Math 590 Fall, 2014

Review Exercises C

1. Use linear approximations to estimate the following quantities.

√ 1
a) (2.05)3 b) 8.9 c) 10.02

2. The function f is differentiable. A part of the

f′ 2
graph of its derivative is displayed at right. As-
1
suming f (1) = 5, estimate the value of f (1.02).
Is your estimate too small or too large? How can
−1 1 2 3
you tell?
−1

3. The graph of the equation y 2 = x3 − 3x + y is displayed below.

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

-1

-2

a) It appears the point (0, 1) is on the graph. Verify this fact algebraically.
b) Find the equation of the line tangent to the graph at the point (0, 1).
c) Where exactly does the vertical line x = − 21 intersect the graph?
dy
d) Find a formula for dx in terms of x and y.
dy
e) Use the formula for dx and some algebra to find all points on the graph where the
tangent line is horizontal.
dy
f) Use the formula for dx , algebra, and graphing calculator techniques to find all points
on the graph where the tangent line is vertical. (All approximations should be to
the nearest .001.)
4. Use logarithmic differentiation to find the following derivatives.
d
!" 5 #
a) dx x + 3x + 1)8 (x3 + 1)5 (x2 − 4)4

$% &
d x4 − 1 d
!
xsin x
3
#
b) dx c) dx
x4 + 1

5. The graph of the equation

(x2 + y 2 )2 = 4x2 − 4y 2
is displayed below. This graph is an example of what is called a lemniscate.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

-1

-2

dy
a) Find a formula for dx in terms of x and y.
dy
b) Use the formula in part (a) to find all the points on the lemniscate where dx is
undefined.

c) There are four points on the lemniscate at which the tangent line is horizontal. As
it turns out, all four of these points are the same distance from the origin. What is
that distance?
Math 590 Answers and Selected Solutions
Review Exercises C

1. a) If f (x) = x3 then f ′ (x) = 3x2 , f (2) = 8, and f ′ (2) = 12. The linearization of f at
x = 2 is therefore
L(x) = 12(x − 2) + 8
and so
f (2.05) ≈ L(2.05) = 12(.05) + 8 = 8.6
(Note: The actual value is f (2.05) = 8.615125.)
b) If f (x) = x1/2 , then f ′ (x) = 12 x−1/2 , f (9) = 3, and f ′ (9) = 61 . The linearization of
f at x = 9 is therefore
L(x) = 16 (x − 9) + 3
and so
f (8.9) ≈ L(8.9) = 16 (−0.1) + 3 = 2.983333 . . .
(Note: The actual value is f (8.9) = 2.983286778 . . . .)
c) If f (x) = x1 , then f ′ (x) = − x12 , f (10) = 1
10 ,
1
and f ′ (10) = − 100 . The linearization
of f at x = 10 is therefore
1 1
L(x) = − 100 (x − 10) + 10

and so
1 1
f (10.02) ≈ L(10.02) = − 100 (.02) + 10 = 0.0998
(Note: The actual value is f (10.02) = 0.0998003992 . . . .)

2. Using the graph we see that f ′ (1) = 2; given that f (1) = 5, we can write down the
linearization of f at x = 1:
L(x) = 2(x − 1) + 5
We expect, then, that

f (1.02) ≈ L(1.02) = 2(.02) + 5 = 5.04

We observe that f ′′ (x) > 0 for all x close to 1, which implies the
graph of f is concave up near x = 1. This means the tangent
line to the graph of f at x = 1 lies below the graph of f ,
which in turn implies that the value of the linearization L(1.02)
calculated above is smaller than the actual value f (1.02).
3. a) 12 = 03 − 3 · 0 + 1 !
b) Using implicit differentiation we find that
dy dy
2y dx = 3x2 − 3 + dx

