MATH ASSIGNMENT TRANSCRIPT

QUESTION 1-
a) Evaluate f’(4) where f(x) = x √ 2 x +1to 2022 MA-C1 Standard differentiation
This question was found under the SmarterMath resource called “Past HSC Questions to 2022 MA-C1
Standard differentiation”. It references the syllabus dot point stating

Under the main point:

For this question, students need the prerequisite understanding of index laws, specifically the lack of
roots and powers where the denominator of a fractional power becomes the root degree and the
numerator of the fractional power becomes the power of the indices inside of the root. Students
should also know a basic understanding of algebra as well of substitution of values into algebraic
equations. The first rule of differentiation in that

Must be known. It essentially means that the power of x is brought down to x’s coefficient and
multiplied by it. The power itself is then subtracted by 1.

To solve this question, we must first understand what the chain rule is saying. Although it has a lot of
fancy letters, the rule is fairly simple and goes as follows:

Given that a function is composite, meaning there is another function inside of the first function, to
differentiate the function we must let u= the numbers of the composite function (inside the brackets)
and thus differentiate the change in u with respect to that of x. then, we let y= u inside of the
brackets and differentiate the change in y with respect to that in u. then, by multiplying these two
values, we find the change in y with respect to x.

Remembering index laws, a square root is equal to the power of a half. Thus, if we change the square
root in this question to a power of a half, we can differentiate it very simply.

First let u = 2x + 1

Thus, du/dx = 2

Then let y = x (u)1/2

Thus dy / du = 1/2x (u)-1/2

So dy/dx = du/dx x dy/du

= 1/2x(u)-1/2 x 2

And remembering that u = 2x + 1, we can change this to

= 1/2x(2x + 1)-1/2 x 2

= x(2x+1)-1/2

Thus when x = 4,

4(2(4)+1)-1/2

= +/- 4/3

So here we have found the gradient of the tangent of the graph f(x) = x √ 2 x +1 when x=4
One very common error is forgetting to differentiate the integers inside of the brackets as well as those outside.
For example, if that error were shown in this question it would mean that the x(u)1/2 had been differentiated to
1/2x(u)-1/2 but the 2x+1 inside the brackets had not been differentiated, giving a final answer of
1/2x(2x + 1)-1/2. This is wrong.

A misconception with the chain rule is that many students think that the chain rule and its shortcut
are the same thing. The chain rule shortcut is essentially just differentiating the numbers inside and
outside of the brackets, only without all of the substitution and letting u = this and that. When asked
for a question to be worked out with the chain rule in a test, students often forget that the formal
chain rule involves the algebraic substitution and formula and they simply differentiate it by
multiplying the power with the coefficient of the brackets and then subtracting one from the power.
This is again where the common error of forgetting to differentiate numbers inside of the brackets
comes in.

B)
b) Differentiate y = 4 – x2 , and hence find the equation of the normal at A, and find the point of
intersection of the normal of A with the tangent of A.

This question was found in the Year 11 Math Advanced Cambridge Math Stage 6 textbook in chapter
8, exercise D and it was question 17 in this area.

The syllabus dot point being referenced is

use the derivative in a variety of contexts, including finding the equation of

a tangent or normal to a graph of a power function at a given point

which is the 5th dot point under c1.4 and

Which is first under c1.4

the prerequisite knowledge for this question includes experience with algebraic and linear equations,
including substitution of values into equations, and an understanding of simultaneous equations and
their points of intersection, in this instance, found algebraically.

To solve this question we have to first differentiate the equation provided and, if we move the power
down to multiply it by the coefficient and then reduce one from the power, we get dy/dx = -2x

When the question says “the tangent has gradient” it means that dy/dx equals the following as the
first derivative of y is actually the gradient of the tangent at any point. So substituting A in first we get
y’ = 2 (keep in mind that the gradient of the tangent can be written in many ways so dy/dx and y’ are
the same, meaning the change in y with respects to the change in x).

