Mathematics SM015

Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

PAST YEAR QUESTIONS

Session 2005/2006
4x
1. Given that f ( x)  .
1  x2

(a) Determine the intervals on which f is increasing and decreasing. Hence find
the local extremum.

(b) Use the second derivative test to determine the intervals on which f is
concave upward and concave downward. Hence find the inflection points.

Session 2006/2007
2. Milk is being poured into a hemispherical bowl of radius 4 cm at the rate of 3π cm3/sec.
 h3 
If the depth of the milk in the bowl is h cm, its volume V is V    4h 2   cm3 .
 3
3
At the instant the milk is cm deep, find
2

(a) the rate of change of h .

(b) the rate of change of the radius of the milk’s surface .

x2  4 x
3. The function f is defined by f ( x)  .
x2  9

(a) Determine the asymptote(s) of f.

(b) Find the critical number(s) of f and determine the intervals where f is
increasing and f is decreasing.

(c) Find the coordinates of the local extrema of f.

Session 2007/2008
4. The total cost of manufacturing k boxes of chocolates (a function of time, t ) is given
by C  k   2k 2  k  900 , where k  t   t 2  100t .
Compute the rate of change of the total cost with respect to time when t  1 .

5. Given that f  x   x3  3x 2  9 x  11 .

(a) If f intersects the x-axis at x  1, x  p and x  q , find p and q .

(b) Determine the intervals where f is increasing and f is decreasing.

(c) Use the second derivative test to find the coordinates of the local extremum.

(d) Sketch the graph of f.

 Mathematics SM015
Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

Session 2008/2009
6. Water is leaking from the bottom of a conical tank with radius 1.5 meter and height 2
meter at a rate of 0.25 cubic meter per minute. The tank was initially full. If the height
of water is 1 meter then find the rate of change of

(a) the water level.

(b) the radius of the water surface.

x2  x  2
7. The function f is defined by f ( x)  .
x2  x  4

(a) Find the y-intercept and determine the horizontal asymptote of f.

(b) Find the critical points of f and determine the intervals where f is increasing
and f is decreasing.

Session 2009/2010
x3  8
8. Given that f ( x)  .
x

(a) State the asymptote of f.

(b) Find the critical and inflection points of f.

(c) Determine the intervals where f is increasing and f is decreasing.

9. (a) The position of a particle moving along a straight line at any time t  0 is
given by s(t )  t (t 1)(t  2) , where s is the distance of the particle from the
origin. Find the velocity of the particle at the instant when the acceleration
becomes zero.

(b) A closed right circular cylindrical container of radius r and height h is to be

constructed with volume 4000 cm3. The cost for the construction is RM 1.00
per cm2 for the curved surface while RM 2.00 per cm2 for the top and bottom
surfaces. State h in terms of r and hence find the radius of the cylinder so
that the cost of the construction is minimum.

Session 2010/2011
9 x 2  36
10. Given f ( x)  .
x2  9

(a) Determine the vertical and horizontal asymptotes of f.

(b) Determine the interval of x on which f is increasing and f is decreasing.

11. The curve y  x 4  ax3  bx 2 has a point of inflection at  2, 0  .

 Mathematics SM015
Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

(a) Find the values of a and b.

 1 15 
(b) Show that another point of inflection of the curve is   ,  .
 2 16 

(c) Use the second derivative test to find the coordinates of the local extremum of
the curve.

Session 2011/2012
12. 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.

13. The function f ( x)  x3  6 x 2  9 x  3 is defined on the interval [0, 5].

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

Session 2012/2013
14. (a) A conical tank of height 12 m 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 the water is 6 m ?

(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.

Session 2013/2014
15. (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 minimise the amount of the material needed.

3 3
(b) Gravel is poured onto flat ground at the rate of m per minute to form a
20
conical-shaped pile with vertex angle 600 as shown in diagram below.

600

r
 Mathematics SM015
Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

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

Session 2014/2015
16. Car X is travelling east at a speed 80 km/h and car Y is travelling north at 100 km/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 0.08 km from P.

Car X
P

Car Y

Session 2015/2016
17. (a)  
If y 2  2 y 1  x 2  x 2  0 , show that
dy

x
.
dx 1  x 
2

(b) Water is running at a steady rate of 36 cm 3s 1 into a right inverted circular
cone with a semi-vertical angle of 45 .
(i) Find the rate of increasing in water depth when the water level is 3 cm.
(ii) Find the time taken when the depth of the water is 18 cm.

Session 2016/2017
18. (a) Use the derivative to find the maximum area of a rectangle that can be
inscribed in a semicircle of radius 10 cm.

(b) A cone-shaped tank as shown below.

600

A
Water flows through a hole A at rate 6cm3 per second. Find the rate of change
in height of the water when the volume of water in the cone is 24 cm3 .
 Mathematics SM015
Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

ANSWERS

1. (a) f decreasing on   , 1 and 1,  ; f increasing on  1,1

Local minimum   1, 2  ; Local maximum  1, 2 
(b) 
f concave upward on  3, 0 and   3,  ; 

f concave downward on ,  3 and 0, 3   

Inflection points =  3,  3  ,  0,0  &  3, 3 
4 20 39
2. (a) cm / sec (b) cm/sec
13 507
3. (a) No vertical asymptote; Horizontal asymptote: y  1
3
(b) Critical numbers : x  6,
2
 3 3 
f decreasing on  6,  ; f increasing on   , 6  and  ,  
 2 2 
 4  3 1
(c) local maximum =  6,  ; local minimum =  ,  
 3  2 3
4. 41 310
5. (a) p  1 2 3 ; q  1 2 3
(b) f decreasing on  1,3 ; f increasing on   , 1 and  3,  
(c) Local minimum   3, 16  , Local maximum   1,16 
(d) y
(-1,16)

11

x
1 2 3 1 1 2 3

(3,-16)

6. (a) - 0.1415 meter/minute (b) - 0.1061 meter/minute

1
7. (a) y-intercept = ; Horizontal asymptote: y  1
2
 1  7
(b)  1,  ,  3,  ; f decreasing on   , 1 and  3,   ; f increasing on  1,3
 3  5
8. (a) Vertical asymptote: x  0
 12 
(b) Critical point:  3 4, 3  ; Inflection point =  2, 0 
 4
(c) 
f decreasing on   ,0  and 0, 3 4 ;  f increasing on  3
4 , 
 Mathematics SM015
Topic 10: Applications of Differentiation – Past Year

4000 10
9. (a) 1 (b) h  ; r 3
r 2

10. (a) Vertical asymptotes: x  3 ; Horizontal asymptote: y  9
(b) f decreasing on  0,3 and  3,   ; f increasing on   , 3 and  3, 0 
11. (a) a  5, b6 (b) shown
(c) Local minimum   0, 0  and 2.5931, 1.6228 ;
Local maximum   1.1569, 2.0798
12. -5 cm3 / min
13. Critical points = (1,1) and (3,-3); Local minimum   3, 3 , Local maximum  1, 1
1 1
25 V  V 3  V 3
14. (a) m/min (b) h  2 ; h  4   ; r  
2 r  4   4 
15. (a) r = 4; h = 8 (b) 0.0542 m/min
ds 1  dx dy 
16.  x  y  ; 117.65km/h
dt s  dt dt 
17. (a) shown (b) (i) 4cms1 (ii) 54s
18. (a) 100 cm 2
(b) 0.159cm / sec