +
_
cos x dx
= x cos x + sin x + C.
Example 3 Often times, you have to integrate by parts multiple times. To
calculate
_
x
2
e
x
dx, we start by choosing:
u = x
2
dv = e
x
dx
du = 2x dx v = e
x
,
which gives the following after integration by parts:
_
x
2
e
x
dx = x
2
e
x
2
_
xe
x
dx.
We apply integration by parts again on the remaining integral this time using
u = x and dv = e
x
dx, which gives du = dx and v = e
x
.
335
Techniques of integration
_
x
2
e
x
dx = x
2
e
x
2
_
xe
x
dx
= x
2
e
x
2
_
xe
x

_
e
x
dx
_
= x
2
e
x
2xe
x
+ 2e
x
+ C.
By now I hope you are starting to see that this integration by parts thing
is good. If you always write down the substitutions clearly (who is who in
_
udv), and use the formula correctly (= uv
_
vdu) you can do damage to
any integral. Sometimes the choice of u and dv you make might not be good:
if the integral
_
vdu is not simpler than the original
_
udv then what is the
point of integrating by parts?
Sometimes, however, you can get into a weird self-referential loop when
doing integration by parts. After a couple of integration-by-parts steps you
might end up back with an integral you started with! The way out of this loop
is best shown by example.
Example 4 Evaluate the integral
_
sin(x)e
x
dx. First we let u = sin(x) and
dv = e
x
dx, which gives dv = cos(x)dx and v = e
x
. Using integration by parts
gives
_
sin(x)e
x
dx = e
x
sin(x)
_
cos(x)e
x
dx.
We integrate by parts again. This time we set u = cos(x), dv = e
x
dx and
du = sin(x)dx, v = e
x
. We obtain
_
sin(x)e
x
dx
. .
I
= e
x
sin(x) e
x
cos(x)
_
e
x
sin(x) dx
. .
I
.
Do you see the Ouroboros? We could continue integrating by parts indenitely
like that.
336
Techniques of integration
Let us dene clearly what we are doing here. The question asked us to nd
I where
I =
_
sin(x)e
x
dx,
and after doing two integration by parts steps we obtain the following equation:
I = e
x
sin(x) e
x
cos(x) I.
OK, good. Now just move all the Is to one side:
2I = e
x
sin(x) e
x
cos(x),
or nally
_
sin(x)e
x
dx = I =
1
2
e
x
(sin(x) cos(x)) + C.
Derivation of the Integration by parts formula
Remember the product rule for derivatives?
d
dx
(f(x)g(x)) =
df
dx
g(x) + f(x)
dg
dx
.
We can rewrite this as:
f(x)
dg
dx
=
d
dx
(f(x)g(x))
df
dx
g(x).
Now we take the integral on both sides
_
f(x)
dg
dx
dx =
_ _
d
dx
(f(x)g(x)) dx
df
dx
g(x) dx
_
.
At this point, you need to recall the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus,
which says that taking the derivative and taking an integral are inverse oper-
ations
_
d
dx
h(x) dx = h(x).
We use this to simplify the product rule equation as follows:
_
f(x)
dg
dx
dx = f(x)g(x)
_
df
dx
g(x) dx.
337
Applications of integration
Outro
We are done. Now you know all the integration techniques. I know it took a
while, but we had to go through a lot of tricks. In any case, I must say I am
glad to be done writing this section. My job of teaching you is done. Now your
job begins. Do all the examples you can nd. Do all the exercises. Practice
the tricks.
Here is a suggestion for you. Make your own formula-sheet-slash-trophy-
case where you record any complex integral that you have personally calculated
from rst principles in homework assignments. If by the end of the class you
trophy case has 50 integrals which you calculated yourself, then you will get
100% on your nal. Another thing to try is to go over the integral formulas in
the back of the book and see how many of them you can derive.
Links
[ More examples of integration techniques ]
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Calculus/Integration techniques/
6.17 Applications of integration
Integration is used in many areas of science.
Applications to mechanics
Calculus was kind of invented for mechanics, so it is not surprising that there
will be many links between the two subjects.
Kinematics
Suppose that an object of mass m has a constant force F
net
applied to it.
Newtons second law tells us that the acceleration of the object will be a =
F
net
m
.
338
Applications of integration
If the net force is constant, then the acceleration will also be constant. We
can nd the equations of motion of the object x(t) by integrating a(t) twice
since a(t) = x

(t).
We start with the acceleration function a(t) = a and integrate once to
obtain:
v() =
_

0
a(t) dt = at + v
i
,
where v
i
= v(0) is the initial velocity of the object at t = 0. We obtain the
position function by integrating the velocity function and adding the initial
position x
i
= x(0):
x() =
_
v(t) dt =
_
(at + v
i
) dt =
1
2
a
2
+ v
i
+ x
i
.
Non-constant acceleration
If net force on the object is not constant then the acceleration will not be
constant either. In general both the force and the mass could change over
time so the acceleration will also change over time a(t) =
F
net
(t)
m(t)
. This sort
of problem is usually not covered in the rst mechanics course because the
establishment assume that it would be too complicated for you to handle.
Now that you know more about integrals, you can learn how to predict
the motion of the object with an arbitrary acceleration function a(t). To nd
the velocity at time t = , we need sum up all acceleration felt by the object
between t = 0 and t = :
v() = v
i
+
_

0
a(t) dt.
The equation of motion x(t) is obtained by integrating the velocity v(t):
x(s) = x
i
+
_
s
0
v() d =
_
s
0
_
v
i
+
_

0
a(t) dt
_
d.
The above expression looks quite intense, but in fact it is nothing more com-
plicated than the simple integrals used in UAM. The expression just looks
339
Applications of integration
complicated because we have three dierent variables which are used to rep-
resent the time and two consecutive integration steps. Computer games often
include a physics engine to simulates the motion of objects in the real world
using the equation described above.
Gravitational potential
By denition, the integral of a conservative force over some distance d gives
you the potential energy of that force. Since gravity

F
g
is a conservative force,
we can integrate it to obtain the gravitational potential energy U
g
.
On the surface of the earth we have

F
g
= gm , where the negative sign
means that it acts in the opposite direction to upwards as represented by
the unit vector, which points in the positive y-direciton (towards the sky).
In particular the gravitational force as a function of height

F
g
(y) is a constant

F
g
(y) =

F
g
. By denition, the gravitational potential energy is the negative of
the integral of the force over some distance, say from height y
i
= 0 to height
y
f
= h:
U
g
= U
gf
U
gi
=
_
y
f
y
i

F
g
dy =
_
h
0
mg dy = [mgy]
h
0
= mgh.
More generally, i.e., not on the surface of the earth, the gravitational force
acting on an object of mass m due to another object of mass M is given by
Newtons famous one-over-r-squared law:

F
g
=
GMm
r
2
r,
where r is the distance between the objects and r points towards the other
object. The general formula for gravitational potential is obtained, again, by
taking the integral of the gravitational force over some distance. We will start
the object of mass m from a distance r = r
i
and move it away until it is
innitely far away. The change in the gravitational potential from r = r
i
to
340
Applications of integration
r = is:
U
g
=
_
r=
r=r
i
GMm
r
2
dr
= GMm
_

r
i
1
r
2
dr
= GMm
_
1
r
_

r
i
= GMm
_
1

1
r
i
_
=
GMm
r
i
.
Integrals over circular objects
Consider the circular region S = x, y R : x
2
+y
2
R
2
. In polar coordinates
we would describe this region as r R, where it is implicit that the angle
varies between 0 and 2. Because this region is two dimensional, in order to
integrate it, we would need a double integral.
Even before you learn about double integrals, you can still integrate over
the circular region if you brake it up into little pieces of circle dS. In fact, this
is the whole point of this subsection.
A natural way to break up the circular region is
in terms of thin circular strips at a dierent radius
and with width dr. Each circular strip will have an
area of:
dS = 2rdr,
where 2r is the circumference of a circle with radius
r.
Using this way of braking up the circle, we can
check that indeed we get a total area of R
2
when
341
Applications of integration
we add up all the pieces dS:
A
circle
=
_
S
dS =
_
r=R
r=0
2r dr = 2
_
R
0
r dr = R
2
.
The following sections discuss dierent extensions of this idea. We use the
circular symmetry of various objects to integrate over them by breaking them
into thin circular strips of thickness dr.
In all circular integrals, you can think of the object as being described by
a rotation, or revolution of some function around one of the axes, thus, this
kind of integrals are called integrals of revolution.
Total mass of a disk
Suppose you have a disk of total mass m and radius R. You can think of the
disk as being made of parts, each of mass m, such that when you add them
all up you get the total mass:
_
disk
m = m.
The mass density is dened as the total mass divided by the area of the disk:
=
m
A
disk
=
m
R
2
. The mass density corresponds to the amount of mass per unit
area. Lets split the disk into concentric circular strips of width dr. The mass
contribution of a strip as a function of the radius will be m(r) = 2rdr,
since the stip at radius r has circumference 2r and width dr. Lets check that
when we add up the pieces we get the total mass:
m =
_
R
0
m(r) =
_
R
0
2r dr = 2
_
r
2
2
_
R
0
= 2
m
R
2
R
2
0
2
= m.
Moment of inertia of a disk
The moment of inertia of an object is a measure of how dicult it is to make
it turn. It appears in the rotational version of F = ma, in place of the inertial
mass m:
T = I.
342
Applications of integration
To compute the moment of inertia of an object you need to add up all the
mass contributions m and weight them by r
2
, where r is the distance of the
piece m from the centre:
I =
_
disk
r
2
m.
We can perform the integral over the whole disk, by adding up the contri-
butions of all the strips:
I
disk
=
_
R
0
r
2
m(r) =
_
R
0
r
2
2r dr =
_
R
0
r
2
m
R
2
2r dr =
=
2m
R
2
_
R
0
r
3
dr =
2m
R
2
_
r
4
4
_
R
0
=
2m
R
2
R
4
4
=
1
2
mR
2
.
Arc lengths of a curve
Given a function y = f(x) and an interval x [x
i
, x
f
], how can you calculate
the total length of the curve f(x) between these two points?
If the curve were a straight line, then we would simply take the hypotenuse
of the change in x and the change in y:

run
2
+ rise
2
=
_
(x
f
x
i
)
2
+ (f(x
f
) f(x
i
))
2
.
If the function is not a straight line, however, we have to do this hypotenuse
thing on each piece of the curve d =
_
dx
2
+ dy
2
, and add up all the contri-
butions as an integral.
The arc length of a curve y = f(x) is given by:
=
_
d =
_
x
f
x
i

1 +
_
df(x)
dx
_
2
dx.
Surface of revolution
We can use the above formula for arc-length to ask how much surface area A
a solid of revolution with boundary f(x) would have.
Each piece of length d, must be multiplied by 2f(x) since it is being
rotated around the x-axis in a circle of radius f(x). The area of the surface
343
Applications of integration
of revolution traced out by f(x) rotated around the x-axis is given by the
following integral:
A =
_
2f(x)d =
_
x
f
x
i
2f(x)