Then 2 = -2x

Then solving the equation we get 2/-2 which gives -1 as the value of x

Then, since we are asked for the point A, the point includes both x and y coordinates, so we
substitute x into the first equation.

Here is a common error that you should be wary of. Many students forget the meaning of y’ and y
and, when finding the point of an equation, they think they need to sub the value they have for x
into the differentiated equation. Do not do this. By doing this, what you’re actually finding is the
gradient of the tangent where the point is x coordinate is a certain number. This is because y’ is the
gradient of the tangent, not the y value.

To represent this graphically, look here.

So we sub the x value into the original equation to find the y-value at where x=-1

Thus we get y = 4-(-1)2

Now (-1)2 = 1

So 4-1 = 3

And the point A is (-1,3) where the gradient of the tangent is 2

Now for B, we repeat the same process.

As y’= -2,

-2 = -2x

So x = -2/-2

=1

Subbing x back into the original equation for the y-value:

Y = 4-(1)2

And we get the same answer of 3 as we did for point A

So point B is (1,3) where the gradient of the tangent is -2

Now we need to find the gradient of the normal at these points and, since the normal is a line
perpendicular to the tangent it means we have to change y’ to be gradient of the normal. Here is
where we come into another common error: students often forget that the normal is perpendicular
to the tangent and they forget to consider that m1m2 = 1 and they leave y’ as the gradient of the
tangent. We also have a shortcut for finding the gradient of perpendicular lines. All we need to do is
take the negative reciprocal and we have the perpendicular gradient.

So the gradient of the normal at A is the negative reciprocal of 2 which is -1/2

The gradient of the normal at B is the negative reciprocal of -2, which is ½

Now we find the equation of the normal at A and B by substituting the x, y and m (gradient) values
into the formula y-y1 = m(x-x1)

So for A we get

y-3 = -1/2(x-(-1))

y-3 = -1/2x – 1/2

y = -1/2x + 5/2

and for B we get

y-3 = 1/2 (x-1)

y-3 = 1/2x -1/2

y = 1/2x + 5/2

and now, to find the point of intersection we use the substitution method to simultaneously solve
these two equations

so 1/2x +5/2 = -1/2x +5/2

and -1x = 0

so x = 0

and substituting the x value into one of the equations of the normal

we get y = ½ (0) + 5/2

so y = 5/2

a misconception here is that the final x value needs to be subbed into the very first equation of the
graph or into the differentiated equation. This is wrong as then we would be finding the y value when
x = a certain number or the gradient of the tangent at x, respectively. We need the y value of the
point where x = a certain number on the line of the normal not on the regular graph. So we sub the x
value into either the equation of the normal at A or at B. If the simultaneous equation has been
solved correctly, it won’t make a difference which equation x is subbed into out of the two, as it
should be the same. If it is different for both then an error has been made somewhere in the working
out.
Q1.b alternative:

A stone is dropped from the top of a tall building. The stone’s height h metres above the ground t
seconds later is h = 80 − 5t2. Find the acceleration of the stone.

This question was sourced from Ex8J in chapter 8 (differentiation) in the Cambridge Math Advanced
Year 11 textbook.

It references the syllabus dot points

 determine the velocity of a particle given its displacement from a point as

a function of time
 determine the acceleration of a particle given its velocity at a point as a
function of time

the prerequisite skills for this question include knowledge of what is meant by acceleration and
velocity, how velocity and acceleration are found through the first and second derivative,
respectively, and differentiation using the first derivative.

To solve this question, we first need to differentiate

H= 80 – 5t2 with the first derivative in order to get a function of v, being dv/dt (change in velocity
with respect to change in time)

Thus, using the rule

We can find that v’ = -10t

So, in order to calculate the velocity at a certain time, we can substitute a value of t in this equation.

Now, to get acceleration, we need to derive the equation a second time,

Now getting

-10.

