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MATH 25 Unit 2 Practice Items

I. Find the derivative of each of the following functions using the definition.
√
1. f (x) = 3x + 7 4. i(x) = x
x−1
2. g(x) = 9 − x2 5. j(x) =
x+2
1
3. h(x) = 2x2 − 11 at x = 1 6. k(x) = at x = 8
x

II. Determine if each of the following functions is differentiable at the given point.

x + 2 if x ≤ −4
1. f (x) = at x = −4
−x − 6 if x > −4

x if x ≤ 0
2. g(x) = at x = 0
x 2 if x > 0

x 2 if x ≤ 0
3. h(x) = at x = 0
−x2 if x > 0

x 2 if x < −1
4. i(x) = at x = −1
−1 − 2x if x ≥ −1

III. Determine all points at which each of the given functions is differentiable. Justify your answers.

x
1. f (x) = x5 − x + 4 4. i(x) =
x2 + 1
2. g(x) = 3x2 − 8
1 x+3
3. h(x) = 5. j(x) =
x x2 − 16

IV. Determine if each of the following statements is always true or not.

1. If a function is differentiable at x0 , then it is continuous at x0 .

2. If a function is continuous at x0 , then it is differentiable at x0 .

3. If a function is not differentiable at x0 , then it is not continuous at x0 .

4. If a function is not continuous at x0 , then it is not differentiable at x0 .

V. Find the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the given function at the given point.

x
1. f (x) = x5 − x + 4 at (1, 4) 4. i(x) = at (0, 0)
x2
+1
2. g(x) = 3x2 − 8 at (2, 4)  
1 x+2 1
3. h(x) = at (−1, −1) 5. j(x) = 2 at 2, −
x x − 16 3
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VI. Find the derivative of the given functions using the basic differentiation rules.

1 x3
1
1. f (x) = 4
7. f (x) = 3x − +6
2 π
√
2. g(x) = 8 1 √
8. g(x) = 4 − 8π x + x
2x
3. h(x) = e3 9. h(x) = ln x + 3ex
√ 2 1 2
2x 10. i(x) = 4x 2 cos x + x 3 sin x
4. i(x) =
π
 
x 1
11. j(x) = (3 log x − e )
5. j(x) = e4 x5 2x4
  
1 6 8 cos x
6. k(x) = 12. k(x) = √
2x4
4
x 3 sin x

VII. Find the indicated higher-order derivative.

 
1. y = (x − 3)5 , y (iv) 1
4. D x5 −
5
x3 d2 y 15x5
2. y = + 8x2 , 2
ln x dx 5. f (x) = cos x + sin x, f (iv)
3
d
3. [(2x)(πx5 + 8)] 6. g(x) = ex + x ln x, g 00
dx3

VIII. Use Chain Rule to the find the derivative of the following functions.
√ 1
1. f (x) = (3x2 + sin x) 3 x4 + 1 11. g(x) = cos3 (3x − 15)
3 3
√
 2
2x + 7x6
2. g(x) = 12. h(x) = sin x − 19x
x3 − 9  
9
3. h(x) = cos(9x5 + 2) 13. i(x) = ln
√ 19x2 + 4x−1
cos x √
3
4. i(x) = 14. j(x) = 5x2 + 2x
18x7 √

5. j(x) = (cos(6x)) (7x8 ) 15. y = sin x 3x
16. y = sin3 (x3 + 2x−1 )
p
6. y = 3 sin (x15 )
√ ! √3
!
3
x2 3x2 + 1
7. y = sin 17. y = cos
5x + 1 2x − 3
√
sin 3x 18. y = 3 sin x3 + cos x−2
8. y = cos x2 + √
x2 19. y = (x3 + 2x−1 + 5) sin x2
3
r
3
4 cos x
 5
9. y = 3x
sin2 x 20. y = tan (Hint: Express tan x in
√ 5
3
10. f (x) = (11x + 1) 13x2 terms of cos x and sin x.)
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IX. Sketch the graph of the following functions.

