Sample AP Calculus

AB and BC Exam
Questions

The sample exam questions that follow illustrate the relationship between the course
framework and the AP Calculus AB and BC Exams and serve as examples of the types
of questions that appear on the exams. After the sample questions is a table that
shows which skill, learning objective(s), and unit each question relates to. The table also
provides the answers to the multiple-choice questions.

Section I: Multiple-Choice
PART A (AB OR BC)
Graphing calculators are not permitted on this part of the exam.

1 − cos 2 (2x)
1. lim =
x 0 (2x)2
(A) 0
1
(B)
4
1
(C)
2
(D) 1

2
for x < −1
x
f (x ) = 2
x − 3 for − 1 x 2
4 x − 3 for x > 2

2. Let f be the function de!ned above. At what values of x, if any, is f not

di"erentiable?
(A) x = !1 only
(B) x = 2 only
(C) x = !1 and x = !2
(D) f is di"erentiable for all values of x.

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 x f(x) f!(x) g(x) g!(x)
1 2 !4 !5 3
2 !3 1 8 4

3. #e table above gives values of the di"erentiable functions f and g and their
derivatives at selected values of$x. If h is the function de!ned by
h(x) = f(x)g(x) + 2g(x), then h% (1) =
(A) 32
(B) 30
(C) !6
(D) !16

dy
4. If x3 ! 2xy + 3y2 = 7, then =
2 dx
3x + 4 y
(A)
2x
2
3x − 2y
(B)
2x − 6 y
2
3x
(C)
2x − 6 y
2
3x
(D)
2 − 6y

5. #e radius of a right circular cylinder is increasing at a rate of 2 units per

second. #e height of the cylinder is decreasing at a rate of 5 units per second.
Which of the following expressions gives the rate at$which the volume of the
cylinder is changing with respect to time in terms of the radius r and height h
of$the cylinder?
(#e volume V of a cylinder with radius r and height h is V = �r2h.)
(A) !20�r
(B) !2�rh
(C) 4�rh ! 5�r2
(D) 4�rh + 5�r2

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 6
6. Which of the following is equivalent to the de!nite integral x dx?
2
n
4 4
(A)
n
k 1

(B)
n
(C)
k 1

(D)

O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Graph of g
7. #e figure above shows the graph of the continuous function g on the interval
x
[0, 8]. Let h be the function de!ned by h(x) = g (t )dt . On what intervals is h
3
increasing?
(A) [2, 5]only
(B) [1, 7]
(C) [0, 1] and [3, 7]
(D) [1, 3] and [7, 8]

x
8. dx =
1 − 9x 2
1
(A) − 1 − 9x 2 + C
9
1
(B) − ln 1 − 9 x 2 + C
18
1
(C) arcsin(3x ) + C
3
x
(D) arcsin(3x ) + C
3

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 y

x
–3 –2 –1 1 2 3
–1

–2

–3

9. Shown above is a slope !eld for which of the following di"erential equations?

dy y − 2
(A) =
dx 2
dy y 2 − 4
(B) =
dx 4
dy x − 2
(C) =
dx 2
dy x 2 − 4
(D) =
dx 4

10. Let R be the region bounded by the graph of x = ey, the vertical line x = 10, and
the horizontal lines y = 1 and$y = 2. Which of the following gives the area of R?
2 y
(A) e dy
1
e2
(B) ln x dx
e
2
(C) (10 − e y )dy
1
10
(D) (ln x − 1)dx
e

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PA B AB BC
A graphing calculator is required on this part of the exam.

x
–4 –3 –2 –1 O 1 2 3 4
–1

–2

–3

–4

Graph of f
11. #e graph of the function f is shown in the !gure above. #e value
of lim+ f ( x) is
x 1

(A) !2
(B) !1
(C) 2
(D) nonexistent

12. #e velocity of a particle moving along a straight line is given by v(t) = 1.3tln
(0.2t + 0.4) for time t # 0. What is the acceleration of the particle at time t = 1.2?
(A) !0.580
(B) !0.548
(C) !0.093
(D) 0.660

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 x !1 0 2 4 5
f!(x) 11 9 8 5 2

13. Let f be a twice-di"erentiable function. Values of f!, the derivative of f, at

selected values of x are given in the table above. Which of the following
statements must be true?
(A) f is increasing for !1 � x � 5.
(B) #e graph of f is concave down for !1 < x < 5.
3
(C) #ere exists c, where !1 < c < 5, such that f (c ) = − .
2
3
(D) #ere exists c, where !1 < c < 5, such that f (c ) = − .
2