1 +
_
df(x)
dx
_
2
dx.
Volumes of revolution
Next we raise the stakes. We already showed that we can express two dimen-
sional integrals with circular symmetry as one dimensional integrals. Now we
move on to three dimensional integrals: integrals over volumes. We will use
the circular symmetry to calculate the volume using a single integral again.
Washer method
We can split any volume into a number of disks of thickness dx and with radius
proportional to the function f(x).
The volume V of a solid of traced out by some
f(x) as revolution is:
V =
_
A
disk
(x) h
disk
=
_
f
2
(x) dx.
If we want the volume of revolution in between
two functions g(x) and f(x), then we have to imag-
ine splitting the volume into washers: disks of inner
radius f(x), outer radius g(x) and thickness dx:
V =
_
A
washer
(x) dx =
_
[f
2
(x) g
2
(x)] dx.
Each washer consist of a disk of are f
2
(x) from
which a circular piece of area g
2
(x) has been cut
out.
344
Applications of integration
Example
Lets calculate the volume of a sphere of radius r using the disk method. Our
generating region will be the region bounded by the curve f(x) =

r
2
x
2
and the line y = 0. Our limits of integration will be the x-values where the
curve intersects the line y = 0, namely, x = r. We have:
V
sphere
=
_
r
r
(r
2
x
2
)dx
= (
_
r
r
r
2
dx
_
r
r
x
2
dx)
= (r
2
x

r
r

x
3
3

r
r
)
= (r
2
(r (r)) (
r
3
3

(r)
3
3
)
= (2r
3

2r
3
3
)
=
6r
3
2r
3
3
=
4r
3
3
.
Cylindrical shell method
Alternately we can split any circularly symmetric volume into thin cylindrical
shells of thickness dr. If the volume has a circular symmetry and is bounded
from above by F(r) and from below by G(r), then the integral over the volume
will be:
V =
_
C
shell
(r) h
shell
(r) dr
=
_
b
a
2r[F(r) G(r)[ dr,
where 2r is the circumference of each cylindrical shell and [F(r) G(r)[ is its
height.
345
Applications of integration
Example Calculate the volume of a sphere of ra-
dius R using the cylindrical shell method. We are
talking about the region enclosed by the surface
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= R
2
.
The shell at radius r =
_
x
2
+ y
2
will have a
roof of z = F = 2

R
2
r
2
, a oor of z = G =
2

R
2
r
2
, circumference 2r and a width of dr.
The integral will proceed as follows:
V =
_
R
0
2r[F(r) G(r)[ dr
=
_
R
0
2r2

R
2
r
2
dr
= 2
_
0
R
2

u du
= 2
2
3
u
3/2

0
R
2
= 2[0
2
3
R
3
]
=
4R
3
3
,
where in the second line we carried out the substitution u = R
2
r
2
, du =
2rdr.
Exercises
Exercise 1 Calculate the volume of the cone with radius R and height h
which is generated by the revolution of the region bounded by y = R
R
h
x and
the lines y = 0 and x = 0 around the x-axis. Answer:
R
2
h
3
.
Exercise 2 Calculate the volume of the solid of revolution generated by
revolving the region bounded by the curve y = x
2
and the lines x = 1 and
346
Improper integrals
y = 0 around the x-axis. Answer:

5
.
Exercise 3 Use the washer method to nd the volume of a cone containing
a central hole formed by revolving the region bounded by y = R
R
h
x and the
lines y = r and x = 0 around the x-axis. Answer:h
_
R
2
3
r
2
_
.
Exercise 4 Calculate the volume of the solid of revolution generated by
revolving the region bounded by the curves y = x
2
and y = x
3
and the lines
x = 1 and y = 0 around the x-axis. Answer:
2
35
.
Exercise 5 Find the volume of a cone with radius R and height h by using
the shell method on the appropriate region which, when rotated around the
y-axis, produces a cone with the given characteristics. Answer:
r
2
h
3
.
Exercise 6 Calculate the volume of the solid of revolution generated by
revolving the region bounded by the curve y = x
2
and the lines x = 1 and
y = 0 around the y-axis. Answer:

2
.
6.18 Improper integrals
Imagine you want to nd the area under the function f(x) =
1
x
2
from x = 1 all
the way to innity x = . This kind of calculation is known as an improper
integral since one of the endpoints of the integration is not a regular number,
but innity.
Nevertheless we can compute this integral:
_

1
1
x
2
dx lim
b
_
b
1
1
x
2
dx = lim
b
_
1
x
_
b
1
= lim
b
_

1
b
+
1
1
_
= 1.
347
Sequences
Denitions
An improper integral is one in which one or more of the limits of integration
is innite. Such integrals are to be evaluated as regular integrals where the
innity is replaced by a dummy variable, followed by a limit calculation in
which the the dummy variable is taken to innity:
_

a
f(x) dx lim
b
_
b
a
f(x) dx = lim
b
[F(b) F(a)],
where F(x) is the anti-derivative function of f(x).
Applications
Later in this chapter, we will learn about the integral test for the convergence
of a series, which requires the evaluation of an improper integral.
6.19 Sequences
A sequence is and ordered list of numbers, usually following some pattern like
the nd the pattern questions on IQ tests. We will study the properties of
these sequences. For example, we can check whether the sequence converges
to some limit.
Understanding sequences is also a prerequisite for understanding series,
which is an important topic we will discuss in the next section.
Denitions
N: The set of natural numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, . . ..
N

= N 0: The set of strictly positive natural numbers 1, 2, 3, . . .,

which is the same as the above, but we skip zero.
a
n
: sequence of numbers a
0
, a
1
, a
2
, a
3
, a
4
, . . .. You can also think about
each sequence as a function
a : N R,
348
Sequences
where the input is n an integer (the index into the sequence) and the
output is some number a
n
R.
Examples
Consider the following common sequences.
Arithmetic progression
Consider a sequence in which successive terms dier by one:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . .
which is described by the formula:
a
n
= n, n N

.
More generally, an arithmetic sequence can start at any value a
0
and make
jumps of size d at each step:
a
n
= a
0
+ nd, n N.
Harmonic sequence
If we choose to make the sequence elements inversely proportional to the index
n we obtain the harmonic sequence:
1,
1
2
,
1
3
,
1
4
,
1
5
,
1
6
, . . .
a
n
=
1
n
, n N

.
More generally, we can dene a p-sequence in which the index n appears in
the denominator raised to the power p:
a
n
=
1
n
p
, n N

.
349
Sequences
For example, when p = 2 we get the sequence of inverse squares of the
integers:
1,
1
4
,
1
9
,
1
16
,
1
25
,
1
36
, . . . .
Geometric sequence
If we use the index as an exponent to a xed number r we obtain the geometric
series:
a
n
= r
n
, n N,
which is a sequence of the form
1, r, r
2
, r
3
, r
4
, r
5
, r
6
, . . . .
Suppose we choose r =
1
2
, then the geometric series with this ratio will be:
1,
1
2
,
1
4
,
1
8
,
1
16
,
1
32
,
1
64
,
1
128
, . . . .
Fibonacci
a
0
= 1, a
1
= 1, a
n
= a
n1
+ a
n2
, n > 1.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, . . . .
Convergence
We say a sequence a
n
converges to a limit L, or written mathematically:
lim
n
a
n
= L,
if for large n the sequence values get arbitrarily close to the value L.
More precisely, the limit notation means that for any choice of precisions
> 0, we can pick a number N

such that:
[a
n
L[ < , n N

.
350
Series
The notion of a limit of a sequence is the same as that of a limit of a function.
The same way we learned how to calculate which number the function f(x)
tends to for large x, we can study which number the sequence a
n
tends to for
large n. Indeed, sequences are functions that are dened only at integer values
of x.
Ratio convergence
The numbers in the Fibonacci sequence grow indenitely large (lim
n
a
n
=
), but the ratio of
a
n
a
n1
converges to a constant:
lim
n
a
n
a
n1
= =
1 +

5
2
1.618033 . . . ,
which is known as the golden ratio.
Calculus on sequences
If a sequence a
n
is like a function f(x), then we should be able to do calculus
on it. We already saw we can take limits of sequences, but can we also compute
derivatives and integrals of sequences? Derivatives are a no-go, because they
depend on the function f(x) being continuous and sequences are only dened
for integer values. We can take integrals of sequences, however, and this is the
subject of the next section.
6.20 Series
Can you compute ln(2) using only a basic calculator with four operations: [+],
[-], [], []? I can tell you one way. Simply compute the following sum:
1
1
2
+
1
3

1
4
+
1
5

1
6
+
1
7
+ . . . .
We can compute the above sum for large values of n using live.sympy.org:
351
Series
>>> def axn_ln2(n): return 1.0*(-1)**(n+1)/n
>>> sum([ axn_ln2(n) for n in range(1,100) ])
0.69(817217931)
>>> sum([ axn_ln2(n) for n in range(1,1000) ])
0.693(64743056)
>>> sum([ axn_ln2(n) for n in range(1,1000000) ])
0.693147(68056)
>>> ln(2).evalf()
0.693147180559945
As you can see, the more terms you add in this series, the more accurate
the series approximation of ln(2) becomes. A lot of practical mathematical
computations are done in this iterative fashion. The notion of series is a
powerful way to calculate quantities to arbitrary precision by summing together
more and more terms.
Denitions
N: = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . ..
N

= N 0: = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . ..
a
n
: sequence of numbers a
0
, a
1
, a
2
, a
3
, a
4
, . . ..

: sum. Means to take the sum of several objects put together. The
summation sign is the short way to express certain long expressions:
a
3
+ a
4
+ a
5
+ a
6
+ a
7
=

3i7
a
i
=
7

i=3
a
i
.

a
i
: series. The running total of a sequence until n:
S
n
=
n

i=1
a
i
= a
1
+ a
2
+ . . . + a
n1
+ a
n
.
Most often, we take the sum of all the terms in the sequence:
S

i=1
= a
1
+ a
2
+ a
3
+ a
4
+ . . . .
352
Series
n!: the factorial function: n! = n(n 1)(n 2) 3 2 1.
f(x) =

n=0
a
n
x
n
: Taylor series approximation of the function f(x). It
has the form of an innitely long polynomial a
0
+a
1
x+a
2
x
2
+a
3
x
3
+. . .
where the coecients a
n
are chosen so as to encode the properties of the
function f(x).
Exact sums
There exist formulas for calculating the exact sum of certain series. Sometimes
even innite series can be calculated exactly.
The sum of the geometric series of length n is:
n

k=0
r
k
= 1 + r + r
2
+ + r
n
=
1 r
n+1
1 r
.
If [r[ < 1, we can take the limit as n in the above expression to
obtain:

k=0
r
k
=
1
1 r
.
The sum of the rst N + 1 terms in arithmetic progression is given by:
N

n=0
(a
0
+ nd) = a
0
(N + 1) +
N(N + 1)
2
d.
We have the following closed form expression involving the rst N integers:
N

k=1
k =
N(N + 1)
2
,
N

k=1
k
2
=
N(N + 1)(2N + 1)
6
.
Other series which have exact formulas for their sum are the p-series with
even values of p:

n=1
1
n
2
=

2
6
,

n=1
1
n
4
=

4
90
,

n=1
1
n
6
=

6
945
.
353
Series
These series are computed by Eulers method.
Other closed form sums:

n=1
(1)
n+1
n
2
=

2
12
,

n=1
(1)
n+1
n
= ln(2),

n=1
1
4n
2
1
=
1
2
,

n=1
1
(2n 1)
2
=

2
8
,

n=1
(1)
n+1
(2n 1)
3
=

3
32
,

n=1
1
(2n 1)
4
=

4
96
.
Convergence and divergence of series
Even when we cannot compute an exact expression for the sum of a series it
is very important to distinguish series that converge from series that do not
converge. A great deal of what you need to know about series is dierent tests
you can perform on a series in order to check whether it converges or diverges.
Note that convergence of a series is not the same as convergence of the
underlying sequence a
i
. Consider the sequence of partial sums S
n
=

n
i=0
a
i
:
S
0
, S
1
, S
2
, S
3
, . . . ,
where each of these corresponds to
a
0
, a
0
+ a
1
, a
0
+ a
1
+ a
2
, a
0
+ a
1
+ a
2
+ a
3
, . . . .
We say that the series

a
i
converges if the sequence of partial sums S
n
converges to some limit L:
lim
n
S
n
= L.
As with all limits, the above statement means that for any precision > 0,
there exists an appropriate number of terms to take in the series N

