Mathematical Methods for Engineers 1 (MATH 1063)

Calculus 1 (MATH 1054)

Assignment 1, Study Period 2, 2008

Due by 2 pm on Friday, 11 April 2008.

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The assignment should be submitted in the appropriately labelled assignment submission box
in the front foyer of the OC building.
The University’s policy on plagiarism will be applied strictly, and hence any “joint work” must
be indicated. Please see the three items in the section “Important! How not to plagiarise
in MME 1” in your Course Information Booklet.

Please ensure that all pages are securely attached. Use Matlab only if you are indicated to do
so in the question. For the Matlab questions, include printouts of your code, your plots, and
any other output requested in the question.
√ Where a question asks for an exact answer, use
any necessary expressions such as π or 3, decimal approximations are not acceptable.
All your answers should be clear, precise, and tidy.
References are always made to the book Calculus, 7th edition, by Edwards and Penney.
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1. Find the following limits.

 
cos2 θ 1 1 1 x2 − 16
(a) lim (b) lim √ − (c) lim √
θ−→π/2 1 − sin θ h−→0 h 9+h 3 x−→4 2− x

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(d) lim x sin
x−→∞ x
2. The function
1
f (x) = x4 sin
x
is clearly undefined at x = 0, but despite all of this the function does have a limit as x
approaches 0.

(a) Use Matlab and ezplot to sketch f (x) for −0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.04, and use the zoom on
facility to guess the
1
lim x4 sin .
x→0 x
You need to include your M-file, output and graph after zooming. Compute the
above limit, and verify that your guess is correct. [Hint: Use the Squeeze Law (see
p. 78 of Edwards and Penney).]
(b) The function f is not defined at x = 0, hence it cannot be continuous at x = 0. Use
item (a) to define f at x = 0 so that f becomes continuous at x = 0. (In other words,
show that the discontinuity of f at x = 0 is removable).
(c) Now we have that f (0) exists for the function you defined in (b). Moreover, this f
is continuous at x = 0. Find f  (x) for x = 0 and find f  (0). [Hint: For computing
f  (0), find the right-hand and left-hand derivatives of f at x = 0 using the definitions
given in the statement of Question 5(b).]

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 (d) Use Matlab and ezplot to sketch f  (x) for −0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.04.

3. An aircraft tracking device employs two directional beams emanating from two ground
stations A and B situated a distance b apart. The angular coordinates θ1 , θ2 and the
dθ1
angular velocity ω1 = are fed into a computer which calculates the motion of the
dt
aircraft. For the simple case of horizontal flight of the target in the vertical plane containing
the two stations, show that the velocity v of the aircraft is

b ω1 csc2 θ1
v= .
cot θ2 − cot θ1

θ2(t)
θ1(t) x(t)

A B
b

Figure 1: Two tracking devices of an aircraft

Hint: Assume that the aircraft is directly above the first ground station A at time t = 0,
and after t seconds it is located directly above x(t) (as shown in Figure 1). The velocity
dx
v(t) is .
dt
4. (Dos Moscas - Student Research Projects in Calculus, Mathematical Association of Amer-
ica, 1991) Two flies (twin sisters) are sitting on a spherical balloon while it is being inflated
at a constant rate. Assume that air is being injected into the balloon at a rate of 5 cu-
bic centimeters per second (cm3 /s), and that the balloon has no air in it to begin with.
Further assume that one sister is situated at the north pole and the other on the equator.

(a) Draw a picture showing an instant of the balloon with the two sisters on it, complete
with labels, including the radius r of the balloon and the distance s between the two
sisters. Note that s is the shortest distance measured on the surface of the baloon.
(b) How fast are the two flies parting company as a function of the radius r?
(c) How fast when r = 1 cm?
(d) How fast when r = 0.1 cm?
(e) How fast when r = 0.01 cm?
(f) How fast are they separating initially?

5. In an electric circuit, for time t ≥ 0 (t in seconds) an input voltage v(t) is applied, such
that ⎧
⎨ 50 t if t ∈ [0, π),
v(t) = 50(2π − t) if t ∈ [π, 2π),
⎩
0 if t ≥ 2π.

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 By inspection of v(t), you can see that v(t) is continuous at the points t0 = π and t1 = 2π.
The charge (in Coulombs) q(t) produced by the voltage v(t) is as follows.
⎧
⎨ 2 t − 0.8 sin 2.5 t if t ∈ [0, π),
q(t) = 4π − 2t − 0.8 sin 2.5 t − 1.6 cos 2.5 t if t ∈ [π, 2π),
⎩
−1.6 cos 2.5 t if t ≥ 2π.

You may assume all of the above information.

(a) Use Matlab to graph q(t) for t ∈ [0, 3π].

(b) Given a function f : IR → IR, the left-hand and right-hand derivatives of f at a are
defined by

f (a + h) − f (a) f (a + h) − f (a)
f− (a) = lim , f+ (a) = lim ,
h→0− h h→0+ h

provided these limits exist. The derivative f  (a) exists if and only if both limits f− (a)
and f+ (a) exist and coincide. In the latter case, f  (a) = f− (a) = f+ (a).
Compute the right-hand and left-hand derivatives of v(t) at the points t0 = π and
t1 = 2π. Use these limits to determine whether or not v  (π) and v  (2 π) exist.
(c) Can the results of item (b) be obtained by inspecting the graph of v(t)? Justify your
answer.
(d) Compute the right-hand and left-hand limits of q(t) at the points t0 = π and t1 = 2π.
Use these limits to determine whether or not q(t) is continuous at the points t0 = π
and t1 = 2π.
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6. Suppose that α, β are acute angles (i.e., α, β ∈ [0, π/2]). Assume that cos α = 14 and
cos β = 17 . Prove that α + β = 2π
3 . [Hint: Compute cos(α + β).]

7. Consider the following simple mechanism consisting of two levers AP, PB loosely hinged
at the “elbow” P so that it can bend to the right. The end A is hinged to a fixed point
8 cm above an origin O. The lever AP has length 5 cm, and the lever PB has length 12 cm.
The end B is able to slide along the x-axis. Let θ be the angle at the elbow P as shown.

y
AP = 5 cm
BP = 12 cm P
OA = 8 cm

θ
A

8 cm
φ
B
O

Clearly P must travel along an arc of a circle of radius 5 cm centred at A, but it is restricted
by the end B having to lie on the x-axis. To ensure you comprehend the movement of this

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mechanism, the following picture shows nine different positions as well as the arc traced
out by P. Examine carefully each instant as B moves from left to right.

(a) Suppose the end B is at the position (x, 0). Assume that x is positive at the right of
O, and negative at the left of O. Show that the angle θ(x) is given by the relationship

105 − 120 cos θ = x2 .

[Hint: Use the Law of cosines.]. Using this formula only, find the domain of possible
x values. Using the formula and the figures of the mechanism, carefully explain why
the range is
7
arccos ≤ θ ≤ π .
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(b) Use simple algebra or geometry to find the value of x in each of the three special
situations:
i. when θ is a right-angle and x > 0.
ii. when P is vertically below A.
iii. when P is as high as possible.
(c) Let the other angle φ be as shown in the first figure of this question. Use trigonometric
identities to show that, at the instant described in part i. of item (b) above,
√
40 − 12 105
cos φ =
169
.