Anderson Junior College

Preliminary Examination 2010

H2 Mathematics Paper 2 (9740/02)

Section A: Pure Mathematics (40 marks)

9 + ax
1 Find the values of a and b if the expansion of in ascending powers of x up
1 + bx 2
35 2
to and including the term in x 2 is 3 + x + x . With these values of a and b, state
6
the range of values of x for which expansion is valid. [6]

x3 + 3x 2 + 2 x + 1
2 Express f ( x) = in partial fractions. [2]
x 2 + 3x + 2

Hence, or otherwise, show that

N
f ( x) = ( N 2 + N + 1) −
1 1
x =1 2 N +2
. [3]

Using the sketch of y = f ( x) where x > 0 shown below, or otherwise, show that
N N +1
 f ( x) < 
x =1
1
f ( x) dx .
y
[3]
y= f(x)

x
0

3 A complex number z satisfies z − a = a, a ∈  + .

1
(i) The point P represents the complex number w, where w = , in an Argand
z
diagram. Show that the locus of P is a straight line. [2]
(ii) Sketch both loci on the same diagram and show that the two loci do not
1
intersect if 0 < a < . [4]
2
1  1
(iii) For a = , find the range of values of arg  z −  , give your answer correct
2  a
to 0.1°. [3]
 1
State the limit of arg  z −  when a approaches zero. [1]
 a

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AJC / 2010 Preliminary Examination / 9740 / P2
  cos t 
4 Relative to the origin O , the points A and B have position vectors a =  sin t  and
 −1 
 
 cos 2t 
b =  − sin 2t  respectively, where t is a real parameter such that 0 ≤ t < π .
 12 
 
(i) Show that a ⋅ b = m + cos(nt ) where m and n are constants to be determined. [2]
(ii) Hence, find the exact value of t for which ∠AOB is a maximum. [3]
r
(iii) Another point C has position vector c =  s  where r and s are real constants.
0
 
π
Given that A, B and C are collinear when t = , find the values of r and s. [3]
2

5 An underground storm canal has a fixed capacity of 6000 m3 and is able to

discharge rainwater at a rate proportional to V , the volume of rainwater in the
storm canal.

On a particular stormy day, rainwater is flowing into the canal at a constant rate of
300 m3 per minute. The storm canal is initially empty. Let t be the time in
minutes for which the rainwater had been flowing into the storm canal,
300(1 − e − kt )
(i) show that V = , where k is a positive constant. [4]
k

A first alarm will be sounded at the control room when the volume of rainwater in
the storm canal reaches 4500 m3 and a second alarm will be sounded when the
storm canal is completely filled. Given that the first alarm was sounded 20 minutes
after the rainwater started flowing into the storm canal.

(ii) Find the time interval between the first and second alarm. (Assuming the
weather condition remains unchanged). [3]

(iii) Briefly discuss the validity of the model for large values of t . [1]

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AJC / 2010 Preliminary Examination / 9740 / P2
 Section B: Statistics (60 marks)

6 Mary Lim has 7 cousins. In how many ways can she invite some or all of them to
her birthday party? [2]

At her birthday party, Mary sets up a round table of 8 seats with a different
welcome gift at each seat. If all her cousins turn up for the party and given that 4 of
them are from the Lee family, 2 are from the Yeo family and 1 is from the Tan
family, find the number of ways they can be seated with Mary for a meal at the
table if family members of the same surname are seated together but members of
the Lee and Yeo families are not adjacent to each other. [3]

After the meal, Mary and her cousins start to play a game. The game requires a
formation of 2 facilitators and 2 teams of 3 members each. Find the number of
possible formations if not all the members in each team have the same surname. [3]

7 Chemical X will react with chemical Y to form compound Z. A scientist at a

chemical plant wants to study the relation between chemicals X and Y by varying
the amount of chemical Y (in milligrams) placed in a reaction flask containing
50mg of chemical X. When chemical Y is completely used up, the amount of
chemical X (in milligram) left is recorded as shown in the table below.
Chemical Y used (y mg) 20 40 60 80 100
Chemical X left (x mg) 29.1 16.2 8.9 5.1 3.8
(a) (i) Find the equations of the least square regression lines of y on x and x on y. [2]
(ii) Using the appropriate regression line found in (i), estimate the least amount of
chemical Y used given that chemical X has completely used up. Comment on
the validity of your estimation. [2]

(b) (i) A group of scientists propose alternative models of the form w = a + by ,

where w is a function of x, to describe the relation between chemicals X and
Y.
Model A: w = x 2
1
Model B: w =
x
Model C: w = ln x

State, with a reason, which model is the most appropriate and find the
corresponding least square regression line by performing a suitable
transformation. [2]

(ii) Hence, estimate the change in w when y increases by 5. [1]

(iii) In the same experiment conducted earlier, the amount of compound Z formed,
z (in miligrams), is measured. From the data collected, the linear product
moment correlation coefficient between z and x is found to be − 0.9 and
the least square regression line of z on x is given by z = −1.5 x + 12 . Find
the least square regression line of x on z. [4]

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AJC / 2010 Preliminary Examination / 9740 / P2
8 In year 2009, the average length of time for cars parked at the Integrated Resort
Haven (IRH) was 12 hours. The facilities are upgraded in 2010 and the
management of IRH wants to find out if there is difference in the mean length of
time for cars parked at IRH.