, such that
[S
n
L[ < , for all n N

.
354
Series
Sequence convergence test
The only way the partial sums will converge is if the entries in the sequences
a
n
tend to zero for large n. This observation gives us a simple series divergence
test. If lim
n
a
n
,= 0 then

n
a
n
diverges. How could an innite sum of non-zero
quantities add up to a nite number?
Absolute convergence
If

n
[a
n
[ converges,

n
a
n
also converges. The opposite is not necessarily true,
since the convergence of a
n
might be due to some negative terms cancelling
with the positive ones.
A sequence a
n
for which

n
[a
n
[ converges is called absolutely convergent.
A sequence b
n
for which

n
b
n
converges, but

n
[b
n
[ diverges is called condi-
tionally convergent.
Decreasing alternating sequences
An alternating series of which the absolute values of the terms are decreasing
and go to zero converges.
p-series
The series

n=1
1
n
p
converges if p > 1 and diverges if p 1.
Limit comparison test
Suppose lim
n
a
n
b
n
= p, then the following is true:
if p > 0 then

n
a
n
and

n
b
n
either both converge or both diverge.
if p = 0 holds: if

n
b
n
converges, then

n
a
n
also converges.
355
Series
n-th root test
If L is dened by L = lim
n
n
_
[a
n
[ then

n
a
n
diverges if L > 1 and converges
if L < 1. If L = 1 the test is inconclusive.
Ratio test
L = lim
n

a
n+1
a
n

, then is

n
a
n
diverges if L > 1 and converges if L < 1. If
L = 1 the test is inconclusive.
Radius of convergence for power series
In a power series a
n
= c
n
x
n
, the nth term is multiplied by the nth power of
x. For such series, the convergence or divergence of the series depends on the
choice of the variable x.
The radius of convergence of

n
c
n
is given by:
1

= lim
n
n
_
[c
n
[ =
lim
n

c
n+1
c
n

. For all < x < the series a

n
converges.
Integral test
If
_

a
f(x)dx < , then

n
f(n) converges.
Taylor series
The Taylor series approximation to the function sin(x) to the 9th power of x
is given by
sin(x) x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!

x
7
7!
+
x
9
9!
.
356
Series
If we want to get rid of the approximate sign, we have to take innitely many
terms in the series:
sin(x) =

n=0
(1)
n
x
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
= x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!

x
7
7!
+
x
9
9!

x
11
11!
+ . . . .
This kind of formula is known as a Taylor series approximation. The Taylor
series of a function f(x) around the point a is given by:
f(x) = f(a) + f

(a)(x a) +
f

(a)
2!
(x a)
2
+
f

(a)
3!
(x a)
3
+
=

n=0
f
(n)
(a)
n!
(x a)
n
.
The McLaurin series of f(x) is the Taylor series expanded at a = 0:
f(x) = f(0) + f

(0)x +
f

(0)
2!
x
2
+
f

(0)
3!
x
3
+ . . .
=

n=0
f
(n)
(0)
n!
x
n
.
Taylor series of some common functions:
cos(x) = 1
x
2
2
+
x
4
4!

x
6
6!
+
x
8
8!
+ . . .
e
x
= 1 + x +
x
2
2
+
x
3
3!
+
x
4
4!
+
x
5
5!
+ . . .
ln(x + 1) = x
x
2
2
+
x
3
3

x
4
4
+
x
5
5

x
6
6
+ . . .
cosh(x) = 1 +
x
2
2
+
x
4
4!
+
x
6
6!
+
x
8
8!
+
x
10
10!
+ . . .
sinh(x) = x +
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!
+
x
7
7!
+
x
9
9!
+
x
11
11!
+ . . .
Note the similarity in the Taylor series of sin, cos and sinh and cosh. The
formulas are the same, but the hyperbolic version do not alternate.
357
Series
Explanations
Taylor series
The names Taylor series and McLaurin series are used interchangeably. An-
other synonym for the same concept is a power series. Indeed, we are talking
about a polynomial approximation with coecients a
n
=
f
(n)
(0)
n!
in front of
dierent powers of x.
If you remember your derivative rules correctly, you can calculate the
McLaurin series of any function simply by writing down a power series a
0
+
a
1
x+a
2
x
2
+. . . taking as the coecients a
n
the value of the nth derivative di-
vided by the appropriate factorial. The more terms in the series you compute,
the more accurate your approximation is going to get.
The zeroth order approximation to a function is
f(x) f(0).
It is not very accurate in general, but at least it is correct at x = 0.
The best linear approximation to f(x) is its tangent T(x), which is a line
that passes through the point (0, f(0)) and has slope equal to f

(0). Indeed,
this is exactly what the rst order Taylor series formula tells us to compute.
The coecient in front of x in the Taylor series is obtained by rst calculating
f

(x) and then evaluating it at x = 0:

f(x) f(0) + f

(0)x = T(x).
To nd the best quadratic approximation to f(x), we nd the second deriva-
tive f

(x). The coecient in front of the x

2
term will be f

(0) divided by
2! = 2:
f(x) f(0) + f

(0)x +
f

(0)
2!
x
2
.
If we continue like this we will get the whole Taylor series of the function
f(x). At step n, the coecient will be proportional to the nth derivative
of f(x) and the resulting nth degree approximation is going to imitate the
function in its behaviour up the nth derivative.
358
Series
Proof of the sum of the geometric series
We are looking for the sum S given by:
S =
n

k=0
r
k
= 1 + r + r
2
+ r
3
+ + r
n
.
Observe that there is a self similar pattern in the expanded summation S where
each term to the right has an additional power of r. The eects of multiplying
by r will therefore to shift all the terms of the series:
rS = r
n

k=0
r
k
= r + r
2
+ r
3
+ + r
n
+ r
n+1
,
we can further add one to both sides to obtain
1 + rS = 1 + r + r
2
+ r
3
+ + r
n
. .
S
+r
n+1
= S + r
n+1
.
Note how the sum S appears as the rst part of the expression on the right
hand side. The resulting equation is quite simple: 1 + rS = S + r
n+1
. Since
we wanted to nd S, we just isolate all the S terms to one side:
1 r
n+1
= S rS = S(1 r),
and then solve for S to obtain S =
1r
n+1
1r
. Neat no? This is what math is
all about, when you see some structure you can exploit to solve complicated
things in just a few lines.
Examples
An innite series Compute the sum of the innite series

n=0
1
N + 1
_
N
N + 1
_
n
.
359
Series
This may appear complicated, but only until you recognize that this is a type
of geometric series

ar
n
, where a =
1
N+1
and r =
N
N+1
:

n=0
1
N + 1
_
N
N + 1
_
n
=

n=0
ar
n
=
a
1 r
=
1
N + 1
1
1
N
N+1
= 1.
Calculator How does a calculator compute sin(40

) = 0.6427876097 to ten
decimal places? Clearly it must be something simple with addition and mul-
tiplication, since even the cheapest scientic calculators can calculate that
number for you.
The trick is to use the Taylor series approximation of sin(x):
sin(x) = x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!

x
7
7!
+
x
9
9!
+ . . . =

n=0
(1)
n
x
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
.
To calculate sin of 40 degrees we just compute the sum of the series on
the right with x replaced by 40 degrees (expressed in radians). In theory, we
need to sum innitely many terms to satisfy the equality, but in practice you
calculator will only have to sum the rst seven terms in the series in order
to get an accuracy of 10 digits after the decimal. In other words, the series
converges very quickly.
Let me show you how this is done in Python. First we define the function
for the n
th
term:
a
n
(x) =
(1)
n
x
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
>>> def axn_sin(x,n): return (-1)**n*1.0/factorial(2*n+1)*x**(2*n+1)
Next we convert 40

to radians:
>>> forti = (40*pi/180).evalf()
0.698131700797732 # 40 degrees in radians
These are the rst 10 coecients in the series:
360
Series
>>> [ axn_sin( forti ,n) for n in range(0,10) ]
[(0, 0.69813170079773179), # the values of a_n for Taylor(sin(40))
(1, -0.056710153964883062),
(2, 0.0013819920621191727),
(3, -1.6037289757274478e-05),
(4, 1.0856084058295026e-07),
(5, -4.8101124579279279e-10),
(6, 1.5028144059670851e-12),
(7, -3.4878738801065803e-15),
(8, 6.2498067170560129e-18),
(9, -8.9066666494280343e-21)]
To compute sin(40

) we sum together all the terms:

>>> sum( [ axn_sin( forti ,n) for n in range(0,10) ] )
0.642787609686539 # the Taylor approximation value
>>> sin(forti).evalf()
0.642787609686539 # the true value of sin(40)
Discussion
You can think of the Taylor series as similarity coecients between f(x) and
the dierent powers of x. By choosing the coecients as we have a
n
=
f
(n)
(?)
n!
,
we guarantee that Taylor series approximation and the real function f(x) will
have identical derivatives. For a McLaurin series the similarity between f(x)
and its power series representation is measured at the origin where x = 0, so
the coecients are chosen as a
n
=
f
(n)
(0)
n!
. The more general Taylor series allow
us to build an approximation to f(x) around any point x
o
, so the similarity
coecients are calcualted to match the derivatives at that point: a
n
=
f
(n)
(x
o
)
n!
.
Another way of looking at the Taylor series is to imagine that it is a kind
of X-ray picture for each function f(x). The zeroth coecient a
0
in the power
series tells you how much of the constant function there is in f(x). The rst
361
Series
coecient, a
1
, tells you how much of the linear function x there is in f, the
coecient a
2
tells you about the x
2
contents of f, and so on and so forth.
Now get ready for some crazy shit. Using your new found X-ray vision
for functions, I want you to go and take a careful look at the power series for
sin(x), cos(x) and e
x
. As you will observe, it is as if e
x
contains both sin(x)
and cos(x), except for the alternating negative signs. How about that? This is
a sign that these three functions are somehow related in a deeper mathematical
sense: recall Eulers formula.
Exercises
Derivative of a series Show that

n=0
1
N + 1
_
N
N + 1
_
n
n = N.
Hint: take the derivative with respect to r on both sides of formula for the
geometric series.
362
Calculus exercises
6.21 Calculus exercises
Calculus hasnt changed much in the last hundred years. The exercises from
the book Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus Phillips Thompson (originally
published
1
in 1910) are equally pertinent and interesting as they were one
hundred years ago.
Exercises I. (See p. 391 for Answers.)
Dierentiate the following:
(1) y = x
13
(2) y = x

