A Level CIE Maths 3 hours 22 questions

4.3 Differentiation of
Parametric Equations
4.3.1 Parametric Equations - Basics / 4.3.2 Parametric Equations - Eliminating the
Parameter / 4.3.3 Parametric Equations - Sketching Graphs / 4.3.4 Parametric
Differentiation

Easy (6 questions) /40

Medium (5 questions) /39 Scan here for your answers

Very Hard (5 questions) /38

Total Marks /162

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Easy Questions
1 (a) Given

x = et and y = 2t 3 + 3t

dx dy
find and .
dt dt

(2 marks)

dy
(b) Hence, or otherwise, find in terms of t .
dx

(2 marks)

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2 (a) Find the Cartesian equation of the curve C , defined by the parametric equations

x = t − 1 and y = 2 ln t

(2 marks)

i) dy
(b) Find in terms of x .
dx
ii) Find the gradient of C at the point where t = 1 .

(3 marks)

(c) Hence find the equation of the tangent to C at the point where t = 1 .

(2 marks)

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3 (a) A particle travels along a path defined by the parametric equations

x = 6t and y = 8t 2 − 8t + 3, 0 ≤ t ≤ 1,

where (x , y ) are the coordinates of the particle at time t seconds.

Find the coordinates of the particle after 0.2 seconds.

(2 marks)

i) dx dy
(b) Find and .
dt dt
ii) dy
Hence find in terms of t .
dx

(3 marks)

(c) Find the coordinates of the particle when it is at its minimum point.

(2 marks)

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4 (a) The graph of the curve C shown below is defined by the parametric equations

x = 5 sin θ and y = θ 2 , − π ≤ θ ≤ π .

Find the exact coordinates of point A .

(2 marks)

i) dy
(b) Write down the value of at the origin.
dθ
ii) dx
Write down the value of at the points where x = − 5 and x = 5 .
dθ

(2 marks)

i) dx dy
(c) Find and .
dθ dθ
ii) dy
Hence find in terms of θ .
dx
iii)

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 π
Find the gradient at the point where θ= .
3

(4 marks)

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5 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

x = 5t 2 − 1 and y = 3t , t >0

i) dx dy
Find and .
dt dt
ii) dy
Hence find in terms of t .
dx

(3 marks)

(b) i) Find the gradient of the tangent toC at the point (4 , 3).
ii) Hence find the equation of the tangent to C at the point (4 , 3).

(3 marks)

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6 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

x = 2t 3 and y = 4t − 1, t > 0.

i) dx dy
Find and .
dt dt
ii) dy
Hence find in terms of t.
dx

(3 marks)

(b) i) Find the gradient of the tangent toC at the point (16 , 7).
ii) Hence find the gradient of the normal to C at the point (16 , 7).
iii) Find the equation of the normal to C at the point (16 , 7).

(5 marks)

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Medium Questions
dy
1 (a) Find an expression for in terms of t for the parametric equations
dx

x = e2t y = 3t 2 + 1

(3 marks)

(b) The graph of y against x passes through the point P (1 , 1).

(i) Find the value of t at the point P.

(ii) Find the gradient at the point P.

(iii) What does the value of the gradient tell you about point P?

(3 marks)

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2 (a) A crane swings a wrecking ball along a two-dimensional path defined by the parametric
equations

x = 12t y = 9t 2 − 9t + 4 0 ≤t ≤1

as shown in the diagram below.

x and y are, respectively, the horizontal and vertical displacements in metres from the
origin, O, and t is the time in seconds. Point A indicates the initial position of the
wrecking ball, at time t = 0 .
Find the height of the wrecking ball after 0.3 seconds.

(2 marks)

(b) Find the minimum height of the wrecking ball during its motion.

(3 marks)

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(c) Find the horizontal distances from point A at the times when the wrecking ball is at a
height of 2.9 m, giving your answers accurate to 1 decimal place.

(4 marks)

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3 (a) The graph of the curve C shown below is defined by the parametric equations

π π
x = 3sin 3θ y = 6cos 2θ − ≤θ ≤
2 2

(i) dy
Write down the value of at the point (0 , 6).
dθ

(ii) dx
Write down the value of at the points (-3 , 3) and (3 , 3).
dθ

(2 marks)

dy
(b) Find an expression for in terms of θ .
dx

(3 marks)

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 (i) dy π
(c) Find the values of x, y and at the point where θ = .
dx 12

(ii) π
Hence show the equation of the tangent to C at the point where θ= is
12
2 2 x + 3y − (9 3 + 6) = 0

(4 marks)

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4 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

1
x = 6t 2 + 2 y = t >0
t

dy
Find an expression, in terms of t, for .
dx

(3 marks)

(b) (i) Find the gradient of the tangent to C at the point (8 , 1).

