Chapter 3 Take-Home

Brian Shu

1. We have a point (1, 0) and two equations

𝑦1 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 (1)
𝑦2 = 𝑐𝑥 − 𝑥 2
(2)

Let 𝑦1 and 𝑦2 be the dervative of 𝑦1 and 𝑦2 .

Because the equations are tangent to each other, their derivatives must be equal
at the point.

𝑦1′ = 𝑦2′ (3)

Since the equations are tangent to each other, they intersect so

𝑦1 = 𝑦2 (4)

Plugging the equations in with the point gives us

𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 = 𝑐𝑥 − 𝑥 2
(5)
1 +𝑎 +𝑏 = 𝑐 − 1

and

2𝑥 + 𝑎 = 𝑐 − 2𝑥
2+𝑎 =𝑐 −2 (6)
4+𝑎 =𝑐

Now we can solve with algebra by plugging in 𝑐

1 +𝑎 +𝑏 = 4 +𝑎 − 1
1 +𝑏 = 4 − 1 (7)
𝑏=2

1
 𝑦1 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏
0 = 1+𝑎 +2 (8)
𝑎 = −3

4+𝑎 =𝑐
𝑐 = 4 + −3 (9)
𝑐=1

As you can see, our answers are 𝑏 = 2, 𝑐 = 1, and 𝑎 = −3

2. let

ℎ(𝑥) = 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥) (10)

We can use logarithmic differentiation and the implicit differentiation.

𝑙𝑛(ℎ(𝑥)) = 𝑙𝑛(𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥) )

ℎ ′ (𝑥) 𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
= 𝑔(𝑥) ∗ + 𝑔 ′ (𝑥) ∗ 𝑙𝑛(𝑓 (𝑥))
ℎ(𝑥) 𝑓 (𝑥)
𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
ℎ ′ (𝑥) = 𝑔(𝑥) ∗ ∗ ℎ(𝑥) + 𝑔 ′ (𝑥) ∗ 𝑙𝑛(𝑓 (𝑥)) ∗ ℎ(𝑥) (11)
𝑓 (𝑥)
𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
ℎ ′ (𝑥) = 𝑔(𝑥) ∗ ∗ 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥) + 𝑔 ′ (𝑥) ∗ 𝑙𝑛(𝑓 (𝑥)) ∗ 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥)
𝑓 (𝑥)
ℎ ′ (𝑥) = 𝑔(𝑥) ∗ 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥)−1 ∗ 𝑓 ′ (𝑥) + 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑔 (𝑥) ∗ 𝑙𝑛(𝑓 (𝑥)) ∗ 𝑔 ′ (𝑥)

3. If 𝑓 is differentiable at 𝑥, then the derivatives at 𝑥 exist. That means that the

below equations hold. The two limits are from either side of the point and they
are both equal to the result of the derivative at that point.

𝑓 (𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓 (𝑥) 𝑓 (𝑥) − 𝑓 (𝑥 − ℎ)
lim = lim = 𝑓 ′ (𝑥) (12)
ℎ→0 ℎ ℎ→0 ℎ
Adding the two different limits to be able to manipulate them is possible because

2𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
= 𝑓 ′ (𝑥) (13)
2
Pluging in our limits into the equation and simplifying proves our problem.

2
 𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
2𝑓 ′ (𝑥)
=
2
𝑓 (𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓 (𝑥) 𝑓 (𝑥) − 𝑓 (𝑥 − ℎ) 1
= ( lim + lim )
ℎ→0 ℎ ℎ→0 ℎ 2
𝑓 (𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓 (𝑥) 𝑓 (𝑥) − 𝑓 (𝑥 − ℎ) 1 (14)
= lim ( + )
ℎ→0 ℎ ℎ 2
𝑓 (𝑥) − 𝑓 (𝑥) + 𝑓 (𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓 (𝑥 − ℎ)
= lim
ℎ→0 2ℎ
𝑓 (𝑥 + ℎ) − 𝑓 (𝑥 − ℎ)
= lim
ℎ→0 2ℎ

4. The line that is normal to the parabola can be expressed by

𝑦 − 10 = 𝑚(𝑥 − 3) (15)

in point slope form where 𝑚 is the slope.

The derivative of the 𝑦 is 𝑦 ′

𝑦 ′ = 2𝑥 (16)

Since a line that is normal is defined as perpendicular to the tangent line, we can
say that the normal slope at 𝑥 is − 𝑦1′ . Thus, we can replace 𝑚 in our equation.

1
𝑦 − 10 = − (𝑥 − 3) (17)
2𝑥
Since we also know 𝑦 which is given to us by the equation, we can plug that in
also and solve.

1
𝑥 2 − 10 = − (𝑥 − 3)
2𝑥
(𝑥 2 − 10)2𝑥 = −(𝑥 − 3) (18)
2𝑥 3 − 20𝑥 = −𝑥 + 3
2𝑥 3 − 19𝑥 − 3 = 0

You can factor the polynomial and solve the resulting quadratic from it.

(𝑥 + 3)(2𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 − 1) = 0 (19)

3
 𝑥 = −3
√ (20)
3 ± 11
𝑥=
2

Pluging these into our normal slope function and the original equation we get

1
𝑦 − 10 = (𝑥 − 3)
6
1
𝑦 − 10 = − √ (𝑥 − 3) (21)
3 + 11
1
𝑦 − 10 = − √ (𝑥 − 3)
3 − 11

5. The derivative of 𝑦 is

𝑦 ′ = 5𝑥 2 + 2 (22)

A horizontal tanget line is when the derivative is equal to zero.

0 = 5𝑥 4 + 2
2 (23)
− = 𝑥4
5

It is impossible to take the square root of a negative number so that means the
curve cannot have a horizontal tanget line.
2 is the smallest slope that a tangent to this curve can have because when 𝑥 = 0
which is the number that can make the slope the smallest.