3
2
(3) y = x
2a
(4) u = t
2.4
(5) z =
3

u (6) y =
3

x
5
(7) u =
5
_
1
x
8
(8) y = 2x
a
(9) y =
q

x
3
(10) y =
n
_
1
x
m
Exercises II. (See p. 391 for Answers.)
Dierentiate the following:
(1) y = ax
3
+ 6. (2) y = 13x
3
2
c.
(3) y = 12x
1
2
+ c
1
2
. (4) y = c
1
2
x
1
2
.
(5) u =
az
n
1
c
.
(6) y = 1.18t
2
+ 22.4.
1
Full text is available here: http://bit.ly/tMEtLE The text is in the public domain.
363
Calculus exercises
(7) If l
t
and l
0
be the lengths of a rod of iron at the temperatures t

C. and
0

C. respectively, then l
t
= l
0
(1+0.000012t). Find the change of length of the
rod per degree Centigrade.
(8) It has been found that if c be the candle power of an incandescent
electric lamp, and V be the voltage, c = aV
b
, where a and b are constants.
Find the rate of change of the candle power with the voltage, and calculate
the change of candle power per volt at 80, 100 and 120 volts in the case of a
lamp for which a = 0.5 10
10
and b = 6.
(9) The frequency n of vibration of a string of diameter D, length L and
specic gravity , stretched with a force T, is given by
n =
1
DL
_
gT

.
Find the rate of change of the frequency when D, L, and T are varied
singly.
(10) The greatest external pressure P which a tube can support without
collapsing is given by
P =
_
2E
1
2
_
t
3
D
3
,
where E and are constants, t is the thickness of the tube and D is its diameter.
(This formula assumes that 4t is small compared to D.)
Compare the rate at which P varies for a small change of thickness and for
a small change of diameter taking place separately.
(11) Find, from rst principles, the rate at which the following vary with
respect to a change in radius:
(a) the circumference of a circle of radius r;
(b) the area of a circle of radius r;
(c) the lateral area of a cone of slant dimension l;
(d) the volume of a cone of radius r and height h;
364
Calculus exercises
(e) the area of a sphere of radius r;
(f ) the volume of a sphere of radius r.
(12) The length L of an iron rod at the temperature T being given by
L = l
t
_
1 + 0.000012(T t)

, where l
t
is the length at the temperature t, nd
the rate of variation of the diameter D of an iron tyre suitable for being shrunk
on a wheel, when the temperature T varies.
Exercises III. (See the Answers on p. 392.)
(1) Dierentiate
(a) u = 1 + x +
x
2
1 2
+
x
3
1 2 3
+ .
(b) y = ax
2
+ bx + c. (c) y = (x + a)
2
.
(d) y = (x + a)
3
.
(2) If w = at
1
2
bt
2
, nd
dw
dt
.
(3) Find the dierential coecient of
y = (x +

1) (x

1).
(4) Dierentiate
y = (197x 34x
2
) (7 + 22x 83x
3
).
(5) If x = (y + 3) (y + 5), nd
dx
dy
.
(6) Dierentiate y = 1.3709x (112.6 + 45.202x
2
).
Find the dierential coecients of
365
Calculus exercises
(7) y =
2x + 3
3x + 2
.
(8) y =
1 + x + 2x
2
+ 3x
3
1 + x + 2x
2
.
(9) y =
ax + b
cx + d
. (10) y =
x
n
+ a
x
n
+ b
.
(11) The temperature t of the lament of an incandescent electric lamp is
connected to the current passing through the lamp by the relation
C = a + bt + ct
2
.
Find an expression giving the variation of the current corresponding to a
variation of temperature.
(12) The following formulae have been proposed to express the relation be-
tween the electric resistance R of a wire at the temperature t

C., and the

resistance R
0
of that same wire at 0

Centigrade, a, b, c being constants.

R = R
0
(1 + at + bt
2
).
R = R
0
(1 + at + b

t).
R = R
0
(1 + at + bt
2
)
1
.
Find the rate of variation of the resistance with regard to temperature as
given by each of these formulae.
(13) The electromotive-force E of a certain type of standard cell has been
found to vary with the temperature t according to the relation
E = 1.4340
_
1 0.000814(t 15) + 0.000007(t 15)
2

volts.
Find the change of electromotive-force per degree, at 15

, 20

and 25

.
(14) The electromotive-force necessary to maintain an electric arc of length l
with a current of intensity i has been found by Mrs. Ayrton to be
E = a + bl +
c + kl
i
,
366
Calculus exercises
where a, b, c, k are constants.
Find an expression for the variation of the electromotive-force (a) with
regard to the length of the arc; (b) with regard to the strength of the current.
Exercises IV. (See page 392 for Answers.)
Find
dy
dx
and
d
2
y
dx
2
for the following expressions:
(1) y = 17x + 12x
2
.
(2) y =
x
2
+ a
x + a
.
(3) y = 1 +
x
1
+
x
2
1 2
+
x
3
1 2 3
+
x
4
1 2 3 4
.
(4) Find the 2nd and 3rd derived functions in the Exercises III. (p. 365),
No. 1 to No. 7.
Exercises V. (See page 393 for Answers.)
(1) If y = a + bt
2
+ ct
4
; nd
dy
dt
and
d
2
y
dt
2
.
Ans.
dy
dt
= 2bt + 4ct
3
;
d
2
y
dt
2
= 2b + 12ct
2
.
(2) A body falling freely in space describes in t seconds a space s, in feet,
expressed by the equation s = 16t
2
. Draw a curve showing the relation between
s and t. Also determine the velocity of the body at the following times from
its being let drop: t = 2 seconds; t = 4.6 seconds; t = 0.01 second.
(3) If x = at
1
2
gt
2
; nd x and x.
(4) If a body move according to the law
s = 12 4.5t + 6.2t
2
,
nd its velocity when t = 4 seconds; s being in feet.
367
Calculus exercises
(5) Find the acceleration of the body mentioned in the preceding example.
Is the acceleration the same for all values of t?
(6) The angle (in radians) turned through by a revolving wheel is con-
nected with the time t (in seconds) that has elapsed since starting; by the
law
= 2.1 3.2t + 4.8t
2
.
Find the angular velocity (in radians per second) of that wheel when 1
1
2
sec-
onds have elapsed. Find also its angular acceleration.
(7) A slider moves so that, during the rst part of its motion, its distance s
in inches from its starting point is given by the expression
s = 6.8t
3
10.8t; t being in seconds.
Find the expression for the velocity and the acceleration at any time; and
hence nd the velocity and the acceleration after 3 seconds.
(8) The motion of a rising balloon is such that its height h, in miles, is given
at any instant by the expression h = 0.5 +
1
10
3

t 125; t being in seconds.

Find an expression for the velocity and the acceleration at any time. Draw
curves to show the variation of height, velocity and acceleration during the
rst ten minutes of the ascent.
(9) A stone is thrown downwards into water and its depth p in metres at
any instant t seconds after reaching the surface of the water is given by the
expression
p =
4
4 + t
2
+ 0.8t 1.
Find an expression for the velocity and the acceleration at any time. Find
the velocity and acceleration after 10 seconds.
(10) A body moves in such a way that the spaces described in the time t
from starting is given by s = t
n
, where n is a constant. Find the value of n
when the velocity is doubled from the 5th to the 10th second; nd it also
368
Calculus exercises
when the velocity is numerically equal to the acceleration at the end of the
10th second.
Exercises VI. (See page 393 for Answers.)
Dierentiate the following:
(1) y =

x
2
+ 1. (2) y =

x
2
+ a
2
.
(3) y =
1

a + x
.
(4) y =
a

a x
2
.
(5) y =

x
2
a
2
x
2
. (6) y =
3

x
4
+ a
2

x
3
+ a
.
(7) y =
a
2
+ x
2
(a + x)
2
.
(8) Dierentiate y
5
with respect to y
2
.
(9) Dierentiate y =

1
2
1
.
Exercises VII. You can now successfully try the following. (See page 394
for Answers.)
(1) If u =
1
2
x
3
; v = 3(u + u
2
); and w =
1
v
2
, nd
dw
dx
.
(2) If y = 3x
2
+

2; z =

1 + y; and v =
1

3 + 4z
, nd
dv
dx
.
(3) If y =
x
3

3
; z = (1 + y)
2
; and u =
1

1 + z
, nd
du
dx
.
369
Calculus exercises
Exercises VIII. (See page 395 for Answers.)
(1) Plot the curve y =
3
4
x
2
5, using a scale of millimetres. Measure at
points corresponding to dierent values of x, the angle of its slope.
Find, by dierentiating the equation, the expression for slope; and see, from
a Table of Natural Tangents, whether this agrees with the measured angle.
(2) Find what will be the slope of the curve
y = 0.12x
3
2,
at the particular point that has as abscissa x = 2.
(3) If y = (x a)(x b), show that at the particular point of the curve
where
dy
dx
= 0, x will have the value
1
2
(a + b).
(4) Find the
dy
dx
of the equation y = x
3
+ 3x; and calculate the numerical
values of
dy
dx
for the points corresponding to x = 0, x =
1
2
, x = 1, x = 2.
(5) In the curve to which the equation is x
2
+ y
2
= 4, nd the values of x
at those points where the slope = 1.
(6) Find the slope, at any point, of the curve whose equation is
x
2
3
2
+
y
2
2
2
= 1;
and give the numerical value of the slope at the place where x = 0, and at that
where x = 1.
(7) The equation of a tangent to the curve y = 5 2x +0.5x
3
, being of the
form y = mx + n, where m and n are constants, nd the value of m and n if
the point where the tangent touches the curve has x = 2 for abscissa.
(8) At what angle do the two curves
y = 3.5x
2
+ 2 and y = x
2
5x + 9.5
cut one another?
370
Calculus exercises
(9) Tangents to the curve y =