(ii) Hence write down the gradient of the normal to C at the point (8 , 1).

(iii) Find the equation of the normal to C at the point (8 , 1).

(5 marks)

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5 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

x = t 2 y = 2sin t 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π

Show that, in terms of t ,

dy cos t
=
dx t

(3 marks)

(b) Show that the distance between the maximum and minimum points on C is 2 π4 + 4
square units.

(4 marks)

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Hard Questions
dy
1 (a) Find an expression for in terms of t for the parametric equations
dx

x = sin 2t y = et

(3 marks)

(b) Verify that the graph of x against y passes through the point (0 , 1) and find the gradient
at that point.

(2 marks)

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2 (a) A crane swings a wrecking ball along a two-dimensional path defined by the parametric
equations

x = 8t − 4 y = 16t 2 − 16t + 5 0 ≤ t ≤ 1

as shown in the diagram below.

x and y are, respectively, the horizontal and vertical displacements in metres from the
origin, O, and t is the time in seconds. Point A indicates the initial position of the
wrecking ball, at time t = 0 .

Find a Cartesian equation of the curve in the form y = f (x ) , and state the domain of
f (x ) .

(3 marks)

(b) Find the difference between the maximum and minimum heights of the wrecking ball
during its motion.

(2 marks)

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(c) The crane is positioned such that point A is 7 m horizontally from the wall the wrecking
ball is to destroy.
Find the height at which the wrecking ball will strike the wall.

(3 marks)

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3 (a) The graph of the curve C shown below is defined by the parametric equations

x = 2cos 3θ y = 5sinθ 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π

dy
Find an expression for in terms of θ .
dx

(3 marks)

(i) π 5
(b) Show that the gradient of the tangent to C, at the point where θ= , is − .
4 6

(ii) π
Hence find the equation of the tangent to C at the point where θ= .
4

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 (4 marks)

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4 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

1 1
x= y =t + t >0
t2 t

dy
Find an expression, in terms of t, for .
dx

(3 marks)

(i) 1
(b) Find the gradient of the tangent to C at the point where t= .
2

(ii) 1
Hence find the equation of the normal to C at the point where t= .
2

(5 marks)

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5 (a) The curve C has parametric equations

x = t 2 − 4 y = 3t

dy
Show that at the point (0 , 6), t = 2 and find the value of at this point.
dx

(4 marks)

(b) The tangent at the point (0 , 6) is parallel to the normal at the point P.
Find the exact coordinates of point P

(3 marks)

6 A curve C has parametric equations

x = 9 − t2 y =5−t

The tangents to C at the points R and S meet at the point T, as shown in the diagram
below.

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Given that the x-coordinate of both points R and S is 5, find the area of the triangle RST.

(10 marks)

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Very Hard Questions
1 (a) A crane swings a wrecking ball along a two-dimensional path defined by the parametric
equations

x = 10t y = 4 . 9t 2 − 4 . 9t + 2 0 ≤ t ≤ 1

as shown in the diagram below.

x and y are, respectively, the horizontal and vertical displacements in metres from the
origin, O, and t is the time in seconds. Point A indicates the initial position of the
wrecking ball.

(i) Write down the height of the wrecking ball when it is at point A.

(ii) Find the shortest distance between the wrecking ball and the ground during its
motion.

(4 marks)

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(b) The destruction of a building requires the wrecking ball to strike it at a height of 1.4 m
whilst on the upward part of its path.
Find the horizontal distance from point A at which the ball hits the building.

(4 marks)

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2 (a) The graph of the ellipse E shown below is defined by the parametric equations

π ⎞
x = 2cos ⎛⎜ θ + ⎟ y = 4sin θ −π ≤ θ ≤ π
⎝ 3 ⎠

dy
Find an expression for in terms of θ.
dx

(3 marks)

π
(b) Find the equation of the tangent to E, at the point where θ=− , giving your answer
6
in the form y = a − bx , where a and b are real numbers that should be given in exact
form.

(4 marks)

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3 The curve C has parametric equations

1
x = 3t y =t + t >0
t

Find the equation of the normal to C at the point where C intersects the line y =x.

(9 marks)

4 The graph of the curve defined by the parametric equations

x = e2t y = e −3 t

is shown below.

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(i) Verify that the graph passes through the point (1 , 1).

(ii) Prove that the line with equation y =x is not the normal to the curve at the point
(1 , 1).

(6 marks)

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5 (a) The diagram below shows a sketch of the curve defined by the parametric equations

2
x = 4t y = et

The tangents to the curve that pass through the origin meet the curve at points A and B

2 2
Show that the values of t at points A and B are t=− and t = .
2 2

(5 marks)

1
(b) Hence, or otherwise, show that the area of the triangle OAB is 2 2 e 2 square units.

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 (3 marks)

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