Were we only interested in finding the tangent slope at (0, 1) we could substitute
x = 0 and y = 1 right now to make life easier; however, it looks like we will need a
dy dy
general formula for dx to solve the next few problems, so let’s solve for dx now:

dy 3(x2 − 1)
=
dx 2y − 1
dy
When x = 0 and y = 1 this formula yields dx = −3.
c) Substituting x = −1/2 we obtain an equation that is quadratic in y; we can use the
quadratic formula to solve it exactly:
1 1 3
x=− =⇒ y 2 = − + + y
2 8 2
=⇒ 8y 2 − 8y − 11 = 0
√
2 ± 26
=⇒ y = (x ≈ 1.77 or x ≈ −0.77)
4
The vertical line x = −1/2 intersects the graph at the points
! √ " ! √ "
− 12 , 2+4 26 and − 12 , 2−4 26

d) See the solution for part (b)!

dy
e) We need to find those points on the graph where dx = 0:

3(x2 −1)
2y−1 = 0 =⇒ 3(x2 − 1) = 0 =⇒ x = 1 or x = −1

We must substitute these values of x into the original equation to find the corre-
sponding points on the graph. In case x = −1 we find

y 2 = −1 + 3 + y =⇒ y 2 − y − 2 = 0
=⇒ (y − 2)(y + 1) = 0 =⇒ y = −1 or y = 2

It follows that the tangent slope to the graph is horizontal at the points (−1, 2) and
(−1, 1). Now as for the case x = 1,
√
2 1 ± −7
y − y + 2 = 0 =⇒ y =
2
and we conclude that the corresponding values of y are not real and there are no
points on the graph in this case.
 dy
f) When the tangent slope is vertical, dx is undefined. The only way the formula

dy 3(x2 −1)
dx = 2y−1

fails to exist is when 2y − 1 = 0, or when y = 1/2. When we substitute this value

of y into the original equation we obtain a cubic equation for x, the solutions for
which we can approximate using the calculator:
⎧
1 1 ⎨ x ≈ −1.772
⎪
y= =⇒ x3 − 3x + = 0 =⇒ x ≈ 0.084
2 4 ⎪
⎩
x ≈ 1.689

In agreement with the graph, we find three points at which the tangent slope is
vertical, the approximate coordinates of which are (−1.772, 0.5), (0.084, 0.5), and
(1.689, 0.5).

4. a) ln y = 8 ln(x5 + 3x + 1) + 5 ln(x3 + 1) + 4 ln(x2 − 4)

1 dy 5x4 + 3 3x2 2x
= 8· 5 + 5· 3 + 4· 2
y dx x + 3x + 1 x +1 x −4
% &' (
Let’s call this whole thing “ ”

dy )* +8 * +5 * +4 , ) ,
=⇒ = x5 + 3x + 1 x3 + 1 x2 − 4 ·
dx
1 1
b) ln y = ln(x4 − 1) − ln(x4 + 1)
3 3 - . /
1 dy 1 4x3 1 4x3 dy 4
3 x − 1 1 8x3
= · 4 − · =⇒ = · ·
y dx 3 x − 1 3 x4 + 1 dx x4 + 1 3 x16 − 1
c) ln y = sin x · ln x
. /
1 dy 1 dy sin x sin x
= sin x · + cos x · ln x =⇒ =x + cos x ln x
y dx x dx x
* +
dy x 2 − (x2 + y 2 )
5. a) = * +
dx y 2 + (x2 + y 2 )
dy
b) The only way for dx to be undefined is if y = 0. There are three points on the
lemniscate where y = 0: (−2, 0), (0, 0), and (2, 0).
* +
c) dy 2 2 2 2
dx = 0 when x 2 − (x + y ) = 0, which means either x = 0 or x + y = 2. The
dy
only point on the lemniscate where x = 0 is the origin, but dx is not defined there.
2 2
In the second case, if the coordinates
√ of a point satisfy x + y = 2 then we are
able to conclude that the point is 2 units from the origin! You should be able
to visualize the circle about the origin that contains the four points at which the
tangent to the lemniscate is horizontal.