Math 590 Fall, 2014

Review Exercises B

1. Consider the function f (x) = x3 .

f (x + h) − f (x)
a) Expand and simply the expression .
h
f (x + h) − f (x)
b) Use algebra and limit laws to evaluate lim (in terms of x).
h→0 h

1 g(x) − g(a)
2. If g(x) = , use algebra and limit laws to evaluate lim (in terms of a).
x x→a x−a

3. A ball is shot straight up into the air from a platform. The height of the ball (in feet)
is given by the formula
h(t) = 50 + 120t − 16t2
where t is measured in seconds and t = 0 corresponds to the moment the ball is fired.

a) How high off the ground is the platform?

b) Find a formula for v(t), the velocity (in ft/sec) of the ball as a function of t.
c) How fast was the ball traveling when it was fired?
d) At what time does the ball reach its highest position?
e) How high in the air does the ball travel before it starts to fall?
f) Now suppose that on the way down the ball narrowly misses the platform from
which it was fired. To the nearest 0.1 ft/sec, how fast is the ball traveling when it
hits the ground?

4. Find the equation of the line tangent to the graph of y = f (x) at the indicated argument.
Leave your equation in point/slope form!
! "4
a) f (x) = x3 + 1 , x = −2

b) g(x) = x2 sin x, x = π/4

√
c) h(x) = x x, x = 4.
5. Calculate the following derivatives. Simplify, if possible.
# $ # ) *$
d sin x d
% & 3' (
d x−1
a) dx b) dx tan ex c) dx ln
1 + cos x x+1

6. The graph of the function f is displayed below. Use it to answer the questions below.

4
f
3

−7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

a) Evaluate the following. √

i. f ′ (−π) ii. f ′ (1/e) iii. f ′ ( 10)

b) Suppose P (x) = x2 · f (x). Find the value of

i. P ′ (−5) ii. P ′ (−1) iii. P ′ (2)
! "3
c) Suppose G(x) := f (x) . Find the value of
i. G′ (−3) ii. G′ (0) iii. G′ (6)

7. A graph of the differentiable function g is displayed below. On the same set of axes,
sketch a graph of its derivative function g ′ . Note: The rightmost part of the graph
(i.e., on the interval [3, 6]) is a quarter-circle.

4
g
3

−7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
−1

−2

−3

−4
8. The domain of the function f is the open interval (−7, 7). The function is differentiable
on (−7, 7), and the graph of its derivative f ′ is displayed below. Use the graph to
answer the questions below.

4
f′
3

−7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

−1

−2

−3

−4

a) On what intervals is f increasing?

b) Find all local extrema (i.e., relative minima and relative maxima) of f .
c) On what intervals is f concave down?
d) At what arguments does the concavity of f change?
e) At what argument is the tangent slope of f as small as possible?
f) At what argument is the tangent slope of f as large as possible?
g) Suppose it is known that f (4) = 1. Write down your best guess as to the equation
of the line tangent to the graph of f at x = 4.
Math 590 Answers and Selected Solutions
Review Exercises B

1. a) f (x + h) f (x) (x + h)3 x3
=
h h
x⇢
⇢3
x⇢
+ 3x2 h + 3xh2 + h3 ⇢ 3
= = 3x2 + 3xh + h2
h
f (x + h) f (x) ⇣ ⌘
b) lim = lim 3x2 + 3xh + h2 = 3x2
h!0 h h!0

1 1 1 1
g(x) g(a) xa x a
2. lim = lim x a
= lim
x!a x a x!a x a a)xa x!a (x
✓ ◆
a x 1 1
= lim = lim =
x!a (x a)xa x!a xa a2

3. a) The platform is located at precisely the position of the ball at time t = 0, so the
height is h(0) = 50 feet.
b) The velocity is given by the function v(t) = h0 (t) = 120 32t.
c) The velocity at time t = 0 is v(0) = 120 feet per second.
d) The ball reaches its highest position when t = 120/32 = 3.75 seconds.
e) The ball is h(3.75) = 275 feet in the air at its highest position.
f) When the ball hits the ground it has velocity approximately equal to

v(7.896) ⇡ 132.7 ft/sec

So the speed is approximately 132.7 feet per second.

4. a) y 2401 = 16464(x + 2)
p p
2 ⇡ 2(⇡+8)
⇡ 2 ⇡
b) y 32 = 32 x 4

c) y 8 = 3(x 4)

d sin x 1
5. a) dx =
1 + cos x 1 + cos x
h ⇣ 3⌘ i ⇣ 3⌘ 3
d
b) dx tan ex = sec2 ex 3x2 ex
 ✓ ◆
d x 1 2
c) dx ln =
x+1 x2 1
 1
p 1
6. a) i. f 0 ( ⇡) = 2 ii. f 0 (1/e) = 0 iii. f 0 ( 10) = 3
15
b) i. P 0 ( 5) 2 ii. P 0 ( 1) = 7 iii. P 0 (2) = 2
27
c) i. G0 ( 3) = 2 ii. G0 (0) = 0 iii. G0 (6) = 12

7.

8. a) f increases on both ( 7, 3] and on [1, 7).

b) There is a relative maximum when x = 3 and a relative minimum when x = 1.
c) f concave down on both ( 5, 1) and on (3, 5).
d) There are four arguments at which the concavity changes:
the graph passes from concave down to up at x = 1 and x = 5;
the graph passes from concave up to down at x = 5 and x = 3.
e) The smallest tangent slope occurs when x = 1.
f) There is no such argument! The closer x gets to 7, the greater the tangent slope of
f . This means that if you claim the honor goes to some particular x, it is always
possible to exhibit another argument x for which the tangent slope is larger.
g) It appears that f 0 (4) = 5/2, in which case the tangent line has equation

y 1 = 52 (x 4)