Assuming that the resort and the car park are open at all times. The length of time,
x hours, for cars parked at IRH were recorded for 200 randomly selected cars on a
particular day and the following results were obtained:

 ( x − 12) = 80 ,  ( x − 12) 2
= 1425 .

(i) Denoting the population mean and variance of the parking times by μ and
σ 2 respectively, find unbiased estimates of μ and σ 2 . [2]
(ii) Given that an appropriate hypothesis test carried out could not provide
sufficient evidence to indicate a difference in the mean length of parking time,
find the range of values of the significance level of this test. [3]
(iii) State, with a reason, the range of the significance level of another test (without
carrying out the test) such that the sample could not provide sufficient
evidence that there is an increase in the mean length of parking time. [1]
(iv) The sample of 200 cars could also be obtained using systematic sampling.
Describe how this can be done. [2]

9 A multiple-choice question (MCQ) consists of 5 suggested answers, only one of

which is correct. For each of the questions set for a particular topic, there is a
probability of p that a student, Alice, knows the correct answer, and whenever she
knows the correct answer she selects it. If she does not know the correct answer, she
randomly selects one of the 5 suggested answers. The events K and C are defined
as follows:
K: Alice knows the correct answer.
C : Alice selects the correct answer.

(i) Find the probability, in terms of p, that Alice selects the correct answer. [2]
(ii) Describe what the event K’∩ C represents in the context of this question. [1]
1
(iii) Given that P(K’|C) = , find the value of p. [2]
16

Taking p to be 0.3 and Alice answers 1 MCQ daily from Monday to Friday.

(iv) Given that she answers 3 MCQ correctly, find the probability that this
happens in 3 consecutive days. [2]

(v) Alice scores 3 marks for each correct answer, but loses 1 mark for each
incorrect answer. Find the probability that Alice obtains a negative score for
the 5 MCQ she attempted. [2]

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AJC / 2010 Preliminary Examination / 9740 / P2
10 At a newly opened shop, the number of orders for herbal chicken soup received in a
randomly chosen 30-minute interval follows a Poisson distribution with mean 2.3.
The shop is opened for 8 hours daily, from 11 am to 7 pm. (Assume that the orders
received are independent.)
(i) Find the probability that there are at least 6, but less than 10 orders received in
a randomly chosen one-hour period. [2]
(ii) Find the probability that in 100 randomly chosen one-hour periods, the shop
receives an average of more than 5 orders in a one-hour period. [2]
(iii) The shop owner incurs a fixed operating cost of $250 per day. The cost price
and selling price of a bowl of herbal chicken soup are $8 and $20 respectively.
By using a suitable approximation, find the probability that he makes a profit
of at least 40% of his total cost incurred per day. [4]
(iv) After operating the shop for half a year, the shop owner wishes to assess if he
should continue with the business. He decides to observe the lunch time
crowd from 12 pm to 2 pm for 25 days selected at random. If there are less
than 14 days with more than 10 orders during the lunch period, he will close
down the shop. Comment on whether he should close down the shop. [3]
Explain whether the Poisson distribution is a good model for the number of orders
for herbal chicken soup in a day. [1]

11 Peter bought an ice-cream machine. The amount of time taken by the machine to
produce a large tub of ice-cream follows a normal distribution with mean μ
minutes and standard deviation σ minutes. It is found that there is a 88% chance
that the machine will take less than 60 minutes and a 70% chance that it will be
more than 50 minutes. The amount of time taken by the machine to produce a small
tub of ice-cream also follows a normal distribution with mean 20 minutes and
standard deviation 2 minutes. The amount of time taken by the machine to produce
a large tub of ice-cream and a small tub of ice-cream are independent of each other.

(i) Find μ and σ . [3]

(ii) Find the probability that the difference between the amount of time taken by
the machine to produce 5 large tubs of ice-cream and thrice the amount of
time taken to produce 3 small tubs of ice cream is more than 1 hour. [4]

(iii) After using the machine for a year, Peter decides to test the functionality of
the machine by using it to produce n large tubs of ice-cream (where n is large)
and observing the time taken for each production. He will consider buying a
new machine if there are more than 20 times that it takes at least 60 minutes to
produce a large tub of ice-cream. Using a suitable approximation, find the
greatest value of n such that the probability that he needs to consider buying a
new machine is less than 0.2. [5]

END OF PAPER
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