25 x
2
are drawn at points for which
x = 3 and x = 4. Find the coordinates of the point of intersection of the
tangents and their mutual inclination.
(10) A straight line y = 2x b touches a curve y = 3x
2
+ 2 at one point.
What are the coordinates of the point of contact, and what is the value of b?
Exercises IX. (See page 395 for Answers.)
(1) What values of x will make y a maximum and a minimum, if y =
x
2
x + 1
?
(2) What value of x will make y a maximum in the equation y =
x
a
2
+ x
2
?
(3) A line of length p is to be cut up into 4 parts and put together as a
rectangle. Show that the area of the rectangle will be a maximum if each of
its sides is equal to
1
4
p.
(4) A piece of string 30 inches long has its two ends joined together and is
stretched by 3 pegs so as to form a triangle. What is the largest triangular
area that can be enclosed by the string?
(5) Plot the curve corresponding to the equation
y =
10
x
+
10
8 x
;
also nd
dy
dx
, and deduce the value of x that will make y a minimum; and nd
that minimum value of y.
(6) If y = x
5
5x, nd what values of x will make y a maximum or a
minimum.
(7) What is the smallest square that can be inscribed in a given square?
(8) Inscribe in a given cone, the height of which is equal to the radius of
the base, a cylinder (a) whose volume is a maximum; (b) whose lateral area is
a maximum; (c) whose total area is a maximum.
371
Calculus exercises
(9) Inscribe in a sphere, a cylinder (a) whose volume is a maximum;
(b) whose lateral area is a maximum; (c) whose total area is a maximum.
(10) A spherical balloon is increasing in volume. If, when its radius is r feet,
its volume is increasing at the rate of 4 cubic feet per second, at what rate is
its surface then increasing?
(11) Inscribe in a given sphere a cone whose volume is a maximum.
(12) The current C given by a battery of N similar voltaic cells is C =
n E
R +
rn
2
N
, where E, R, r, are constants and n is the number of cells coupled in
series. Find the proportion of n to N for which the current is greatest.
Exercises X. (You are advised to plot the graph of any numerical exam-
ple.) (See p. 396 for the Answers.)
(1) Find the maxima and minima of
y = x
3
+ x
2
10x + 8.
(2) Given y =
b
a
x cx
2
, nd expressions for
dy
dx
, and for
d
2
y
dx
2
, also nd the
value of x which makes y a maximum or a minimum, and show whether it is
maximum or minimum.
(3) Find how many maxima and how many minima there are in the curve,
the equation to which is
y = 1
x
2
2
+
x
4
24
;
and how many in that of which the equation is
y = 1
x
2
2
+
x
4
24

x
6
720
.
372
Calculus exercises
(4) Find the maxima and minima of
y = 2x + 1 +
5
x
2
.
(5) Find the maxima and minima of
y =
3
x
2
+ x + 1
.
(6) Find the maxima and minima of
y =
5x
2 + x
2
.
(7) Find the maxima and minima of
y =
3x
x
2
3
+
x
2
+ 5.
(8) Divide a number N into two parts in such a way that three times the
square of one part plus twice the square of the other part shall be a minimum.
(9) The eciency u of an electric generator at dierent values of output x
is expressed by the general equation:
u =
x
a + bx + cx
2
;
where a is a constant depending chiey on the energy losses in the iron and
c a constant depending chiey on the resistance of the copper parts. Find
an expression for that value of the output at which the eciency will be a
maximum.
(10) Suppose it to be known that consumption of coal by a certain steamer
may be represented by the formula y = 0.3+0.001v
3
; where y is the number of
tons of coal burned per hour and v is the speed expressed in nautical miles per
hour. The cost of wages, interest on capital, and depreciation of that ship are
together equal, per hour, to the cost of 1 ton of coal. What speed will make
the total cost of a voyage of 1000 nautical miles a minimum? And, if coal costs
10 shillings per ton, what will that minimum cost of the voyage amount to?
373
Calculus exercises
(11) Find the maxima and minima of
y =
x
6
_
x(10 x).
(12) Find the maxima and minima of
y = 4x
3
x
2
2x + 1.
Exercises XI. (See page 396 for Answers.)
Split into fractions:
(1)
3x + 5
(x 3)(x + 4)
. (2)
3x 4
(x 1)(x 2)
.
(3)
3x + 5
x
2
+ x 12
. (4)
x + 1
x
2
7x + 12
.
(5)
x 8
(2x + 3)(3x 2)
.
(6)
x
2
13x + 26
(x 2)(x 3)(x 4)
.
(7)
x
2
3x + 1
(x 1)(x + 2)(x 3)
.
(8)
5x
2
+ 7x + 1
(2x + 1)(3x 2)(3x + 1)
.
(9)
x
2
x
3
1
. (10)
x
4
+ 1
x
3
+ 1
.
(11)
5x
2
+ 6x + 4
(x + 1)(x
2
+ x + 1)
.
(12)
x
(x 1)(x 2)
2
.
(13)
x
(x
2
1)(x + 1)
.
(14)
x + 3
(x + 2)
2
(x 1)
.
374
Calculus exercises
(15)
3x
2
+ 2x + 1
(x + 2)(x
2
+ x + 1)
2
. (16)
5x
2
+ 8x 12
(x + 4)
3
.
(17)
7x
2
+ 9x 1
(3x 2)
4
. (18)
x
2
(x
3
8)(x 2)
.
Exercises XII. (See page 397 for Answers.)
(1) Dierentiate y = b(e
ax
e
ax
).
(2) Find the dierential coecient with respect to t of the expression u =
at
2
+ 2 ln t.
(3) If y = n
t
, nd
d(ln y)
dt
.
(4) Show that if y =
1
b

a
bx
ln a
,
dy
dx
= a
bx
.
(5) If w = pv
n
, nd
dw
dv
.
Dierentiate
(6) y = ln x
n
. (7) y = 3e

x
x1
.
(8) y = (3x
2
+ 1)e
5x
. (9) y = ln(x
a
+ a).
(10) y = (3x
2
1)(

x + 1).
(11) y =
ln(x + 3)
x + 3
.
(12) y = a
x
x
a
.
(13) It was shown by Lord Kelvin that the speed of signalling through a
submarine cable depends on the value of the ratio of the external diameter of
the core to the diameter of the enclosed copper wire. If this ratio is called y,
375
Calculus exercises
then the number of signals s that can be sent per minute can be expressed by
the formula
s = ay
2
ln
1
y
;
where a is a constant depending on the length and the quality of the materials.
Show that if these are given, s will be a maximum if y = 1/

e.
(14) Find the maximum or minimum of
y = x
3
ln x.
(15) Dierentiate y = ln(axe
x
).
(16) Dierentiate y = (ln ax)
3
.
Exercises XIII. (See page 398 for Answers.)
(1) Draw the curve y = be

t
T
; where b = 12, T = 8, and t is given various
values from 0 to 20.
(2) If a hot body cools so that in 24 minutes its excess of temperature has
fallen to half the initial amount, deduce the time-constant, and nd how long
it will be in cooling down to 1 per cent. of the original excess.
(3) Plot the curve y = 100(1 e
2t
).
(4) The following equations give very similar curves:
(i) y =
ax
x + b
;
(ii) y = a(1 e

x
b
);
(iii) y =
a
90

arc tan
_
x
b
_
.
Draw all three curves, taking a = 100 millimetres; b = 30 millimetres.
(5) Find the dierential coecient of y with respect to x, if
(a) y = x
x
; (b) y = (e
x
)
x
; (c) y = e
x
x
.
376
Calculus exercises
(6) For Thorium A, the value of is 5; nd the mean life, that is, the
time taken by the transformation of a quantity Q of Thorium A equal to
half the initial quantity Q
0
in the expression
Q = Q
0
e
t
;
t being in seconds.
(7) A condenser of capacitance C = 4 10
6
, charged to a potential V
0
= 20,
is discharging through a resistance of 10, 000 ohms. Find the potential V after
(a) 0.1 second; (b) 0.01 second; assuming that the fall of potential follows the
rule V = V
0
e

t
KR
.
(8) The charge Q of an electried insulated metal sphere is reduced from
20 to 16 units in 10 minutes. Find the coecient of leakage, if Q = Q
0
e
t
;
Q
0
being the initial charge and t being in seconds. Hence nd the time taken
by half the charge to leak away.
(9) The damping on a telephone line can be ascertained from the relation
i = i
0
e
l
, where i is the strength, after t seconds, of a telephonic current of
initial strength i
0
; l is the length of the line in kilometres, and is a constant.
For the Franco-English submarine cable laid in 1910, = 0.0114. Find the
damping at the end of the cable (40 kilometres), and the length along which
i is still 8% of the original current (limiting value of very good audition).
(10) The pressure p of the atmosphere at an altitude h kilometres is given
by p = p
0
e
kh
; p
0
being the pressure at sea-level (760 millimetres).
The pressures at 10, 20 and 50 kilometres being 199.2, 42.2, 0.32 respec-
tively, nd k in each case. Using the mean value of k, nd the percentage error
in each case.
(11) Find the minimum or maximum of y = x
x
.
(12) Find the minimum or maximum of y = x
1
x
.
(13) Find the minimum or maximum of y = xa
1
x
.
377
Calculus exercises
Exercises XIV. (See page 399 for Answers.)
(1) Dierentiate the following:
(i) y = Asin
_


2
_
.
(ii) y = sin
2
; and y = sin 2.
(iii) y = sin
3
; and y = sin 3.
(2) Find the value of for which sin cos is a maximum.
(3) Dierentiate y =
1
2
cos 2nt.
(4) If y = sin a
x
, nd
dy
dx
.
(5) Dierentiate y = ln cos x.
(6) Dierentiate y = 18.2 sin(x + 26

).
(7) Plot the curve y = 100 sin(15

); and show that the slope of the curve

at = 75

is half the maximum slope.

(8) If y = sin sin 2, nd
dy
d
.
(9) If y = a tan
m
(
n
), nd the dierential coecient of y with respect to .
(10) Dierentiate y = e
x
sin
2
x.
(11) Dierentiate the three equations of Exercises XIII. (p. 376), No. 4, and
compare their dierential coecients, as to whether they are equal, or nearly
equal, for very small values of x, or for very large values of x, or for values of x
in the neighbourhood of x = 30.
(12) Dierentiate the following:
(i) y = sec x. (ii) y = arc cos x.
(iii) y = arc tan x. (iv) y = arc sec x.
(v) y = tan x

3 sec x.
378
Calculus exercises
(13) Dierentiate y = sin(2 + 3)
2.3
.
(14) Dierentiate y =
3
+ 3 sin( + 3) 3
sin
3

.
(15) Find the maximum or minimum of y = cos .
Exercises XVI. (See page 400 for Answers.)
(1) Find the ultimate sum of
2
3
+
1
3
+
1
6
+
1
12
+
1
24
+ etc.
(2) Show that the series 1
1
2
+
1
3

1
4
+
1
5

1
6
+
1
7
etc., is convergent, and
nd its sum to 8 terms.
(3) If ln(1 + x) = x
x
2
2
+
x
3
3

x
4
4
+ etc., nd ln 1.3.
(4) Following a reasoning similar to that explained in this chapter, nd y,
(a) if
dy
dx
=
1
4
x; (b) if
dy
dx
= cos x.
(5) If
dy
dx
= 2x + 3, nd y.
Exercises XVII. (See p. 400 for the Answers.)
(1) Find
_
y dx when y
2
= 4ax.
(2) Find
_
3
x
4
dx. (3) Find
_
1
a
x
3
dx.
(4) Find
_
(x
2
+ a) dx.
(5) Integrate 5x

7
2
.
(6) Find
_
(4x
3
+ 3x
2
+ 2x + 1) dx.
(7) If
dy
dx
=
ax
2
+
bx
2
3
+
cx
3
4
; nd y.
379
Calculus exercises
(8) Find
_ _
x
2
+ a
x + a
_
dx.
(9) Find
_
(x + 3)
3
dx.
(10) Find
_
(x + 2)(x a) dx.
(11) Find
_
(

x +
3

x)3a
2
dx.
(12) Find
_
(sin
1
2
)
d
3
.
(13) Find
_
cos
2
a d. (14) Find
_
sin
2
d.
(15) Find
_
sin
2
a d. (16) Find
_

