TOPICAL PRACTICE 4.

0: APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

TOPIC 4 : APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

1. The surface area of a balloon in the shape of a sphere is decreasing at the rate of
2 cm2/min. Find the rate at which the volume is decreasing when the radius of the
balloon is 5 cm.

2. The function f ( x) = x 3 −6 x 2 + 9 x − 3 is defined on the interval [0 , 5]. Find

the stationary points of f ( x) on this interval and determine whether the stationary
points are local minimum or maximum.

3. Given a function f ( x) = 2 x 4 − 16 x 2 + 14.

(a) Find all values of x such that f ( x) = 0
(b) By using the second derivative test, determine whether f(x) is a relative
maximum or relative minimum at the values of x obtained from part (a).

4. (a) The radius r of a spherical balloon on of volume V is decreasing at the rate of

dV
0.3cm per second. Find when the radius is 6cm.
dt
(b) An open rectangular box is to be made from a piece of paper of width 8cm and
length 15cm. A square of width x cm is cut from each corner of the paper and
the sides are folded up as shown in the figure below. Find the width, length
and of the box that gives the maximum volume.

x
x

5. (a) A conical tank is of height 12m and surface diameter 8 m . Water is pumped

into the tank at the rate of 50 m3 / min. How fast is the water level increasing
when the depth of water is 6 m ?
TOPICAL PRACTICE 4.0: APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

(b) A cylindrical container of radius r and height h has a constant volume V .

The cost of the materials for the surface of both of its ends is twice the cost of
its sides. State h in terms of r and V . Hence, find h and r in terms of V
such that the cost is minimum.

6. (a) The side of a cube of length x cm is increasing at the rate of 2.5 cm/second.
How fast is the volume of the cube increasing when the side is 8 cm long?
1
(b) Find the maximum and minimum point for f ( x ) = x3 − x 2 − 8 x + 2. .
3

7. (a) A cylindrical container of volume 128 m3 is to be constructed with the same

material for the top, bottom and lateral side. Find the dimensions of the
container that will minimize the amount of the material needed.
3 3
(b) Gravel is poured onto a flat ground at the rate of m per minute to form a
20
conical-shaped pile with vertex angle 60 as shown in the diagram below.

60

r
Compute the rate of change of the height of the conical pile at the instant
t = 10 minutes.

8. (a) Determine the relative maximum and the relative minimum points of
f ( x ) = x3 + 3x 2 − 24 x + 20 by using the second derivative test.

(b) Given the water tank which has the shape of an inverted circular cone water
tank with a base radius of 3 meters and a height of 5 meters. If water is being
pumped into the tank at the rate of 2 m3/minutes, find the rate of change in
water level rising when the water is 3 meter deep.
TOPICAL PRACTICE 4.0: APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

9. Find the relative extremum of the curve y = x3 − 4 x 2 + 4 x .

10. Car X is travelling east at a speed of 80km/h and Car Y is travelling north at
100km/h as shown in the diagram below. Obtain an equation that describes the rate of
change of the distance between the two cars. Hence, evaluate the rate of change of the
distance between the two cars when car X is 0.15 km and car Y is 0.08km from P.

Car X
P

Car Y

11. (a) The radius of spherical balloon is decreasing at the rate of 2 cm per minute.
Find the rate at which the volume of the balloon is changing when the radius is
5 cm. Give your answer in terms of  .
3 2
(b) Given the curve f ( x) = x3 − x − 18 x + 1. Use the first derivative test to
2
determine the maximum and minimum points of f ( x).

12. Water is running at a steady rate of 36 cm3 s −1 into a right inverted circular

cone with a semi-vertical angle of 450.

(a) Find the rate of increasing in water depth when the water level is 3 cm.
(b) Find the time taken when the depth of the water is 18 cm.
TOPICAL PRACTICE 4.0: APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

ANSWERS
dV
= −5 cm3 / min
1. dt
2. (1 ,1) , ( 3 , − 3) ; maximum point (1 ,1) , minimum point ( 3 , − 3)

3. (a) x = −2,0, 2
(b) at x = 0 , f(x) is a relative maximum ; at x =  2 , f(x) is a relative minimum
14 35 5
4. (a) −135.717 (b) W= cm, L = cm, H = cm
3 3 3
25
m / min
5. (a) 2

v v 16v
h= r= 3 h= 3
(b)  r2 4 
34 −74
6. (a) 480cm3 / second (b) (−2, ) , (4, )
3 3
7. (a) r = 4m , h = 8m (b) 0.0542 m / min

8. (a) relative minimun ( 2 , −8 ) , relative maximun ( −4 ,100 )

50
(b) m / min
81
 2 32 
9. relative maximum =  ,  , relative minimum = ( 2, 0 )
 3 27 
dx dy dr dr
10. x +y =r , = 117.65 km/h
dt dt dt dt
11. (a) − 200
(b) (3,−39.5) (minimum point) (− 2,23) (maximum point)
dh
12. (a) = 4cm / s (b) t = 54sec
dt