MA1024 | Methods of Mathematics

Tutorial 04
Numerical Methods

𝑥 4 −1
1. Show that 𝑔(𝑥) = has a unique fixed point on the interval [-0.5,0]
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In2020-Semester 2
2. What is the number of iterations required to find a real root of 𝑥 4 − 4𝑥 − 1 = 0 accurate to 10−3 in
𝑥 4 −1
the interval [-0.5,0] using the fixed-point method? Consider 𝑔(𝑥) = as the fixed-point function.
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3. Use the fixed-point method to find a real root of 1 + 0.5𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝑥) = 𝑥 accurate to 10−3 in the interval
[1,2].
4. Use the fixed-point method to obtain the root(s) of the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 3𝑥 2 − 𝑥 − 4. Assume the
initial guess 𝑥0 = 6 and use the iteration function 𝑔(𝑥) = 3𝑥 2 − 4. Is the numerical solution
converging? If not, provide an initial guess which converges.

5.
a. Show that the fixed-point sequence defined by
1 1
𝑥𝑛 = 2 𝑥𝑛−1 + 𝑥 , 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛 ≥ 1,
𝑛−1

converges to √2 whenever 𝑥0 > √2.

b. Use the fact that 0 < (𝑥0 − √2)2 whenever 𝑥0 ≠ √2 to show that if 0 < 𝑥0 < √2, then 𝑥1 >
√2.
c. Use the results of parts (a) and (b) to show that the sequence in (a) converges to √2
whenever 𝑥0 > 0.

This question is for self-studying.

Probability and Statistics

1. According to the historical records of the ministry of disaster management, there have been a
number of major natural disasters ranging between zero to five during each year in Sri Lanka. Based
on this data, the following discrete probability distribution of 𝑋: the number of natural disasters in
a year, is produced.

𝑥 0 1 2 3 4 5
𝑃(𝑥) 0.325 0.27 0.29 0.055 0.054 0.006
a. Find the expected number of major natural disasters in a year in Sri Lanka.
b. Find the variance and the standard deviation of 𝑋.

𝑆𝐷(𝑋) = 1.1614

2. A toy manufacturing company is trying to decide which of the two machines to select, both of which
require same dollar investment. This company sells their production to 5 main retailers. Based on
the standards of the retailers, the probability of detecting defects and the allocation of the number
of items produced by these two machines for each company are given in the following table.

Company Probability Machine 1 Machine 2

A 0.05 300 425

B 0.15 500 300

C 0.6 1050 650

 D 0.15 750 1000

E 0.05 800 550

a. Compute the expected value and the standard deviation of the number of defective items
under each machine.
i. Which machine has the higher expected defects?
ii. Which machine is at a higher risk of producing defects?
b. If you are the manager, which machine would you select? Give a statistical reason.

Comparing two samples using only the average will be not fair when there is a difference between
the variability of data. In such situations C.V will be used to do the comparison giving a reference to
variance/standard deviation of data.
3. An entrepreneur started to make a new product from peanuts. He purchases 50𝑘𝑔 of peanut pods
from the farmers for a single production run and uses the good nuts for his production. Following
is the probability density function of the wastage (shells and bad nuts) of the production per run
which is denoted by the random variable 𝑋.

𝑘(𝑥 − 1)(2 − 𝑥) ; 𝑖𝑓 1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2
𝑓(𝑥) = {
0 ; 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒

(Note that values of 𝑋 are given in kilograms)

a. Find the constant 𝑘.

b. Find the mean and standard deviation of 𝑋.
c. What is the minimum wastage expected?
d. Find the CDF of 𝑋.
e. Find the probability of having a wastage less than 1.5𝑘𝑔 per run.
4. Consider the following continuous function 𝑓(𝑥), where 𝜃 > 0.

𝑐(thita - x)
;0 < 𝑥 < 𝜃
𝑓(𝑥) = {𝜃 2
0 ; 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒

a. Find the value of the constant 𝑐 so that 𝑓(𝑥) is a suitable PDF.

b. Find the mean and standard deviation of 𝑋.
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c. If 𝜃 = 2 , find 𝑃(𝑋 > 1), 𝑃(𝑋 > 2) and 𝑃(𝑋 > 2 − √2).
𝜃 3𝜃
d. Compute 𝑃(10 < 𝑋 < )
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5. Lanza and Nishantha have agreed to join a party between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm (1 hour). The arrival
time of Lanza is given by 𝑋 and Nishantha’s arrival time is given by 𝑌 which are measured from 6.00
p.m. onward and expect always to present before 7.00 p.m. and are considered independently
distributed according to their past behavior.

3𝑥 2 ; 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1
𝑓(𝑥) = {
0 ; 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒

2𝑦 ; 0 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 1
𝑓(𝑔) = {
0 ; 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒

Hints:

• X and Y are said to be independent if 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑓(𝑥). 𝑓(𝑦) for all 𝑥, 𝑦

• Expectation of a function of 𝑋 and 𝑌
∞ ∞
𝐸[𝑔(𝑥, 𝑦)] is given by ∫−∞ ∫−∞ 𝑔(𝑥, 𝑦). 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) 𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦

a. Find the joint probability density function 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦).

b. Find the expected amount of time that Lanza would have to wait for Nishantha to arrive.
Multivariate Calculus and PDE

𝑥 3 −𝑦 3
∶ 𝑖𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) ≠ (0,0)
1. Let 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = {𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 . Discuss the differentiability of 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) at (0,0).
0 ; 𝑖𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) = (0,0)

2.
a. You are told that there is a function 𝑓 of two variables whose partial derivatives are 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) =
𝑥 + 4𝑦 and 𝑓𝑦 (𝑥, 𝑦) = 3𝑥 − 𝑦. Should you believe it?
 b. Use Clairaut’s Theorem to show that if the third order partial derivatives are continuous,
then 𝑓𝑥𝑦𝑦 = 𝑓𝑦𝑥𝑦 = 𝑓𝑦𝑦𝑥 .

3. The wave heights h in the open sea depends on the speed 𝑣 of the wind and the length of time 𝑡 that
the wind has been blowing at that speed. Values of the function ℎ = 𝑓(𝑣, 𝑡) are recorded in feet in
the following table. Use the table to find a linear approximation to the wave height function when 𝑣
is near 40 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑠 and 𝑡 is near 20 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠. Then estimate the wave heights when the wind has been
blowing for 24 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 at 43 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑠.
 2𝑥+3
4. Verify the linear approximation at (0,0): 4𝑦+1 ≈ 3 + 2𝑥 − 12𝑦.

5. Let 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = √𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑦 . Estimate the value of 𝑓(4.1,0.8).

𝜋
(Hint: select an appropriate value for (𝑥0 , 𝑦0 ) for your calculations, 4 = 0.785)

-End of the Tutorial-