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Lab 2

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rayforschoollol
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Lab 2 Calculus and Roller Coasters Math 1A

Your company has been sub-


contracted by Great America to
design the first ascent and drop
for their new roller coaster. For
safety reasons, the initial
incline cannot exceed a slope
of 1. They are hoping to thrill
park goers by using a dramatic
slope of −2 for the initial drop.
The tricky part, is designing
the smooth curve that will
connect these two slopes.
Assume that track follows
along a line of slope 1 until you
reach point 𝐴.

After traveling 100 feet


horizontally you will connect
to a line with slope −2 at point
𝐵. Your job is to find the curve
that will smoothly connect the A
roller coaster between these
points. To simplify your
calculations, you decide to
place the origin at 𝐴. This B
makes the 𝑦-intercept of the
ascending line obvious, but the
𝑦-intercept of the descending
line is still unknown.
I. Since the top of a roller coaster seems to resemble a parabola your first suggestion is to find a parabola
𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 that will connect the two points.

1) Write a piecewise defined function, 𝑓, that will describe the rollercoasters transition from the inclined
line to the parabola to the declined line. (Hint: your piecewise function should have for unknown
constants.) (5 points)

2) Clearly, this function must be continuous to prevent people from falling to their death. Since the
pieces of your function are continuous on the pieces you need only show that certain limits from the left
and right agree. Write these limit equations, then evaluate the limits to find two linear equations.

3) If continuity were all that was needed, they could have simply connected the two lines at 𝐴 and 𝐵.
Instead, we need a smooth curve. This means the derivative must exist everywhere in the domain.
Determine what equations must hold true for this to be true. (5 points)

4) Use the equations in (2) and (3) to solve for 𝑎, 𝑏 and 𝑐. (5 points)

5) What are the co-ordinates of 𝐵? For the rest of the lab you may assume this value for 𝐵. (5 points)

6) Draw a precise graph of 𝑓. Remember that you are a professional and that your graph needs to be
large, precise, and clear. (5 points)

7) Find the second derivative of 𝑓 and explain where it fails to exist. (5 points)

8) Draw precise graphs of 𝑓′ and 𝑓′′. Again remember to be a professional. (5 points)

II. Although the curve you found in (I) appears smooth, it will feel jerky to park goers at those points
where the second derivative fails to exist. As a result you go back to the drawing board. Since a quadratic
failed to do the job, it makes sense to try a cubic, (𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 3 + 𝑏𝑥 2 + 𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑).

9) Write a piecewise defined function 𝑔, to describe this new situation. (5 points)

10) What equations must hold for 𝑔 to be continuous everywhere? (5 points)

11) What equations must hold for 𝑔 to be differentiable everywhere? (5 points)

12) What equations must hold for 𝑔′′ to exist everywhere? (5 points)

13) Prove that no such function exists. (10 points)

III. You have now narrowed down your goal. You need to find a piecewise defined function ℎ consisting
of only 3 pieces, that is continuous and differentiable, whose second derivative is defined everywhere.
Be sure to state the function explicitly and explain in detail how you arrived at this function. (30 points).

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