Math 251 - Multivariable Calculus - Exam 1

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American Football and Vector Functions

Each spring semester the National Football League sponsors what is known as the NFL Scouting Combine. Top athletes from colleges and universities around the U.S. gather to compete in a variety of events. Last year, at least two prospective football players from WVU participated in the combine: Tavon Austin and Geno Smith. A list of some of their performance results: Name Geno Smith Tavon Austin Height 74 in 68 in Weight 218 lbs 174 lb 40yd dash 4.59 sec 4.34 sec 20yd dash 2.49 sec 10yd dash 1.50 sec vert jump 33.5 in 32 in ball velocity 55 mph

Thanks to the experimental evidence obtained by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century, we may consider a vector representing motion near the earths surface as: x( t ) A0 2 R(t) = y(t) = R0 + V0 t + t 2 z (t) Ax0 2 t x0 + vx0 t + 2 y0 2 = y0 + vy0 t + A2 t Az0 2 z0 + vz0 t + 2 t where Ro is the initial position of an object, V0 its initial velocity, and A its acceleration. We will consider the acceleration due to gravity to be a constant t Ag = 32 f k. The width of an American football eld is 160ft and its length s2 is 300ft. Suppose Geno is located at the origin of a coordinate system xed on the 50 yard line in the middle of the eld. Tavon takes a position 40 ft to his left(x = 40ft). Answer the following questions. In all calculations, we will assume that Geno throws the ball at a speed of 55 mph. All lateral angles will be measured from the positive xaxis(Genos right). All air resistance will be neglected. (1) Using the data from the combine, determine an average lateral acceleration vector for Tavon Austin and use it in all subsequent calculations. Use units ft/s2 . (2) Calculate the maximum possible throwing distance for Geno Smith in yards. (3) Tavon is to run a post pattern: He rst accelaerates forward 20 yards and 1

then changes direction to his right by an angle and proceeds at constant velocity to the coordinate (5,150,0) at which point he catches the football for a touchdown. What is the angle through which he turns? What is the time of ight of the football? Where is Tavon when Geno launches the ball? (4) Tavon is to run a quick slant: Tavon immediately accelerates at and angle and catches the football directly in front of Geno. If Geno counts to 2 before launching the ball, what is ? What are Tavons coordinates at the moment he catches the ball? (5) Tavon is to run a quick screen: Geno immediately throws the ball to Tavon who is standing still. This time a defender reads the play and intercepts the football right at where Tavon is standing with a constant velocity of 18 j mph. Can Tavon catch him? If so, where do they make contact?

2X2 Matrices and the Pauli Spin Operators

Consider the following set of 2X2 matrices: 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 i i 0 1 0 0 1

I=

x =

y =

z =

(6) Prove that any 2X2 matrix with entries from the complex numbers can be written as a linear combination of the above matrices. (7) Prove that they are all Hermitian and Orthogonal.

Jacobian Matrix
(8) Read the wikipedia article Jacobian matrix and determinant and write a short paragraph describing what you think is going on. (9) Investigate http://math.stackexchange.com/ and http://physics.stackexchange.com/. State your opinion about the usefulness of these sites in the quest to understand Whats really going on?. For example, think of something that you dont quite understand in relation to mathematics and search the stack exchange for clues.