3x
dx.
(17) Find
_
1
1 + x
dx. (18) Find
_
1 x
dx.
Exercises XVIII. (See p. 401 for Answers.)
(1) Find the area of the curve y = x
2
+ x 5 between x = 0 and x = 6,
and the mean ordinates between these limits.
(2) Find the area of the parabola y = 2a

x between x = 0 and x = a.
Show that it is two-thirds of the rectangle of the limiting ordinate and of its
abscissa.
(3) Find the area of the positive portion of a sine curve and the mean
ordinate.
(4) Find the area of the positive portion of the curve y = sin
2
x, and nd
the mean ordinate.
(5) Find the area included between the two branches of the curve y = x
2
x
5
2
from x = 0 to x = 1, also the area of the positive portion of the lower branch
of the curve.
380
Calculus exercises
(6) Find the volume of a cone of radius of base r, and of height h.
(7) Find the area of the curve y = x
3
ln x between x = 0 and x = 1.
(8) Find the volume generated by the curve y =

1 + x
2
, as it revolves
about the axis of x, between x = 0 and x = 4.
(9) Find the volume generated by a sine curve revolving about the axis of x.
Find also the area of its surface.
(10) Find the area of the portion of the curve xy = a included between
x = 1 and x = a. Find the mean ordinate between these limits.
(11) Show that the quadratic mean of the function y = sin x, between the
limits of 0 and radians, is

2
2
. Find also the arithmetical mean of the same
function between the same limits; and show that the form-factor is = 1.11.
(12) Find the arithmetical and quadratic means of the function x
2
+3x+2,
from x = 0 to x = 3.
(13) Find the quadratic mean and the arithmetical mean of the function
y = A
1
sin x + A
1
sin 3x.
(14) A certain curve has the equation y = 3.42e
0.21x
. Find the area included
between the curve and the axis of x, from the ordinate at x = 2 to the ordinate
at x = 8. Find also the height of the mean ordinate of the curve between these
points.
(15) Show that the radius of a circle, the area of which is twice the area of
a polar diagram, is equal to the quadratic mean of all the values of r for that
polar diagram.
(16) Find the volume generated by the curve y =
x
6
_
x(10 x) rotating
about the axis of x.
Exercises XIX. (See p. 403 for Answers.)
381
Calculus exercises
(1) Find
_

a
2
x
2
dx. (2) Find
_
x ln x dx.
(3) Find
_
x
a
ln x dx. (4) Find
_
e
x
cos e
x
dx.
(5) Find
_
1
x
cos(ln x) dx. (6) Find
_
x
2
e
x
dx.
(7) Find
_
(ln x)
a
x
dx.
(8) Find
_
1
x ln x
dx.
(9) Find
_
5x + 1
x
2
+ x 2
dx.
(10) Find
_
(x
2
3)
x
3
7x + 6
dx.
(11) Find
_
b
x
2
a
2
dx. (12) Find
_
4x
x
4
1
dx.
(13) Find
_
1
1 x
4
dx. (14) Find
_
1
x

a bx
2
dx.
382
End matter
Conclusion
I would like to go on telling you about other math and physics stu, but at
some point we have to take a brake. This time is now.
We managed to cover a lot of ground in terms of topics and concepts in a
relatively small textbook. We reviewed high school math and discussed calculus
and mechanics in depth. Above all, we presented the math and physics material
in an integrated manner.
It will sound a little cheesy, but it is the truth so I will go ahead and
say it. I am writing this book for you so if you liked/hated it, be sure
to send me feedback. Feedback is very important for me so I know how to
adjust the writing, the content and the attitude in the book. Please take the
time to drop me a line and let me know what you think about this book.
My email address is: ivan.savov@gmail.com. You can nd me on twitter:
http://twitter.com/minireference and facebook: http://facebook.com/
pages/Math-and-Physics-Minireference/189157377884715 .
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support and encourage-
ment of the people around me. I have been fortunate enough to grow up
surrounded by good people who knew the value of math and encouraged me
in my studies and with this project. In this section, I want to big up all the
383
Calculus exercises
people who deserve it.
First and foremost in this list are my parents who brought me up well,
educated me and taught me how to think critically.
Next in line are all my teachers. I want to thank my CEGEP teachers:
Karnig Bedrossian from whom I learned calculus, Paul Kenton from whom I
leaned how to think about physics in a chill manner and Benoit Larose who
taught me that more dimensions does not mean things get more complicated. I
want to thank Kohur GowriSankaran, Frank Ferrie, Mourad El-Gamal, Ioannis
Psaromiligkos for teaching me how to be an Engineer, Guy Moore and Zaven
Altounian who taught me a lot about advanced physics. I owe many thanks
to Patrick Hayden, David Avis and Doina Precup for their support and advice
on matters of research.
I also want to thank Igor Khavkine, Juan Pablo Di Lelle, Andie Sigler,
Omar Fawzi and Mark M. Wilde for teaching me a great many things.
Preparing this book took a lot of eort. Afton Lewis, Oleg Zhoglo and
Alexandra Foty helped me proofread early drafts and suggested many clari-
cations. Their comments and feedback were much appreciated and contributed
to make this book better.
Last but not least, I want to thank all my students for their endless ques-
tions and demands for explanations. If I have developed any skill for explaining
things, it is to them that I owe it.
Further reading
You have reached the end of this book, but you are only at the beginning of
the journey of scientic discovery. There are a lot of cool things left for you to
learn about. Below are some recommendation of subjects which you might be
interested in.
Electricity and Magnetism
Electrostatics is the study of the electric force

F
e
and the associated electric
potential U
e
. You will also learn about the electric eld

E and electric potential
384
Calculus exercises
V .
Magnetism is the study of the magnetic force

F
b
and the magnetic eld

B, which is caused by electric currents owing in wires. The current I is the

total number of electrons passing through a cross-section of the wire in one
second. By virtue of its motion through space, each electron contributes to the
strength of the magnetic eld surrounding the wire.
The beauty of electromagnetism is that the entire theory can be describes
in just four equations:

E =

0
Gausss law

B = 0 Gausss law for magnetism

E =

B
t
Faradays law of induction

B =
0

J +
0

E
t
Amp`eres circuital law
These are called Maxwells equations.
Vector calculus
You may be wondering what the triangle thing is . The symbol (nabla)
is the vector derivative operation. Guess what, you can also do calculus with
vectors.
In vector calculus you will learn about path integrals, surface integrals
and volume integrals of vector quantities. You will also learn about vector-
derivatives and two vector equivalents of the Fundamental Theorem of calculus:
Stokes Theorem:
__

F d

=
_

F dr,
which relates the integral of the curl

F of the eld

F over the surface
to the circulation of

F along the boundary of the surface .
385
Calculus exercises
Gauss Divergence Theorem:
___
V

F dV =
__
V

F d

,
which relates the integral of the divergence

F of the eld

F over the
volume V to the ux of

F through the volume boundary V.
Both of the above theorems relate the total of some derivative quantity
over some region R to the quantity on the boundary of the region R, which we
denote as R. The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus can also be interpreted
in the same manner:
_
I
F

(x) dx =
_
b
a
F

(x) dx = F
I
= F(b) F(a),
where I = [a, b] is the interval from a to b on the real line and the two points
a and b form its boundary I.
Usually only physicists and engineers have to take a vector calculus course.
Multivariable calculus
Of wider interest is the course which studies calculus with functions which have
more than one input variable. Consider as an example the function f(x, y)
which has two input variables x and y. You can plot this function as a surface,
where the height z of the function above the point (x, y) is given by the function
value z = f(x, y).
There is no new math to learn in multivariable calculus: it is just the
same stu as Calculus I (derivatives) and Calculus 2 (integrals) but with more
variables. For a function f(x, y) there will be an x-derivative

x
and a
y-derivative

y
. The operator is a combination of both the x and y
derivatives: f(x, y) = [
f
x
,
f
x
]. Note that acts on a function f(x, y) to
produce a vector. This is known as the gradient vector, which tells you the
slope of the function. More specically it tells you the direction of maximum
386
Calculus exercises
increase of the function. If you think of z = f(x, y) as the height of a mountain
at a particular (x, y) coordinates on a map then the f(x, y) always points
uphill.
If you understood derivatives and integrals well, then you should denitely
take this course (usually called Calculus III) as it is perhaps the easiest science
course you will have take.
Probability
Probability distribution are a fundamental tool for modelling non-deterministic
behaviour. A discrete random variable X is associated with a probability mass
function p
X
(x) PrX = x, which assigns a probability mass to each of
the possible outcomes x A. For example, if X represents a fair die, then the
possible outcomes are A = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the probability mass function
has the values p
X
(x) =
1
6
, x A.
Probability theory is used all over the place: statistics, machine learning,
quantum mechanics, gambling, risk analysis, etc.
General mathematics
Mathematics is a very broad eld. There are all kinds of topics to learn about:
some of them fun, some of them useful, some of them boring and some which
have been know historically to drive people insane. Like, literally.
I recently found a very interesting book which covers many topics of general
interest and serves as a great overview of the various areas of mathematics. I
highly recommend that you take a look at this book if you are interested in
math. It is written for the general audience so it is very accessible.
[BOOK] Richard Elwes. Mathematics 1001: Absolutely Everything That Mat-
ters About Mathematics in 1001 Bite-Sized Explanations, Firey Books, 2010,
ISBN 1554077192.
387
Calculus exercises
General physics
If you want to more about physics, I highly recommend the Feynman lectures
on physics. This three-tome collection covers all of undergraduate physics with
countless links to more advanced topics:
[BOOK] Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands. The Feyn-
man Lectures on Physics including Feynmans Tips on Physics: The Denitive
and Extended Edition, Addison Wesley, 2005, ISBN 0805390456.
While on the Feynman note, I want to also recommend his other book with
life stories.
[BOOK] Richard P. Feynman. Surely Youre Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Ad-
ventures of a Curious Character), W. W. Norton & Company, 1997, ISBN
0393316041.
Lagrangian mechanics
In this book we learned about Newtonian mechanics, that is, Mechanics start-
ing from Newtons laws. There is a much more general framework known as
Lagrangian mechanics which can be used to analyze more complex mechanical
systems. The following is an excellent book on the subject.
[BOOK] Herbert Goldstein, Charles P. Poole Jr., John L. Safko. Classical
Mechanics, Addison-Wesley, Third edition, 2001, ISBN 0201657023.
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics describes the physics of all things is small: photons, elec-
trons and atoms. An absolutely approachable and readable introduction to the
subject is Richard Feynmans QED book.
[BOOK] Richard P. Feynman. QED: The strange theory of light and matter.
Princeton University Press, 2006, ISBN 0691125759.
For a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics, I recommend the book
by Sakurai. If you understand linear algebra, then you can understand quan-
tum mechanics.
388
Calculus exercises
[BOOK] Jun John Sakurai. Modern Quantum Mechanics, Second Edition,
Addison-Wesley, 2010, ISBN 0805382917.
If you want to read Sakurai, it would be a good idea to rst learn about
Lagrangian mechanics from Goldstein. Goldstein followed by Sakurai is an
excellent combo.
Information theory
Claude Shannon developed a mathematical framework for studying the prob-
lems of information storage and information transmission. Using statistical no-
tions such as entropy, we can quantify the information content of data sources
and the information transmitting abilities of noisy communication channels.
We can arrive at an operational interpretation of the information carrying
capacity of a noisy communication channel in terms of our ability to convert it
into a noiseless channel. Channels with more noise have a smaller capacity for
carrying information. Consider a channel which allows us to send data at the
rate of 1MB/sec on which half of the packets sent get lost due to the eects
of noise on the channel. It is not true that the capacity of such a channel
is 1MB/sec, because we also have to account for the need to retransmit lost
packets. In order to correctly characterize the information carrying capacity
of a channel, we must consider the rate of the end-to-end code which converts
many uses of the noisy channel into an eectively noiseless communication
channel.
Channel coding is one are the fundamental problems studied in information
theory. The book by Cover and Thomas is an excellent textbook on the subject,
which I highly recommend.
[BOOK] Thomas M. Cover, Joy A. Thomas. Elements of Information Theory,
Wiley, 2006, ISBN 0471241954.
With this book, I tried to equip you with as much tools as I could, so
that the remainder of your science studies will be enjoyable and pain free.
Remember to always take it easy. Play with math and never take things too
389
Calculus exercises
seriously. Grades dont matter. Big paycheques dont matter. Never settle for
a boring job just because it is well paid. Try to work only on projects which
you care about.
I want you to be condent in your ability to handle math, physics and other
complicated stu that life will throw at you. You have the tools to do anything
you want. Choose your own adventure. And if the banks come-a-knocking one
day, oering you a big paycheque for the application of your analytical skills
to their avaricious schemes, send them-a-walking.
390
Calculus exercises
Answers to exercises
Exercises I. (p. 363.)
(1)
dy
dx
= 13x
12
. (2)
dy
dx
=
3
2
x