Therefore, the acceleration of the stone is -10ms-1.

A common error here is to stop only at the first derivative, forgetting that acceleration is m/s/s,
meaning that it has to be derived twice to get the value for it. This is because a = v/s and v = s/t so a
actually = s/t/t. students commonly forget to derive the equation a second time, finding values for
velocity where they think they are finding those for acceleration.
QUESTION 2
a)

This question was found in a youtube video called How to Apply Logarithmic Laws and Evaluate Log
Expressions by Anil Kumar.

It references the syllabus dot point:

Which is the first under E1.2

To be able to solve this question the prerequisite knowledge of what logarithms are should be
known, including the logarithm laws and how to solve simple logarithmic equations.

So knowing the log laws, we can use two specific ones to begin solving this question

First we know that Log2 8 + Log2 6 will be log2 8 x 6

And subtracting the - log2 3, it will become log2 (8 x 6) / 3

So that becomes log2 16

Now a common error here is to simplify this to become log 242. This is wrong for this situation as the
base of the logarithm is 2, and according to the log law log b(x) = y, by = x, the base must stay the same
so it must be 2 to the power of an integer. If the base were 4, however, we could say 4 squared.

Now we can take two approaches to answering this question:

We can simplify log216 to log224 and then use the law logaax = x, they evaluate it to get 4

So log224 = 4

Or we can let x = log216 then

The base to the power of x must be 16  2x = 16

And since we know that 2 to the power of 4 = 16, we also know that x = 4

Either method, we get 4

b) The number of bacteria growing in a Petri dish is doubling every four hours. Initially there
were 100 bacteria. Thus, the formula for the population P after n hours is P = 100 × 2 n/4. How
long, correct to the nearest hour, before there are 10,000,000 bacteria?

This question was sourced from the Cambridge year 11 math advanced textbook and it was question
17 in chapter 7’s review.
It references the syllabus dot point:

solve algebraic, graphical and numerical problems involving logarithms in a variety of

practical and abstract contexts, including applications from financial, scientific, medical and
industrial contexts

which is the last point under E1.2

and

establish and use the algebraic properties of exponential functions to simplify and solve
problems

which is 3rd under e1.4

the prerequisite skills for this question are a solid understanding of what exponential functions are
and algebraic subsitution.

to find the answer, we first have to make n the subject of the equation and we do that using the log
law y = ax and y = loga x

so here if we divide both sides by 100 to get P/100 = 2 n/4

we can then apply this law to get

n/4 = log2P/100

and then to get n by itself, we multiply both sides by 4 to get

n = 4log2P/100

so if we want to find n number of hours needed for the bacteria to reach 10,000,000, we substitute
10,000,000 into P and solve for n

n = 4log210,000,000/100

so n = 4log2100,000

if we solve that using a calculator, we get approximately 66 hours.

A common misconception here is that people think there is a need to use the log law log axn = nlogax

To make this into log2100,0004

This would make things unnecessarily long and give room to mistakes.

To find the answer for this question, we first substitute 10,000,000 into the equation as P.

Thus, we have

10,000,000 = 100 x 2n/4

To isolate the 2n/4, we can divide both sides by 100 to get

100,000 = 2n/4

To isolate the exponent now, we can take the log base 2, since our base number is 2 and we get

Log2100,000 = log22n/4
Knowing the rule logaxn = nlogax, we can rearrange this as

Log2100,000 = n/4 log22

Since the base of the logarithm on the RHS is the same as its exponentiation, we can apply the law
that states that logaa = 1 and write the equation as

Log2100,000 = n/4

And if we put log2100,000 into the calculator we get 16.6096

To isolate n, we will multiply 4 by both sides so 4 *16.6096 = 66.4384

Thus, the approximate number of hours taken is 66.

CAMBRIDGE MATH ADVANCED YEAR 11 TEXTBOOK  CHAPTER 8: EXERCISE 8H – Question 14 c