SMT 2019 Calculus Test Solutions March 2, 2019

R 2π 2
1. Compute 0 θ dθ.
8π 3
Answer: 3
θ3
Solution: We see that the antiderivative is 3 , so evaluation at the limits gives the answer.
2. Let f (x) = x ln x + x. Solve f 0 (x) = 0 for x.
Answer: e−2
Solution: By the product rule, f 0 (x) = ln x + (x/x) + 1 = 2 + ln x = 0, so x = e−2 .
R π/4
3. Compute 0 cos x − 2 sin x sin 2x dx.
√
2
Answer: 6
Solution: There are many ways to do this, but here’s one: notice that
cos x − 2 sin x sin(2x) = cos x − 4 sin2 x cos x
= cos x − 4(1 − cos2 x) cos x
= 4 cos3 x − 3 cos x
= cos 3x,
1
so the antiderivative is 3 sin 3x, and we just evaluate at the appropriate endpoints to get
√
2/6 .
Solution: Note that
cos x − 2 sin x sin(2x) = cos x − 4 sin2 x cos x
So,
Z π/4
π/4 √
cos x − 4 sin2 x cos x = sin x − 4/3 sin3 x |0 = 2/6
0
√
Let f0 (x) = ( e)x , and recursively define fn+1 (x) = fn0 (x) for integers n ≥ 0. Compute
4. P
∞
i=0 fi (1).
√
Answer: 2 e
1 x/2
Solution: Rewrite f0 (x) as ex/2 . Then, we can see by induction that fn (x) = 2n e , and
hence the infinite sum is a geometric series with ratio 21 . To finish, we evaluate
∞ ∞
X X 1 1/2 √
fi (1) = i
e = 2 e
2
i=0 i=0

5. Consider the parabola y = ax2 + 2019x + 2019. There exists exactly one circle which is
centered on the x-axis and is tangent to the parabola at exactly two points. It turns out
that one of these tangent points is (0, 2019). Find a. (Diagram below does not picture the
specified parabola.)
SMT 2019 Calculus Test Solutions March 2, 2019

1
Answer: − 4038
Solution: We work with a general parabola ax2 + bx + c with a, b, c 6= 0.
b
The vertex of the parabola has x-coordinate − 2a , and we can see that if the circle is to be
b
tangent to the parabola at exactly 2 points, then the circle’s center must be at (− 2a , 0).
Now, notice that the derivative of the parabola at (0, c) is b, so for the circle to be tangent
b
at that point, the line from (− 2a , 0) to (0, c) must have slope − 1b . This gives us the equation
c 1 1
b/2a = − b , which simplifies to a = − 2c . Lastly, we plug in c = 2019 to get the answer.

6. What is the smallest natural number n for which the limit

sinn x
lim
x→0 cos2 x (1 − cos x)3

exists?
Answer: 6
Solution: First, note that the cos2 x in the denominator converges to 1 always and can be
ignored.
x2
The Taylor series expansions of sin x and 1 − cos x to first order are x and 2 , respectively.
That means that:
sinn x xn
lim = lim
x→0 cos2 x (1 − cos x)3 x→0 (x2 /2)3

The limit exists exactly when the exponent of x in the numerator is at least the exponent of
x in the denominator, so n must be at least 6 .

7. Turn the graph of y = x1 by 45◦ counter-clockwise and consider the bowl-like top part of
the curve (the part above y = 0).
√
We let a 2D fluid accummulate in this 2D bowl until the
maximum depth of the fluid is 2 3 2 . What’s the area of the fluid used?
40
Answer: 9
− 2 ln 3
Solution: Observe that the level surface of the fluid, in the non-rotated system, is given by
the line x + y = 2c, for some c > 0. The “depth” of the fluid is then the distance from √ the
point (1, 1) (at the bottom of the rotated graph) to the point (c, c). This distance is 2 3 2 , so
it is clear that c = 53 . Thus, the region of fluid is the area bounded by the curves y = 10
3 −x
and y = x1 .
Through simple calculation, it is clear that these curves intersect at ( 13 , 3) and (3, 13 ). Hence,
the area of fluid is given by
Z 3  3
10 1 10 1 2 40
− x − dx = x − x − ln x = − 2 ln 3
1 3 x 3 2 1 9
3 3

