CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

1. (Taken from 2001 Prelim)

𝜕2𝑢
(a) If 𝑢 = cos 𝑥𝑦 determine . [2]
𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦
d𝑦
(b) If 𝑥𝑦 = sin(𝑥 + 𝑦) determine . [3]
d𝑥

2. (Prelim 2005) If ( )
𝑥 −1
𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = sin
𝑦
( ) ( )
𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
determine and . [5]
𝜕𝑥 𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝑥

3. (September 2013 paper) Differentiate 𝑦(𝑥) = 1∕𝑥 from first principles (by taking
an appropriate limit). [5]
( ) ( )
2 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
4. If 𝑥𝑦𝑧 = 𝑥𝑧 sin 𝑥𝑦 + exp 𝑥𝑦𝑧 determine and .
𝜕𝑧 𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝑥

d𝑧 √
5. Find if 𝑧 = sin(3𝑥 + 4𝑦) in which 𝑥 = 1 + 𝑡2 and 𝑦 = 3𝑡 − 1.
d𝑡
( ) ( )
𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
6. Use a chain rule to evaluate and if
𝜕𝑟 𝜃 𝜕𝜃 𝑟

𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑥3 − 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦3

in which 𝑥 = 𝑟 cos 𝜃 and 𝑦 = 𝑟 sin 𝜃. Verify your answer by direct substitution.

( ) ( )
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
7. If 𝑧 = 𝑓 (𝑥 − 𝑦) show that + = 0.
𝜕𝑥 𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝑥

8. (2007 Prelim) Show that if

𝑧 = (𝑥 + 𝑦) 𝑓 (𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑦)

then ( ( ) ( ) )
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
𝑏 −𝑎 (𝑥 + 𝑦) = (𝑏 − 𝑎)𝑧. [10]
𝜕𝑥 𝑦 𝜕𝑦 𝑥

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 9. Determine the following limits

(a)
3𝑥 + 2
lim
𝑥→∞ 4𝑥 − 1
(b)
tan−1 𝑥
lim
𝑥→∞ 𝑥
(c) ( )
2𝑥 − 1
lim
𝑥→0 𝑥

10. (Prelim 2014) The vectors 𝐚, 𝐛 and 𝐜 are defined by

𝐚 = 𝐢 − 2𝐣 − 2𝐤
𝐛 = 2𝐢 + 𝐣 + 𝐤
𝐜 = 3𝐢 + 𝐣 + 𝐤,

where 𝐢, 𝐣 and 𝐤 are unit vectors along the 𝑥, 𝑦 and 𝑧 directions, respectively. Find
a unit vector perpendicular to 𝐚 and 𝐛, and then determine the angle between this
unit vector and 𝐜. [5]

11. The vectors 𝐚 and 𝐛 are of the same length, but point in different directions. Show
that 𝐚 + 𝐛 is orthogonal to 𝐚 − 𝐛.

12. (Prelim 1997) Find and classify the stationary points of

𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 21 (𝑥2 + 𝑦2 ) + 𝑥2 𝑦 − 13 𝑦3 . [8]

13. (Prelim 2002) Expand (i) sin2 𝑥 and (ii) cos2 𝑥 as power series in 𝑥 up to and
including terms in 𝑥6 . [5]

14. (Prelim 1997) Expand 𝑓 (𝑥) = 𝑥4 − 3𝑥3 + 9𝑥2 + 22𝑥 + 6 in powers of (𝑥 − 2).
Hence, or otherwise, evaluate
2.2
𝑓 (𝑥)d𝑥. [8]
∫2

(Note: it can be done exactly, without needing to use a calculator.)

15. (Prelim 2007)

(a) Evaluate
1
1
d𝑥. [6]
∫0 𝑥2 + 2𝑥 + 3

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 (b) Show that
𝑎 𝑎
𝑓 (𝑥)d𝑥 = 𝑓 (𝑎 − 𝑥)d𝑥
∫0 ∫0
and hence, or otherwise, evaluate
𝜋
𝑥 sin 𝑥
d𝑥. [8]
∫0 1 + cos2 𝑥

16. (Prelim 2005) Evaluate

1
𝑒−𝑥 − 𝑒𝑥
d𝑥. [5]
∫−1 𝑒−𝑥 + 𝑒𝑥

17. (September 1998) Show by approprate substitutions that

∞ 1
d𝑧 d𝑥 𝜋
√ = √ = . [8]
∫0 e2𝑧 − 1 ∫0 1− 𝑥2 2

18. A more extended question, on which to finish (although it looks longer than it is).

A nefarious casino owner wishes to construct a loaded die. He wants the average
die roll to be 3. (A fair die has an average roll of 21∕6.) There are various ways
to achieve this: for example, he could make the die always land on 3, or he could
make it land only on 2 and 4 with equal probabilities. However, if he chose either
of these, it would be far too obvious that the die was loaded.
After reading some scientific papers, he decides to assign probabilities to the
die rolls by maximising the entropy of the probability distribution. If 𝑝𝑖 is the
probability that the die lands on face 𝑖, the entropy of the distribution is

∑
6
𝑆(𝑝1 , … , 𝑝6 ) = − 𝑝𝑖 log 𝑝𝑖 .
𝑖=1

The probabilities must satisfy ∑

𝑝𝑖 = 1,
𝑖

and he wants the average (or ‘expected’) die roll, ⟨𝑖⟩, to be fixed at 3.

(a) Write down an expression for ⟨𝑖⟩, in terms of the probabilities 𝑝𝑖 and the
numbers 𝑖. Write it in the form of a sum.
(b) Check that your answer to (a) gives the known result in the case of a fair die
(where 𝑝𝑖 = 61 for all 𝑖).

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 ∑
(c) Taking 𝑖 𝑝𝑖 = 1 and ⟨𝑖⟩ = 3 as constraints, show that 𝑆 is maximised if
−(log 𝑝𝑖 + 1) − 𝜆 − 𝛽𝑖 = 0, (for 𝑖 = 1, … , 6) (1)
∑
𝑝𝑖 − 1 = 0, (2)
𝑖
∑
𝑖𝑝𝑖 − 3 = 0. (3)
𝑖

𝜆 and 𝛽 denote two Lagrange multipliers.

(d) By solving (1) for 𝑝𝑖 and then using (2), eliminate 𝜆 to show that
e−𝛽𝑖 ∑
𝑝𝑖 = where 𝑄 = e−𝛽𝑖 .
𝑄 𝑖

Using (3) to eliminate 𝛽 is difficult to do without a computer. It turns out that

𝛽 ≃ 0.175 and the probabilities look like:
β=0.174629
pi
1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

i
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

If the casino owner wanted the die to have an average roll of 2 (i.e. even more
biased), then he would need 𝛽 ≃ 0.630 and the distribution would look like:
β=0.629571
pi
1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

i
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Notice how the probabilities decay exponentially as 𝑖 increases. You will do a

very similar calculation next year in your Statistical Mechanics course.