Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

MST124 Essential mathematics 1

MST124

TMA 04 2023B
Covers Units 9, 10 and 12 Cut-off date 16 August 2023

You should submit this TMA electronically as a single PDF file using
the University’s online TMA/EMA service.

You will find information about TMAs in the ‘Assessment’ area of the
MST124 website. Please read that information before beginning work on this
TMA.
If you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to attempt any of these
questions, then please contact your Student Support Team or your tutor for
advice.
The work that you submit should include your working as well as your final
answers.
Your solutions should not involve the use of Maxima, except in those parts of
questions where this is explicitly required or suggested. Your solutions
should not involve the use of any other mathematical software.
Your work should be written in a good mathematical style, as described in
Section 6 of Unit 1, and as demonstrated by the example and activity
solutions in the study units. Five marks (referred to as good mathematical
communication, or GMC, marks) on this TMA are allocated for how well
you do this.
Your score out of 5 for GMC will be recorded against Question 13. You do
not have to submit any work for Question 13.

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PLAGIARISM WARNING – the use of assessment help services and websites

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You should not:

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solutions to an assessment question and submit the output as your own work.
ˆ discuss examination questions with any other person, including your tutor.

The University actively monitors websites, online services and social media platforms for
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students. Work submitted by students for assessment is also monitored for plagiarism.

A student who is found to have posted a question or answer to a website, online service or
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The Open University’s Plagiarism policy defines plagiarism in part as:

ˆ using text obtained from assignment writing sites, organisations or private individuals.
ˆ obtaining work from other sources and submitting it as your own.

If it is found that you have used the services of a website, online service or social
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referred to the Central Disciplinary Committee for investigation.

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TMA 04 Cut-off date 16 August 2023

Question 1 – 15 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 9.
Give sufficient details of your working to make it clear that you have not
used any software or calculator that can perform matrix manipulation. For
example, in part (a), show explicitly how you calculated at least one element
of each matrix answer.
(a) Let
   
1 ! −1 2 !
1 0 −1 1 0
A = 0 , B = , C = 1.5 3 , and I =
   
−2 3 0 0 1
1 2 −2

Evaluate each of the following expressions, if possible. Where evaluation

is not possible, explain why not.
(i) AB
(ii) BA
(iii) BC
(iv) CB
(v) 2I + (BC)2 [10]
(b) Use a matrix method to solve the following system of linear equations:
2x − y = 3
x + 3y = 3
[5]

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Question 2 – 12 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 9.
You can use Maxima to do the matrix arithmetic in this question, or you can
do it by hand. If you use Maxima, then you do not need to include a printout
or screenshot, but you must include sufficient details in your solution to
make it clear what calculations Maxima has done.
Two chicken farms, K and L, supply fresh chickens to two major fried
chicken chains, A and B, in East London.
Farm K supplies 50% of its chickens to chain A and 50% of its
chickens to chain B.
Farm L supplies 40% of its chickens to chain A and 60% of its
chickens to chain B.

(a) (i) Draw a network diagram with input nodes K and L, and output
nodes A and B, that represents the proportion of chickens each
farm supplies to its two fried chicken chains. [2]
(ii) Write down the matrix that represents this network. [2]
(iii) Suppose that the total number of chickens produced by farm K,
and L are 1800, and 1100 respectively in one month. Using the
matrix that you found in part (a)(ii), determine the total number of
chickens bought by each chain every month from both producers. [2]

(b) Suppose that:

Chain A sold 35% of its fried chickens to London borough R
and 65% of its fried chickens to London borough F .
Chain B sold 10% of its fried chickens to London borough R
and 90% of its fried chickens to London borough F .
(i) Draw a combined network diagram with input nodes K and L,
intermediate nodes A and B, and output nodes R and F to
represent the proportion of chickens each farm supplies to the two
chains and each chain supplies to the two London boroughs. [2]
(ii) Find the single matrix that represents the proportion of chickens
each farm K, and L supplies to each London borough R and F . [2]
(iii) Calculate the consumption of fried chickens by London borough R
and F each month. [2]