14. Let f be the function with derivative de!ned by f ( x ) = 2 + (2 x − 8)sin( x + 3).

How many points of in&ection does the graph of f have on the interval 0 < x < 9 ?
(A) One
(B) Two
(C) #ree
(D) Four

15. Honey is poured through a funnel at a rate of r(t) = 4e!0.35t ounces per minute,
where t is measured in minutes. How many ounces of honey are poured through
the funnel from time t = 0 to time t = 3?
(A) 0.910
(B) 1.400
(C) 2.600
(D) 7.429

PART A (BC ONLY)

Graphing calculators are not permitted on this part of the exam.

x 2 5
f(x) 4 7
f!(x) 2 3

16. #e table above gives values of the di"erentiable function f and its derivative f!
at selected values of x.
5 5
If f ( x )dx = 14, what is the value of x f ( x ) dx?
2 2
(A) 13
(B) 27
63
(C)
2
(D) 41

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17. #e number of !sh in a lake is modeled by the function F that satis!es the
dF F
logistic di"erential equation = 0.04F 1 − , where t is the time in
dt 5000
months and F(0) = 2000. What is lim F (t) ?
t
(A) 10,000
(B) 5000
(C) 2500
(D) 2000

18. A curve is de!ned by the parametric equations x(t) = t2 + 3 and y(t) = sin (t2).
d2 y
Which of the following is an expression for in terms of t ?
dx 2
(A) !sin (t )
2

(B) !2tsin (t2)

(C) cos (t2) ! 2t2 sin (t2)
(D) 2cos (t2) ! 4t2 sin (t2)

19. Which of the following series is conditionally convergent?

5
(A) ( −1)k 3
k =1 k +1
5
(B) ( −1)k
k =1 k +1
5k
(C) ( −1)k
k =1 k +1
5k 2
(D) ( −1)k
k =1 k +1

20. Let f be the function de!ned by f(x) = e2x. Which of the following is the
Maclaurin series for f!, the derivative of f ?
x2 x3 xn
(A) 1 + x + + + + + 
2! 3! n!
2x 2
2x 3
2x n
(B) 2 + 2 x + + + + +
2! 3! n!
(2x )2 (2 x )3 (2x)n
(C) 1 + 2 x + + + + +
2! 3! n!
2(2 x )2 2(2 x )3 2(2 x )n
(D) 2 + 2(2x) + + + + +
2! 3! n!

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PART B (BC ONLY)
A graphing calculator is required on this part of the exam.

x
O

21. !e "gure above shows the graph of the polar curve r = 2 + 4sin !. What is the
area of the shaded region?
(A) 2.174
(B) 2.739
(C) 13.660
(D) 37.699

22. !e function f has derivatives of all orders for all real numbers. It is known that
12 3
f (4 ) ( x ) and f (5) ( x ) for 0 x 2 . Let P4 ( x ) be the fourth-degree
5 2
Taylor polynomial for f about x = 0. !e Taylor series for f about x = 0 converges
at x = 2. Of the following, which is the smallest value of k for which the Lagrange
error bound guarantees that f (2) P4 (2) k ?

25 3
(A)
5! 2
25 12
(B)
5! 5
24 3
(C)
4! 2
24 12
(D)
4! 5

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Section II: Free-Response
The following are examples of the kinds of free-response questions found on the exam.

PART A (AB OR BC)

A graphing calculator is required on this part of the exam.

t (hours) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
R(t) (vehicles per hour) 2935 3653 3442 3010 3604 1986 2201

1. On a certain weekday, the rate at which vehicles cross a bridge is modeled by

the di#erentiable function R for 0 ! t ! 12, where R(t) is measured in vehicles
per hour and t is the number of hours since 7:00 $.%. (t = 0). Values of R(t) for
selected values of t are given in the table above.
(a) Use the data in the table to approximate R"(5). Show the computations that
lead to your answer. Using correct units, explain the meaning of R"(5) in the
context of the problem.
(b) Use a midpoint sum with three subintervals of equal length indicated by
12
the data in the table to approximate the value of ∫ R(t )dt. Indicate units
0
of measure.
(c) On a certain weekend day, the rate at which vehicles cross the bridge is
modeled by the function H de"ned by H(t) = �t3 � 3t2 + 288t + 1300 for
0 ! t ! 17, where H(t) is measured in vehicles per hour and t is the number
of hours since 7:00 $.%. (t = 0). According to this model, what is the average
number of vehicles crossing the bridge per hour on the weekend day
for 0 ! t ! 12?
(d) For 12 < t < 17, L(t), the local linear approximation to the function H given
in part (c) at t = 12, is a better model for the rate at which vehicles cross the
bridge on the weekend day. Use L(t) to "nd the time&t, for 12 < t < 17, at
which the rate of vehicles crossing the bridge is 2000 vehicles per hour.
Show the work that leads to your answer.

