WHY THE CREATION OF THIS DOCUMENT?

This document is written as a sample School Based Assessment (SBA) for CAPE Pure
Mathematics Unit 1 candidates by Mr. Garth Reid, Teacher of Mathematics in Jamaica.
Viewers should note that this sample is available to the public in order for students to have a
better understanding of the newly implemented SBA project in the syllabus which will take
effect in May/June 2023. You can contact Mr. G Reid via email: garthreid53@gmail.com
and his YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/channel/UCQcbkWy-iDDu42nU2-JTOLA

NO PLAGIARISM WILL BE TOLERATED

What is Plagiarism?

This is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s
own with or without consent, by incorporating it into your work without full
acknowledgement.

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 CAPE PURE MATHEMATICS UNIT 1

SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT

Name of Teacher: Mr. Garth Reid

Name of Student: John Adam Brown

Registration Number: 1001234567

Centre: Let There Be Light High School

Centre Number: 100123

Territory: Jamaica

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Project Title Page 4

Problem Statement Page 5

Mathematical Formulation Pages 6 – 8

The Problem Solution Pages 9 – 14

Discussion of Findings Pages 15 – 17

References Page 18

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 PROJECT TITLE

The title of this school based assessment is “An exploration to determine the maximum
volume of a trough with a trapezium as its cross section in the field of agriculture”.

4
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The purpose of a trough in the field of agriculture is to hold water or food for large animals
and it is a long narrow container. A farmer by the name of Bob Brown in Clarendon,
Jamaica is planning on spending couple days off at a hotel with his wife but does not want
his animals to be starving while he is away. Before he goes off on vacation, a trough will be
coming to the farm but Bob only knows the general dimensions that are shown in Diagrams
A and B on page . Therefore John Brown, his son who is doing CAPE Pure Mathematics
suggested solving this problem by using differential calculus to determine the maximum
volume of his trough at the farm.

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 MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION

Appropriate Diagrams

Diagram A

Description: Diagram A shows the design of the trough

Diagram B

Description: Diagram B shows the cross section of the trough

in the shape of a trapezium

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Descriptions of Variables and Constants

: Let this represent the cross sectional area of the trough

: Let this represent the length of the lateral sides and the shorter base in Diagram B

: Let this represent the base of each right angled triangle in Diagram B

: Let this represent the perpendicular height of Diagram B

: Let this represent the length of the trough

: Let this represent the angle between the base and the perpendicular height
in Diagram B

: Let this represent the volume of the trough

: Let this represent the first derivative of volume with respect to

: Let this represent the second derivative of volume with respect to

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To determine the maximum volume of the trough the following steps were followed.

Step 1: Obtain an equation representing the area of the trapezium which was found by
combining the area of the right angled triangles and the area of the rectangle using
the formula .

Step 2: Obtain an equation representing the volume of the trough by using the formula
.

Step 3: The first derivative of volume with respect to was then calculated.

Step 4: In order to obtain the critical values, the first derivative is equated to zero.

Step 5: To classify the values of that was obtained, the second derivative was
calculated. Additionally, after successfully substituting each value of into the
second derivative, the following were used to identify possible points of inflexions,
maximum and minimum turning points.

If then a possible point of inflection exists.

If then a minimum turning point exists.

If then a maximum turning point exists.

Step 6: The maximum of volume of the trough will then be calculated after
substituting the appropriate value of into .

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PROBLEM SOLUTION

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At stationary points, the gradient of the first derivative is zero.

Divide both sides of the equation by –

Either or

Where

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Classification of Stationary Points Using The Second Derivative Test

When ,

Since A possible point of inflexion exists at

When ,

Since A maximum point exists at

When ,

Since A minimum point exists at .

If then cm3

Therefore, the maximum volume of a trough with a trapezium as its cross section is
cubic centimetres.

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Application of Solution

By applying what was observed from the problem solution, days after completing the
problem, the company who brought the trough to the farmer informed us that the length of
the trough is metres and metre in length for the lateral sides of the cross section. Since
this is the case, it means that and . This implies that the derivative of volume
with respect to is . When this expression is equated to zero to
determine the stationary values, the result is the same in the problem solution. Additionally,
the second derivative of volume with respect to would become
which would mean that at and at
where . Therefore, the maximum volume obtained is cubic centimetres after
using direct substitution with the appropriate stationary value.

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Appropriate Diagrams

The diagram above shows the solutions to the equations and

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The diagram above shows when and

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 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

In order to determine the maximum volume of the trough with a trapezium as its cross
section, it was observed that differential calculus proved to be useful. Based on Diagram B,
the area of the trapezium was calculated which is such that the cross
sectional area can be multiplied by the length of the trough in order to obtain the volume
which was expressed as . This expression was then differentiated with
respect to by using the product rule of differentiation, , which is
. After obtaining the first derivative, it was then equated to
zero to find the stationary values and this involved solving trigonometric equations by
finding the general solutions. These solutions were generated by observing the graphical
solutions of the equations and with the graph of .
Now that the stationary values are calculated the second derivative of the volume with
respect to is derived, that is – .

Additionally, each of the stationary values are substituted into the second derivative. At the
stationary value , a possible point of inflexion exists, at ,a
maximum point exists and at , a minimum point exists where . Finally,
once the appropriate stationary value has been identified, it was substituted into in order
to determine the maximum volume and this was calculated to be cubic centimetres.

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Recommendations

In this project, differential calculus was used to determine the maximum volume of a trough
for the farmer, Bob Brown since he was concerned about the well being of his animals
before going on vacation. This was successfully achieved however; a recommendation can
be given to the farmer as well after finding the minimum volume of the trough just in case
he may not have enough money to afford a lot of food for the animals at a particular time of
the year. The method implemented in this project could also have been used if a fixed
volume was given instead and the surface area is derived in order to determine the amount
of material which would be needed to build a trough for the farmer.

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Conclusion

By using differential calculus, the maximum volume of the trough with a trapezium as its
cross section is cubic centimetres. The three values of which were obtained from
the first derivative are where . However,
at is where the second derivative of volume with respect to has a negative
value and this was the key observation.

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 REFRENCES

Bahall, D. (2013). Pure Mathematics Unit 1 for CAPE Examinations. Macmillan

Publishers. Pages 407 – 423.

Caribbean Examinations Council. (2022). CAPE Pure Mathematics: Module 3, Calculus 1.

Pages 22 – 23.

Khan Academy. (n.d.). Applications of Derivatives. Retrieved from

https://youtu.be/cRboY08YG8g.

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