MATHEMATICS 100, Section 105

Midterm #1, October 3, 2007

x2 − 4x + 3 (x − 1)(x − 3) x−3 −2 1
1. a) lim = lim = lim = = − .
x→1 2x2 − 2 x→1 2(x − 1)(x + 1) x→1 2(x + 1) 4 2

x3 + 2x 1 + 2x−2 1 1
b) lim = lim = =− .
x→−∞ 1 − x2 − 4x3 x→−∞ x−3 − x−1 − 4 −4 4

|x| − 2 x−2
c) lim = lim = −1.
x→2− |x − 2| x→2− −(x − 2)

d) Let f (x) = x2 − e−x , then f (x) is continuous for all x. We have f (0) = 0 − e0 =
−1 < 0 and f (1) = 1 − e−1 ≈ 1 − (2.7)−1 > 0. By the Intermediate Value
Theorem, there is an x ∈ (0, 1) such that f (x) = 0. This x solves the equation
x2 = e−x .

e) Since 2 is a root of x2 − 5x + 6 = 0, the limit can only exist if the numerator is

0, i.e. 4 + 4 + 2a + a + 1 = 0, 3a + 9 = 0, a = −3. For this value of a, we have

x2 + 2x + ax + a + 1 x2 − x − 2 (x − 2)(x + 1)
lim 2
= lim 2
= lim
x→2 x − 5x + 6 x→2 x − 5x + 6 x→2 (x − 2)(x − 3)

x+1 3
= lim = = −3.
x→2 x − 3 −1

f) We have f (x) = e−x + ex , hence f 0 (x) = −e−x + ex .

 −1/2
0 1 cos(2x) −2 sin(2x) · (x − sin x) + cos(2x) · (1 − cos x)
g) f (x) = · .
2 x − sin x (x − sin x)2

p 1 p xf 0 (2x)
h) g 0 (x) = f (2x) + x · p · f 0 (2x) · 2 = f (2x) + p ,
2 f (2x) f (2x)

p f 0 (2) √ −3 3 1
g 0 (1) = f (2) + p = 4+ √ =2− = .
f (2) 4 2 2
2. Let y(t) = t2 − 2t + 6. The average velocity between t = 1 and t = 4 is

y(4) − y(1) (16 − 8 + 6) − (1 − 2 + 6) 14 − 5

= = = 3m/sec.
4−1 3 3
We have t0 (t) = 2t − 2, hence the instantaneous velocity of the particle at t = 3 is
y 0 (3) = 6 − 2 = 4m/sec.

3. We have

lim g(x) = lim (x3 + ax + b) = 1 + a + b, lim g(x) = lim 2x2 = 2.

x→1− x→1− x→1+ x→1+

For g(x) to be continuous at 1, the two limits need to be equal, i.e. 1 + a + b = 2,

a + b = 1. For g(x) to be differentiable at 1, it should be continuous at 1 and, in
addition,

d 3 d 2
(x + ax + b)|x=1 = 2x |x=1 , 3x2 + a|x=1 = 4x|x=1 , 3 + a = 4,
dx dx
hence a = 1 and b = 0, where we also used the condition a + b = 1 for continuity.

4. Let (a, b) be the tangency point, then the slope of the curve at (a, b) is 5, i.e. y 0 (a) =
3a2 + 2 = 5, 3a2 = 3, a2 = 1, a = ±1.
If a = 1, then b = 5 − 1 = 4, and we can find m from

1 + 2 + m = 4, m = 1.

If a = −1, then b = −5 − 1 = −6, and we can find m from

−1 − 2 + m = −6, m = −3.

√ √
d 1 1 1 1  x−2− x+h−2
5. √ = lim √ −√ = lim √ √
dx x − 2 h→0 h x+h−2 x−2 h→0 h x + h − 2 x − 2

√ √ √ √
( x − 2 − x + h − 2)( x − 2 + x + h − 2)
= lim √ √ √ √
h→0 h x + h − 2 x − 2( x − 2 + x + h − 2)

(x − 2) − (x + h − 2)
= lim √ √ √ √
h→0 h x + h − 2 x − 2( x − 2 + x + h − 2)
1 1
= lim √ √ √ √ = √ .
h→0 x + h − 2 x − 2( x − 2 + x + h − 2) 2(x − 2) x − 2