Drill 2 Answers and

Explanations
Cracking the AP Calculus BC Exam

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS TO DRILL 2

1. B This may appear to be a limit problem, but it is actually testing to see whether you know the defini-
tion of the derivative.

f (x + h)  f (x )
Step 1: You should recall that lim = f ( x ) . Thus, if we replace ƒ(x) with sec(x),
h →0 h
we can rewrite the problem as
sec( x + h ) − sec( x )
lim = [ sec( x )]′
h →0 h

Step 2: The derivative of sec(x) is sec(x)tan(x). Thus,

sec( π + h ) − sec(π )
lim = sec(p) tan(p)
h →0 h

Step 3: Because sec(p) = –1 and tan(p) = 0, this is equal to 0.

2. C The volume of a cube is V = x3. Using differentials, the change will be dV = 3x 2 dx.

Substitute in x = 8 and dx = –0.01, and we get

dV = 3(82)(–0.01)

dV = –1.92

3. C Step 1: An infinite series of the form ∑r

n= 0
n
will converge if |r| < 1. So all we have to do is to set

a
< 1.
x+2

a
Step 2: < 1 means that |a| < |x + 2|.
x+2

Step 3: Solving the inequality, a < x + 2 or –a > x + 2 Thus, the two solutions are x < –a – 2 OR
x > a – 2, for a > 0.

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 Cracking the AP Calculus BC Exam

4. C Step 1: Your first reaction to this integral may very well be “I don’t know how to find the integral
of an inverse trigonometric function. I know only how to find the derivative of an inverse trigono-
metric function!” That’s okay. This is actually an integration by parts problem. First of all, we are
going to ignore the limits of integration until the end of this problem, and just focus on finding the
integral itself. As you should recall, the formula for integration by parts is

∫ u dv = uv − ∫ v du
Step 2: Let: u = sin–1 x and dv = dx.
dx
Then du = and v = x.
1 − x2 1 x dx
∫ sin ∫
−1
Now, using integration by parts, we have ( x ) dx = x sin −1 ( x ) − .
0
1 − x2
Step 3: We can now solve this latter integral with u-substitution.

Let u = 1 – x 2 and du = –2x dx.

−1
du = x dx
2

dx −1 −21 1

Then we have ∫ 1 − x2
=
2 ∫
u du = − u 2 .

(1 − x ) .
1
∫ sin
−1
Step 4: Substituting back for u gives us ( x ) dx = x sin −1 ( x ) + 2
0

Step 5: Now we evaluate at the limits of integration.

( ) = ((1)sin ) ( π 
)
π −2
1
x sin −1 x + 1 − x 2 −1
(1) + 0 − 0 sin −1 0 + 1 =   − (1) =
0 2 2

5. A Step 1: This problem requires you to know how to find equations of tangent lines. We will use the
point-slope formula of a line: (y – y1) = m(x – x1).

5 − (2 2 ) 5−4 1 1 1
Step 2: When x = 2, y = = = = , so x1 = 2 and y1 =
5 + (2 2
) 5+4 9 3 3
−1

dy 1  5 − x  2  (5 + x )( −2 x ) − (5 − x )(2 x ) 
2 2 2
Step 3: =   
dx 2  5 + x 2   (5 + x 2 )
2


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Cracking the AP Calculus BC Exam

This would now require some messy algebra to simplify, but fortunately we don’t have to. We can
−1

dy 1  5 − 2  2
2  (5 + 2 2 )( −4 ) − (5 − 2 2 )( 4 ) 
plug in 2 for x right now and solve for =   ,
dx 2  5 + 2 2   (5 + 22 )
2

−1
1 1 2  (9)( −4 ) − (1)( 4 )  3  −36 − 4  −20
which simplifies to     = 2  81  = 27 .
2 9  (9)2 

−20
Step 4: If we were finding the equation of a tangent line, we would use for m in the equation,
27
but, as you should recall, because we are finding the equation of the normal line, we use the nega-
−20 27
tive reciprocal of
for m, which is , and plug it into the equation of the line.
27 20
1 27
Step 5: Now we have (y – y1) = m(x – x1), which becomes y – = (x – 2).
3 20
Multiply through by 60 to get 60y – 20 = 81x – 162 or 81x – 60y = 142.