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PART B (AB OR BC)
Graphing calculators are not permitted on this part of the exam.

x
O 1 2 3 4

Graph of f´
2. !e "gure above shows the graph of f", the derivative of a twice-di#erentiable
function f, on the closed interval [0, 4]. !e areas of the regions bounded by the
graph of f" and the x-axis on the intervals [0, 1], [1, 2], [2, 3], and [3, 4] are 2, 6, 10,
and 14, respectively. !e graph of f" has horizontal tangents at x = 0.6, x = 1.6,
x = 2.5, and x = 3.5. It is known that f(2) = 5.
(a) On what open intervals contained in (0, 4) is the graph of f both decreasing
and concave down? Give a reason for your answer.
(b) Find the absolute minimum value of f on the interval [0, 4]. Justify your
answer.
4
(c) Evaluate f ( x ) f ( x )dx .
0
(d) !e function g is de"ned by g(x) = x3 f(x). Find g" (2). Show the work that
leads to your answer.

PART A (BC ONLY)

A graphing calculator is required on this part of the exam.

3. For 0 ! t ! 5, a particle is moving along a curve so that its position at time t

is (x(t), y(t)). At time t = 1, the particle is at position (2, �7). It is known that
dx t dy cost
= sin and =e .
dt t +3 dt

(a) Write an equation for the line tangent to the curve at the point (2, �7).
(b) Find the y-coordinate of the position of the particle at time t = 4.
(c) Find the total distance traveled by the particle from time t = 1 to time t = 4.
(d) Find the time at which the speed of the particle is 2.5. Find the acceleration
vector of the particle at this time.

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PART B (BC ONLY)
Graphing calculators are not permitted on this part of the exam.

4. !e Maclaurin series for the function f is given by

( −1)k +1 x k x2 x3
f (x) = = x − + −  on its interval of convergence.
k =1 k2 4 9
(a) Use the ratio test to determine the interval of convergence of the Maclaurin
series for f. Show the work that leads to your answer.
1
(b) !e Maclaurin series for f evaluated at x = is an alternating series whose
4
1
terms decrease in absolute value to 0. !e approximation for f using
4
15
the "rst two nonzero terms of this series is . Show that this
64
1 1
approximation di#ers from f by less than .
4 500
x
(c) Let h be the function de"ned by h( x ) = f (t )dt . Write the "rst three
0
nonzero terms and the general term of the Maclaurin series for h.

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Answer Key and Question
Alignment to Course Framework
Multiple-
Choice Learning
Question Answer Skill c Unit
1 D 1.E LIM-1.E 1
2 B 3.D FUN-2.A 2
3 A 1.E FUN-3.B 2
4 B 1.E FUN-3.D 3
5 C 1.E CHA-3.D 4
6 C 2.C LIM-5.C 6
7 C 2.D FUN-5.A 6
8 A 1.E FUN-6.D 6
9 B 2.C FUN-7.C 7
10 C 1.D CHA-5.A 8
11 C 2.B LIM-1.C 1
12 C 1.E CHA-3.B 4
13 D 3.D FUN-1.B 5
14 D 2.D FUN-4.A 5
15 D 3.D CHA-4.D 8
16 A 1.E FUN-6.E 6
17 B 3.F FUN-7.H 7
18 A 1.E CHA-3.G 9
19 B 3.D LIM-7.A 10
20 D 3.D LIM-8.G 10
21 A 3.D CHA-5.D 9
22 A 1.F LIM-8.C 10

Free-Response
Question Skills a nn c Unit
CHA-2.D, CHA-3.A,
1.D, 1.E,
1 CHA-3.C, CHA-3.F, 2, 4, 6, 8
2.B, 3.F
CHA-4.B, LIM-5.A
1.C, 1.E,
FUN-3.B, FUN-4.A,
2 2.B, 2.E, 2, 5, 6
FUN-5.A, FUN-6.D
3.B, 3.E
1.C, 1.D,
3 CHA-3.G, FUN-8.B 9
1.E, 2.B
1.D, 1.E,
LIM-7.A, LIM-7.B,
4 3.B, 3.D, 10
LIM-8.D, LIM-8.G
3.E

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