5
2
. (3)
dy
dx
= 2ax
(2a1)
.
(4)
du
dt
= 2.4t
1.4
. (5)
dz
du
=
1
3
u

2
3
. (6)
dy
dx
=
5
3
x

8
5
.
(7)
du
dx
=
8
5
x

13
5
. (8)
dy
dx
= 2ax
a1
.
(9)
dy
dx
=
3
q
x
3q
q
. (10)
dy
dx
=
m
n
x

m+n
n
.
Exercises II. (p. 363.)
(1)
dy
dx
= 3ax
2
. (2)
dy
dx
= 13
3
2
x
1
2
. (3)
dy
dx
= 6x

1
2
.
(4)
dy
dx
=
1
2
c
1
2
x

1
2
. (5)
du
dz
=
an
c
z
n1
. (6)
dy
dt
= 2.36t.
(7)
dl
t
dt
= 0.000012 l
0
.
(8)
dC
dV
= abV
b1
, 0.98, 3.00 and 7.47 candle power per volt respectively.
(9)
dn
dD
=
1
LD
2
_
gT

,
dn
dL
=
1
DL
2
_
gT

,
dn
d
=
1
2DL
_
gT

3
,
dn
dT
=
1
2DL
_
g
T
.
(10)
Rate of change of P when t varies
Rate of change of P when D varies
=
D
t
.
(11) 2, 2r, l,
2
3
rh, 8r, 4r
2
. (12)
dD
dT
=
0.000012l
t

.
391
Calculus exercises
Exercises III. (p. 365.)
(1) (a) 1 +x +
x
2
2
+
x
3
6
+
x
4
24
+. . . (b) 2ax +b. (c) 2x + 2a.
(d) 3x
2
+ 6ax + 3a
2
.
(2)
dw
dt
= a bt. (3)
dy
dx
= 2x.
(4) 14110x
4
65404x
3
2244x
2
+ 8192x + 1379.
(5)
dx
dy
= 2y + 8.
(6) 185.9022654x
2
+ 154.36334.
(7)
5
(3x + 2)
2
.
(8)
6x
4
+ 6x
3
+ 9x
2
(1 +x + 2x
2
)
2
.
(9)
ad bc
(cx +d)
2
.
(10)
anx
n1
+bnx
n1
+ 2nx
1
(x
n
+b)
2
.
(11) b + 2ct.
(12) R
0
(a + 2bt), R
0
_
a +
b
2

t
_
,
R
0
(a + 2bt)
(1 +at +bt
2
)
2
or
R
2
(a + 2bt)
R
0
.
(13) 1.4340(0.000014t 0.000828), 0.00117, 0.00107, 0.00097.
(14)
dE
dl
= b +
k
i
,
dE
di
=
c +kl
i
2
.
Exercises IV. (p. 367.)
(1) 17 + 24x; 24.
(2)
x
2
+ 2ax a
(x +a)
2
;
2a(a + 1)
(x +a)
3
.
(3) 1 +x +
x
2
1 2
+
x
3
1 2 3
; 1 +x +
x
2
1 2
.
392
Calculus exercises
(4) (Exercises III.):
(1) (a)
d
2
y
dx
2
=
d
3
y
dx
3
= 1 +x +
1
2
x
2
+
1
6
x
3
+. . ..
(b) 2a, 0. (c) 2, 0. (d) 6x + 6a, 6.
(2) b, 0. (3) 2, 0.
(4) 56440x
3
196212x
2
4488x + 8192.
169320x
2
392424x 4488.
(5) 2, 0. (6) 371.80453x, 371.80453.
(7)
30
(3x + 2)
3
,
270
(3x + 2)
4
.
Exercises V. (p. 367.)
(2) 64; 147.2; and 0.32 feet per second.
(3) x = a gt; x = g. (4) 45.1 feet per second.
(5) 12.4 feet per second per second. Yes.
(6) Angular velocity = 11.2 radians per second; angular acceleration = 9.6 radians
per second per second.
(7) v = 20.4t
2
10.8. a = 40.8t. 172.8 in./sec., 122.4 in./sec
2
.
(8) v =
1
30
3
_
(t 125)
2
, a =
1
45
3
_
(t 125)
5
.
(9) v = 0.8
8t
(4 +t
2
)
2
, a =
24t
2
32
(4 +t
2
)
3
, 0.7926 and 0.00211.
(10) n = 2, n = 11.
Exercises VI. (p. 369.)
393
Calculus exercises
(1)
x

x
2
+ 1
. (2)
x

x
2
+a
2
.
(3)
1
2
_
(a +x)
3
.
(4)
ax
_
(a x
2
)
3
.
(5)
2a
2
x
2
x
3

x
2
a
2
.
(6)
3
2
x
2
_
8
9
x
_
x
3
+a
_

_
x
4
+a
_
(x
4
+a)
2
3
(x
3
+a)
3
2
(7)
2a (x a)
(x +a)
3
.
(8)
5
2
y
3
.
(9)
1
(1 )

1
2
.
Exercises VII. (p. 369.)
(1)
dw
dx
=
3x
2
_
3 + 3x
3
_
27
_
1
2
x
3
+
1
4
x
6
_
3
.
(2)
dv
dx
=
12x
_
1 +

2 + 3x
2
_

3 + 4
_
1 +

2 + 3x
2
_
2
.
(3)
du
dx
=
x
2
_
3 +x
3
_

_
_
1 +
_
1 +
x
3

3
_
2
_
3
394
Calculus exercises
Exercises VIII. (p. 370.)
(2) 1.44.
(4)
dy
dx
= 3x
2
+ 3; and the numerical values are: 3, 3
3
4
, 6, and 15.
(5)

2.
(6)
dy
dx
=
4
9
x
y
. Slope is zero where x = 0; and is
1
3

2
where x = 1.
(7) m = 4, n = 3.
(8) Intersections at x = 1, x = 3. Angles 153

26

, 2

28

.
(9) Intersection at x = 3.57, y = 3.50. Angle 16

16

.
(10) x =
1
3
, y = 2
1
3
, b =
5
3
.
Exercises IX. (p. 371.)
(1) Min.: x = 0, y = 0; max.: x = 2, y = 4.
(2) x = a. (4) 25

3 square inches.
(5)
dy
dx
=
10
x
2
+
10
(8 x)
2
; x = 4; y = 5.
(6) Max. for x = 1; min. for x = 1.
(7) Join the middle points of the four sides.
(8) r =
2
3
R, r =
R
2
, no max.
(9) r = R
_
2
3
, r =
R

2
, r = 0.8506R.
(10) At the rate of
8
r
square feet per second.
395
Calculus exercises
(11) r =
R

8
3
. (12) n =
_
NR
r
.
Exercises X. (p. 372.)
(1) Max.: x = 2.19, y = 24.19; min.:, x = 1.52, y = 1.38.
(2)
dy
dx
=
b
a
2cx;
d
2
y
dx
2
= 2c; x =
b
2ac
(a maximum).
(3) (a) One maximum and two minima.
(b) One maximum. (x = 0; other points unreal.)
(4) Min.: x = 1.71, y = 6.14. (5) Max: x = .5, y = 4.
(6) Max.: x = 1.414, y = 1.7675.
Min.: x = 1.414, y = 1.7675.
(7) Max.: x = 3.565, y = 2.12.
Min.: x = +3.565, y = 7.88.
(8) 0.4N, 0.6N.
(9) x =
_
a
c
.
(10) Speed 8.66 nautical miles per hour. Time taken 115.47 hours.
Minimum cost $112. 12s.
(11) Max. and min. for x = 7.5, y = 5.414.
(12) Min.: x =
1
2
, y = 0.25; max.: x =
1
3
, y = 1.408.
Exercises XI. (p. 374.)
396
Calculus exercises
(1)
2
x 3
+
1
x + 4
. (2)
1
x 1
+
2
x 2
. (3)
2
x 3
+
1
x + 4
.
(4)
5
x 4

4
x 3
. (5)
19
13(2x + 3)

22
13(3x 2)
.
(6)
2
x 2
+
4
x 3

5
x 4
.
(7)
1
6(x 1)
+
11
15(x + 2)
+
1
10(x 3)
.
(8)
7
9(3x + 1)
+
71
63(3x 2)

5
7(2x + 1)
.
(9)
1
3(x 1)
+
2x + 1
3(x
2
+x + 1)
. (10) x +
2
3(x + 1)
+
1 2x
3(x
2
x + 1)
.
(11)
3
(x + 1)
+
2x + 1
x
2
+x + 1
. (12)
1
x 1

1
x 2
+
2
(x 2)
2
.
(13)
1
4(x 1)

1
4(x + 1)
+
1
2(x + 1)
2
.
(14)
4
9(x 1)

4
9(x + 2)

1
3(x + 2)
2
.
(15)
1
x + 2

x 1
x
2
+x + 1

1
(x
2
+x + 1)
2
.
(16)
5
x + 4

32
(x + 4)
2
+
36
(x + 4)
3
.
(17)
7
9(3x 2)
2
+
55
9(3x 2)
3
+
73
9(3x 2)
4
.
(18)
1
6(x 2)
+
1
3(x 2)
2

x
6(x
2
+ 2x + 4)
.
Exercises XII. (p. 375.)
397
Calculus exercises
(1) ab(e
ax
+e
ax
).
(2) 2at +
2
t
.
(3) lnn.
(5) npv
n1
. (6)
n
x
.
(7)
3e

x
x1
(x 1)
2
.
(8) 6xe
5x
5(3x
2
+ 1)e
5x
.
(9)
ax
a1
x
a
+a
.
(10)
_
6x
3x
2
1
+
1
2 (

x +x)
_
_
3x
2
1
_
(

x + 1).
(11)
1 ln(x + 3)
(x + 3)
2
.
(12) a
x
_
ax
a1
+x
a
lna
_
. (14) Min.: y = 0.7 for x = 0.694.
(15)
1 +x
x
. (16)
3
x
(lnax)
2
.
Exercises XIII. (p. 376.)
(1) Let
t
T
= x (t = 8x).
(2) T = 34.627; 159.46 minutes.
(3) Take 2t = x.
(5) (a) x
x
(1 + lnx); (b) 2x(e
x
)
x
; (c) e
x
x
x
x
(1 + lnx).
(6) 0.14 second. (7) (a) 1.642; (b) 15.58.
(8) = 0.00037, 31
m1
4
.
(9) i is 63.4% of i
0
, 220 kilometres.
(10) 0.133, 0.145, 0.155, mean 0.144; 10.2%, 0.9%, +77.2%.
398
Calculus exercises
(11) Min. for x =
1
e
.
(12) Max. for x = e.
(13) Min. for x = lna.
Exercises XIV. (p. 378.)
(1) (i)
dy
d
= Acos
_