8. Compute  x 
1
lim 1+ x − ex .
x→∞ x

Answer: − 2e
Solution: Consider the substitution y = x1 . Then, the limit is

(1 + y)1/y − e
lim .
y→0+ y
SMT 2019 Calculus Test Solutions March 2, 2019

If we apply L’Hopital, we get

(1 + y)−1+1/y (y − (1 + y) ln(1 + y))

lim .
y→0+ y2

Notice that L’Hopital on y−(1+y)

y2
ln(1+y)
gives − ln(1+y) 1
2y , and L’Hopital on that gives − 2(1+y) ,
which has limit − 21 at y = 0.
Now, we claim that the limit of (1 + y)−1+1/y is e. To see this, notice that (1 + y)−1 tends
to 1, and (1 + y)1/y is just (1 + x1 )x , which has limit e as x goes to infinity.
Putting these together yields the answer −1/2 × e = −e/2 .
1
Solution: We can rewrite (1 + x1 )x as ex ln(1+ x ) . Then, notice that the Taylor expansion of
−2 −3 2 3
ln(1+ x1 ) is x−1 − x 2 + x 3 −+ . . .. Moreover, the Taylor expansion of ey is 1+y+ y2! + y3! +. . ..
Lastly, note that in the limit, we take x to ∞, i.e. we take x1 to 0, so low-order terms like
x−1 will become irrelevant.
−1 −2 1
Therefore, we see that x ln(1 + x1 ) is 1 − x 2 + x 3 − + . . .. Next, xex ln(1+ x ) can be expanded
as x + (x − 21 ) + 2!1 (x − 22 ) + 3!1 (x − 32 ) + 4!1 (x − 42 ) + . . ., where one should take care as to
x x
when low-order terms may be ignored. Moreover, we can expand ex as x + x + 2! + 3! + . . .,
e
so the overall limit is just − 21 − 2!1 12 − 3!1 12 − . . . = − .
2
9. Magic liquid forms a cone whose circular base rests on the floor. Time is measured in
seconds. At time 0, the cone has height and radius 1 cm. Let R(t) be the rate at which
liquid evaporates in cm3 /s at time t. As the liquid evaporates, the cone’s radius remains the
same but its height decreases. Let S(t) be the surface area of the slanted part of the cone in
cm2 at time t. If R(t) = S(t)2 (numerically in the specified units), how many seconds does
it take for the liquid to evaporate entirely?
1
Answer: 12
Solution: The circumference of the bottom circle is always 2π, and when the cone has height
h, the slanted portion can be cut and√flattened so that 2π is the length of an arc along
√ the
2
circumference of a circle with radius h + 1, which should have circumference 2π √h + 1. 2

Thus, by examining ratios, we see that the surface area of the slanted portion is π h2 + 1.
Denote the cone’s volume by V so that V = 13 πh and ∂V ∂t = −R(t) R = −S(t)2 = −π 2 (h2 + 1).
By the definition of V , we also know that ∂V π ∂h dh
R
∂t = 3 ∂t . This gives us h2 +1
= −3π dt, which
we find yields h = tan(C − 3πt). The initial condition is that when t = 0, h is 1, so C = π4 .
1
Therefore, h is 0 when t is π4 3π
1
= .
12
10. Compute Z 2
ln(1 + x)
dx.
0 x2 − x + 1
√
π 3
Answer: 6
ln 3
Solution: First, we do the substitution u = 1 + x, which gives
Z 3
ln u
2
du.
1 u − 3u + 3

Then, the goal is to make a substitution such that we get a very similar integral with slightly
different integrand. In particular, we want the denominator and the bounds to be the same,
SMT 2019 Calculus Test Solutions March 2, 2019

so we do the substitution w = u3 , which gives

1
1 ln 3 − ln w
Z
1
− dw,
3 3 w2 w92 − w9 + 1

which simplifies to
3
ln 3 − ln w
Z
dw.
1 w2 − 3w + 3
Taking the average of these two u and w forms of writing the integral, we see that we need
to calculate
1 3
Z
ln 3
2
dw.
2 1 w − 3w + 3
Converting back to x and simplifying, we get

ln 3 2
Z
1
dx.
2 0 x− 1 2+ 3


2 4
√
This suggests that we make the trig subsitution 2x − 1 = 3 tan θ, which gives us
Z π/3
√ !
ln 3 1 3
3 · sec2 θ dθ
2 −π/6 4 (tan2 θ + 1) 2

Plugging in the identity tan2 θ + 1 = sec2 θ and cancelling, we finally compute

√ √
ln 3 π 4 3 π 3
· · · = ln 3 .
2 2 3 2 6