6. B Step 1: The Mean Value Theorem for derivatives states that if a function is differentiable on an
f (b ) − f ( a )
interval [a, b], then there exists some value c in that interval where = f ′(c ) .
b−a

f (b ) − f ( a ) 2 sin π − 2 sin 0 0
Step 2: = = =0
b−a π −0 π

Step 3: Thus, f 9(c) = 0. Because f 9(c) = 2cos(c), we need to know what value of c makes 2 cos(c) = 0.
π
The value is .
2
7. D This problem requires you to be familiar with the Mean Value Theorem for integrals, which we use
to find the average value of a function.

Step 1: If you want to find the average value of ƒ(x) on an interval [a, b], you need to evaluate the
1 1 e
∫
b
integral
b−a ∫
a
f ( x ) dx . So here we would evaluate the integral
e −1 1
x ln x dx .

Step 2: We are going to need to do integration by parts to evaluate this integral. Let’s ignore the

limits of integration for now and just do the integration.

Let u = ln x and dv = x dx.

1 x2
Then du = dx and v = .
x 2
x2  x2   1  x2 1
Now the integral becomes ∫ x ln x dx = 2
ln x − ∫     dx =
 2 x  2
ln x − ∫ x dx .
2

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 Cracking the AP Calculus BC Exam

e
e  x2 x2 
Thus, we have ∫1
x ln x dx =  ln x −  .
2 4 1
e
 x2 x2   e2 e2   1 1   e2 e2 1 
Step 3:  ln x −  =  ln e −  −  ln1 −  =  − +
2 4 1  2 4  2 4  2 4 4 
e2 + 1
This can be simplified to .
4 e2 + 1
1
Step 4: Don’t forget to multiply by . This gives the final result of .
e −1 4(e − 1)
8. B Step 1: The ladder forms a right triangle with the wall, with the ladder itself as the hypotenuse.
Whenever we see right triangles in related rates problems, we look to use the Pythagorean Theorem.

Call the distance from the top of the ladder to the ground y, and the distance from the foot of the
dy
ladder to the wall x. Then the rate at which the top of the ladder is sliding down the wall is ,
dt
dx
and the rate at which the foot of the ladder is sliding away from the wall is , which is what we
dt
need to find. Now we use the Pythagorean Theorem to set up the relationships: x 2 + y2 = 172.
dx dy
Step 2: Differentiating both sides, we obtain 2 x + 2y = 0.
dt dt
Step 3: Because of the Pythagorean Theorem, we also know that, when y = 8, x = 15.

dx
Step 4: Now we plug everything into the equation from Step 2 and solve for .
dt
dx dx 8
2(15) + 2(8)( −5) = 0 and =
dt dt 3

9. A Step 1: Separate the variables, by putting all of the terms containing y on the left-hand side of the
equals sign, and all of the terms containing x on the right-hand side.
dy
= 3 ∫ cos x dx
y

Step 2: Integrate both sides.

dy
∫ y
= 3 ∫ cos x dx

ln y = 3sin x + C

Drill 2 Answers and Explanations | 5

Cracking the AP Calculus BC Exam

Whenever we have a differential equation where the solution is in terms of ln y, we always

solve the equation for y. This involves raising e to the power of each side. This gives us:
eln y = e3sin x + C ; y = e3sin x eC ; y = Ce3sin x. Now you should notice that eC is just a constant, so we call
that C, and write the equation as

y = Ce3sin x

Step 3: Now plug in y = 8 and x = 0 in order to solve for C.

8 = Ce3sin 0 = Ce 0 = C

8=C

Step 4: This gives the final equation of y = 8e3sin x.

10. D This problem requires you to find an arc length. This is a simple integral formula.

Step 1: The formula for the arc length of a curve given in parametric form on the interval [a, b] is
2 2
b  dx   dy 
∫ a
  +   dt
dt dt

2 2
dx dy b  dx   dy  9
Step 2:
dt
= 3 and
dt
= 4t, so ∫
a
  +   dt =
dt dt ∫
0
32 + ( 4t )2 dt

9 9
Step 3:
∫0
32 + ( 4t )2 dt = ∫0
9 + 16t 2 dt

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6 | Drill 2 Answers and Explanations