MATH2019 PROBLEM CLASS EXAMPLES 3 LINEAR APPROXIMATION, EXTREMA AND THE METHOD OF LAGRANGE MULTIPLIERS

1. The lengths of the two shorter sides of a right-angled triangle are each measured to an accuracy of 2%. These measurements are then used to calculate the area of the triangle. What would be the maximum possible percentage error in the calculated value of the area? 1994 2. The volume of a right circular cone of height h and base of radius r is given by 1 V = r2 h . 3 If r = 2.0 cm and h = 10.0 cm to the nearest millimetre what would we expect the maximum percentage error in calculating V to be? 1995 3. The surface area of a sphere of radius r is given by S = 4r2 . Suppose that the Earth is a perfect sphere and we determined its radius to be 6371 0.2 km. What eect would the tolerance of 0.2 km have on our estimate of the Earths surface area? You should present your answer as both an absolute and percentage error. 2000 4. Find all critical points of the function f (x, y ) = x3 + y 3 + 3xy + 10 and classify each one as a relative maximum, relative minimum or saddle point. 1992 5. i) Find the stationary points of z = 2x3 + 3x2 y + y 2 y and determine their nature. ii) Find the maximum and minimum distances from the origin to the ellipse 5x2 6xy + 5y 2 = 8 using the method of Lagrange multipliers. 1995 6. A rectangular box without a lid is to be made from 12 m2 of sheet metal. i) If the length, width and height of the box are given by x, y and z metres respectively, show that the constraint function for this problem is given by: g (x, y, z ) = 2xz + 2yz + xy 12 = 0 . ii) Use the method of Lagrange multipliers and the constraint function given in part (i) to determine the maximum possible volume of the box.