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Question 3 – 5 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 9.
You should use Maxima to answer this question. Include a printout or
screenshot of your Maxima worksheet with your solution. Your solution
should include a clear statement of the problem and the method used.
Remember that for good mathematical communication you should present
your answer clearly.
A high street bakery sells three different cakes made from the following
recipes:
Flour (in cups) Milk (in cups) Sugar (in cups)
Angel cake 1.5 2 1.5
Victoria cake 3 2.5 1
Rainbow cake 4 5 1

Suppose that the bakery has stock of 64 cups of flour, 66 cups of milk and
28 cups of sugar. How many Angel, Victoria and Rainbow cakes can the
bakery make with these ingredients, assuming that they use all of the
ingredients? (Give/round your answer to the nearest integer.) [5]
You should model the problem as a system of three linear simultaneous
equations, and then use matrices in Maxima to find the number of Angel,
Victoria and Rainbow cakes.

Question 4 – 10 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
(a) For the infinite geometric sequence (xn ) whose first four terms are:
2, −6, 18, −54,
find the values of the first term x1 = a and the common ratio r, and
write down a recurrence system for this sequence. [4]
(b) Write down a closed form for this sequence. [2]
(c) Calculate the eighth term of the sequence. [1]
(d) Describe the long-term behaviour of the sequence. Justify your answer. [3]

Question 5 – 5 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
Sam sets up a bank account with an initial deposit of £1500. The account
pays no interest. One year later, Sam adds £150 to the account. The
following year, he adds £160, and then each subsequent year, he adds an
amount £10 more than was added the previous year. Work out how much
money in total is in the account after 20 years. [5]

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Question 6 – 4 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
Find a fraction equivalent to the recurring decimal:
0.251222512225122 . . . . [4]

Question 7 – 4 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
Find the sum of the infinite series (and explain why the summation
converges):
∞
X cos(nπ)
[4]
2n
n=0

(Hint: write down the value of cos(nπ) for n = 0, 1, 2, . . . first to spot the
pattern.)

Question 8 – 4 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
Find the coefficient of x6 y 3 in the binomial expansion of:
(x − 2y)9 [4]

Question 9 – 8 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 12.
(a) Given the complex numbers:
 
3π 3π
z = 2 cos + i sin
12 12
and
 π π
w = 8 cos + i sin ,
12 12
z
find , giving your answer in Cartesian form. [3]
w
(b) Use de Moivre’s formula to find the Cartesian form of the complex
number:
 √ 9
1 + 3i [5]

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Question 10 – 10 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 12.
You should use Maxima to answer both parts of this question. Include a
printout or screenshot of your Maxima worksheets with your solution. You
are not expected to annotate your Maxima worksheets with explanation.
However, remember for good mathematical communication you should
present your answer clearly.
(a) Given the complex numbers:
z = 1.5 + 3 i and w = 0.5 + 0.75 i.
z
find the moduli and principal arguments of zw and , giving your
w
answer in 3 decimal places. [5]
(b) Solve the equation:
z 5 − z 4 + 4z − 4 = 0,
and plot the solutions in the complex plane. [5]

Question 11 – 8 marks
You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 12.
(a) Find all roots to the following equation (in Cartesian form):
√
z8 = 3 − i [5]

(b) Express 2i in Cartesian form to 4 decimal places. [3]

(Hint: The rules for logarithm on page 273 of Book A still apply to
complex numbers.)

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Question 12 – 10 marks
(a) You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 10.
Consider two arithmetic sequences: (xn ) and (yn ). The table below
shows the first 5 terms of (xn ) and (yn ). Find the minimum value of
|xn − yn |.

n 1 2 3 4 5
xn 100 98 96 94 92
yn 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 [6]

(Hint: Notice that (xn ) is decreasing and (yn ) is increasing. Find the
value of n for which yn is going to overtake xn .)
(b) You should be able to answer this question after studying Unit 12.
The Maxima graph below shows solutions of a polynomial equation,
with real coefficients, in the complex plane. Find the polynomial
equation, giving it in its simplest form, and explain your working.

[4]

Question 13 – 5 marks
A score out of 5 marks for good mathematical communication throughout
TMA 04 will be recorded under Question 13. [5]

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