2
_
;
(ii)
dy
d
= 2 sin cos = sin2 and
dy
d
= 2 cos 2;
(iii)
dy
d
= 3 sin
2
cos and
dy
d
= 3 cos 3.
(2) = 45

or

4
radians.
(3)
dy
dt
= nsin2nt.
(4) a
x
lna cos a
x
. (5)
cos x
sinx
= cotanx
(6) 18.2 cos (x + 26

).
(7) The slope is
dy
d
= 100 cos ( 15

), which is a maximum when ( 15

) = 0,
or = 15

; the value of the slope being then = 100. When = 75

the
slope is 100 cos(75

15

) = 100 cos 60

= 100
1
2
= 50.
(8) cos sin2 + 2 cos 2 sin = 2 sin
_
cos
2
+ cos 2
_
= 2 sin
_
3 cos
2
1
_
.
(9) amn
n1
tan
m1
(
n
) sec
2

n
.
(10) e
x
_
sin
2
x + sin2x
_
; e
x
_
sin
2
x + 2 sin2x + 2 cos 2x
_
.
(11) (i)
dy
dx
=
ab
(x +b)
2
; (ii)
a
b
e

x
b
; (iii)
1
90

ab
(b
2
+x
2
)
.
399
Calculus exercises
(12) (i)
dy
dx
= sec xtanx;
(ii)
dy
dx
=
1

1 x
2
;
(iii)
dy
dx
=
1
1 +x
2
;
(iv)
dy
dx
=
1
x

x
2
1
;
(v)
dy
dx
=

3 sec x
_
3 sec
2
x 1
_
2
.
(13)
dy
d
= 4.6 (2 + 3)
1.3
cos (2 + 3)
2.3
.
(14)
dy
d
= 3
2
+ 3 cos ( + 3) ln3
_
cos 3
sin
+ 3
_
.
(15) = cot ; = 0.86; is max. for +, min. for .
Exercises XVI. (p. 379.)
(1) 1
1
3
. (2) 0.6344. (3) 0.2624.
(4) (a) y =
1
8
x
2
+C; (b) y = sinx +C.
(5) y = x
2
+ 3x +C.
Exercises XVII. (p. 379.)
400
Calculus exercises
(1)
4

ax
3
2
3
+C.
(2)
1
x
3
+C.
(3)
x
4
4a
+C.
(4)
1
3
x
3
+ax +C. (5) 2x

5
2
+C.
(6) x
4
+x
3
+x
2
+x +C.
(7)
ax
2
4
+
bx
3
9
+
cx
4
16
+C.
(8)
x
2
+a
x +a
= x a +
a
2
+a
x +a
by division. Therefore the answer is
x
2
2
ax +(a
2
+
a) ln(x +a) +C. (See pages ?? and ??.)
(9)
x
4
4
+ 3x
3
+
27
2
x
2
+ 27x +C. (10)
x
3
3
+
2 a
2
x
2
2ax +C.
(11) a
2
(2x
3
2
+
9
4
x
4
3
) +C. (12)
1
3
cos
1
6
+C.
(13)

2
+
sin2a
4a
+C. (14)

2

sin2
4
+C.
(15)

2

sin2a
4a
+C.
(16)
1
3
e
3x
.
(17) log(1 +x) +C. (18) ln(1 x) +C.
Exercises XVIII. (p. 380.)
(1) Area = 60; mean ordinate = 10.
(2) Area =
2
3
of a 2a

a.
(3) Area = 2; mean ordinate =
2

= 0.637.
(4) Area = 1.57; mean ordinate = 0.5.
401
Calculus exercises
(5) 0.572, 0.0476.
(6) Volume = r
2
h
3
.
(7) 1.25. (8) 79.4.
(9) Volume = 4.9348; area of surface = 12.57 (from 0 to ).
(10) a lna,
a
a 1
lna.
(12) Arithmetical mean = 9.5; quadratic mean = 10.85.
(13) Quadratic mean =
1

2
_
A
2
1
+A
2
3
; arithmetical mean = 0.
The rst involves a somewhat dicult integral, and may be stated thus: By
denition the quadratic mean will be

1
2
_
2
0
(A
1
sinx +A
3
sin3x)
2
dx.
Now the integration indicated by
_
(A
2
1
sin
2
x + 2A
1
A
3
sinxsin3x +A
2
3
sin
2
3x) dx
is more readily obtained if for sin
2
x we write
1 cos 2x
2
.
For 2 sinxsin3x we write cos 2x cos 4x; and, for sin
2
3x,
1 cos 6x
2
.
Making these substitutions, and integrating, we get
A
2
1
2
_
x
sin2x
2
_
+A
1
A
3
_
sin2x
2

sin4x
4
_
+
A
2
3
2
_
x
sin6x
6
_
.
At the lower limit the substitution of 0 for x causes all this to vanish, whilst
at the upper limit the substitution of 2 for x gives A
2
1
+A
2
3
. And hence the
answer follows.
402
Calculus exercises
(14) Area is 62.6 square units. Mean ordinate is 10.42.
(16) 436.3. (This solid is pear shaped.)
Exercises XIX. (p. 381.)
(1)
x

a
2
x
2
2
+
a
2
2
sin
1
x
a
+C.
(2)
x
2
2
(lnx
1
2
) +C.
(3)
x
a+1
a + 1
_
lnx
1
a + 1
_
+C.
(4) sine
x
+C.
(5) sin(lnx) +C. (6) e
x
(x
2
2x + 2) +C.
(7)
1
a + 1
(lnx)
a+1
+C.
(8) ln(lnx) +C.
(9) 2 ln(x 1) + 3 ln(x + 2) +C.
(10)
1
2
ln(x 1) +
1
5
ln(x 2) +
3
10
ln(x + 3) +C.
(11)
b
2a
ln
x a
x +a
+C.
(12) ln
x
2
1
x
2
+ 1
+C.
(13)
1
4
ln
1 +x
1 x
+
1
2
arc tanx +C.
(14)
1

a
log

a bx
2
x

a
. (Let
1
x
= v; then, in the result, let
_
v
2

b
a
= v u.)
You had better dierentiate now the answer and work back to the given
expression as a check.
403
Calculus exercises
Derivative and integral formulas
dy
dx
y
_
y dx
Algebraic
1 x
1
2
x
2
+ C
0 a ax + C
1 x a
1
2
x
2
ax + C
a ax
1
2
ax
2
+ C
2x x
2 1
3
x
3
+ C
nx
n1
x
n
1
n + 1
x
n+1
+ C
x
2
x
1
ln x + C
du
dx

dv
dx

dw
dx
u v w
_
u dx
_
v dx
_
wdx
u
dv
dx
+ v
du
dx
uv No general form known
v
du
dx
u
dv
dx
v
2
u
v
No general form known
du
dx
u ux
_
x du + C
u dv uv
_
v du
404
Calculus exercises
dy
dx
y
_
y dx
Exponential and Logarithmic
e
x
e
x
e
x
+ C
x
1
ln x x(ln x 1) + C
0.4343 x
1
log
10
x 0.4343x(ln x 1) + C
a
x
ln a a
x
a
x
ln a
+ C
Trigonometric
cos x sin x cos x + C
sin x cos x sin x + C
sec
2
x tan x ln cos x + C
Circular (Inverse)
1
_
(1 x
2
)
arc sin x x arc sin x +

1 x
2
+ C

1
_
(1 x
2
)
arc cos x x arc cos x

1 x
2
+ C
1
1 + x
2
arc tan x x arc tan x
1
2
ln(1 + x
2
) + C
Hyperbolic
cosh x sinh x cosh x + C
sinh x cosh x sinh x + C
sech
2
x tanh x ln cosh x + C
405
Calculus exercises
406
Calculus exercises
dy
dx
y
_
y dx
Miscellaneous

1
(x +a)
2
1
x +a
ln(x +a) +C

x
(a
2
+x
2
)
3
2
1

a
2
+x
2
ln(x +

a
2
+x
2
) +C

b
(a bx)
2
1
a bx

1
b
ln(a bx) +C

3a
2
x
(a
2
+x
2
)
5
2
a
2
(a
2
+x
2
)
3
2
x

a
2
+x
2
+C
a cos ax sinax
1
a
cos ax +C
a sinax cos ax
1
a
sinax +C
a sec
2
ax tanax
1
a
lncos ax +C
sin2x sin
2
x
x
2

sin2x
4
+C
sin2x cos
2
x
x
2
+
sin2x
4
+C
nsin
n1
xcos x sin
n
x
cos x
n
sin
n1
x +
n 1
n
_
sin
n2
xdx +C

cos x
sin
2
x
1
sinx
lntan
x
2
+C

sin2x
sin
4
x
1
sin
2
x
cotanx +C
sin
2
x cos
2
x
sin
2
xcos
2
x
1
sinxcos x
lntanx +C
nsin mxcos nx +
msin nxcos mx
sinmxsinnx
1
2
cos(mn)x
1
2
cos(m+n)x +C
2a sin2ax sin
2
ax
x
2

sin2ax
4a
+C
2a sin2ax cos
2
ax
x
2
+
sin2ax
4a
+C
407
Calculus exercises
Mechanics formulas
Forces:
W = F
g
=
GMm
r
2
= gm, F
s
= kx, F
fs

s
N, F
fk
=
k
N.
Newtons laws:
if no

F
ext
, then v
i
= v
f
(1)

F
net
= ma (2)
if

F
12
, then

F
21
=

F
12
. (3)
UAM:
a(t) = a (4)
v(t) = at + v
i
(5)
x(t) =
1
2
at
2
+ v
i
t + x
i
(6)
v
2
f
= v
2
i
+ 2ax (7)
Momentum:
p = mv (8)
Energy and work:
K =
1
2
mv
2
, U
g
= mgh, U
s
=
1
2
kx
2
, K
r
=
1
2
I
2
, W =

F

d (9)
Conservation laws:

p
in
=

p
out
(10)
L
in
= L
out
(11)

E
in
+ W
in
=

E
out
+ W
out
(12)
408
Calculus exercises
Circular motion (radial acceleration and radial force):
a
r
=
v
2
t
R
, F
r
= ma
r
(13)
Angular motion:
F = ma T = I (14)
a(t), v(t), x(t) (t), (t), (t) (15)
p = mv L = I (16)
K =
1
2
mv
2
K
r
=
1
2
I
2
(17)
SHM with =
_
k
m
(mass-spring system) or =
_
g

(pendulum):
x(t) = Acos(t + ) (18)
v(t) = A sin(t + ) (19)
a(t) = A
2
cos(t + ) (20)
Optics:
1
d
o
+
1
d
i
=
1
f
(21)
409