1. f (x) = x3 − 6x2 + 9x + 3
2
2. g(x) = 3x 3 − x
√
3. h(x) = x − x

X. Find the absolute extrema of the following functions on the given intervals.

1. f (x) = x3 − 3x2 + 2 on [−2, 1]

2. g(x) = 8x3 + 6x − 1 on [−1, 1]
√3
3. h(x) = x2 on [−1, 8]

XI. Solve the following:

1. Suppose that a tumor in a person’s body is spherical in shape. Find the rate of change of the
volume of the tumor with respect to the radius when the radius is 0.5 cm.
2. A cold front is approaching a college campus in such a way that if the temperature is T (t)
degrees Farenheit t hours after midnight, then T (t) = 0.1(400 − 40t + t2 ) where 0 ≤ t ≤ 12.
Find the instantaneous rate of change of T (t) with respect to t at 5 a.m..
3. Suppose in a certain market that x thousands of crates of mangoes are supplied daily when p
pesos is the price per crate, and the supply equation is given by px − 20p − 3x + 105 = 0. If the
daily supply is decreasing at the rate of 250 crates per day, at what rate is the price changing
when the daily supply is 5000 crates?
4. A ball is thrown vertically upward, and its distance (in meters) from the ground at t seconds is
given by the function h(t) = −5t2 + 10t.
a. At what initial velocity was the ball thrown?
b. When does the ball reach its maximum height?
c. How high does the ball go?
d. What is the force of gravity acting on the ball? (Hint: Compute acceleration.)
5. A rock is dropped from the top of a building, and its distance (in feet) from the ground at t
seconds is given by the function h(t) = −16t2 + 1600.
a. How tall is the building?
b. When does the rock hit the ground?
c. What is the rock’s velocity when it hits the ground?
d. What is the force of gravity acting on the rock?
6. A particle is moving along a straight line according to the function s(t) = t3 − 2t2 + t, where
the particle is s units away from the origin at t seconds.
a. To which direction is the particle initially moving?
b. When does the particle’s direction change from right to left?
c. When does the particle’s direction change from left to right?
d. What time interval is the particle moving to the left?
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7. It was 8 am when Bob started going to school, which is an 800 meter walk from his house.
Along the way, he noticed that he left his lunchbox and has to go back. Suppose Bob’s distance
from his house since 8 am is s(t) = 0.1(t3 − 12t2 + 36t), where t is in minutes and s is in hundred
meters.
a. How fast was Bob moving when he left his house?
b. How many minutes had passed before Bob turned around to get his lunchbox?
c. What time did Bob arrive at his house to pick up his lunchbox?
8. A billiard ball is hit and travels in a line. If s centimeters is the distance of the ball from its
initial position at t seconds, then s(t) = 100t2 + 100t. If a ball hits a cushion at 39 cm from its
initial position, at what velocity does it hit the cushion?
9. Air is being pumped into a spherical balloon at a rate of 5 cm3 /min. Determine the rate at
which the radius of the balloon is increasing when the diameter of the balloon is 20 cm.
10. A 15 foot ladder is resting against the wall. The bottom is initially 10 feet away from the wall
1
and is being pushed towards the wall at a rate of ft/sec. How fast is the top of the ladder
4
moving up the wall 12 seconds after we start pushing?
11. A tank of water in the shape of a cone is leaking water at a constant rate of 2 ft3 /hour. The
base radius of the tank is 5 ft and the height of the tank is 14 ft.
a. At what rate is the depth of the water in the tank changing when the depth of the water
is 6 ft?
b. At what rate is the radius of the top of the water in the tank changing when the depth of
the water is 6 ft?
12. A plane is flying directly away from you at 500 mph at an altitude of 3 miles. How fast is the
plane’s distance from you increasing at the moment when the plane is flying over a point on
the ground 4 miles from you?
13. A cylindrical tank standing upright (with one circular base on the ground) has radius 20 cm.
How fast does the water level in the tank drop when the water is being drained at 25 cm3/sec?
14. Sand is poured onto a surface at 15 cm3/sec, forming a conical pile whose base diameter is
always equal to its altitude. How fast is the altitude of the pile increasing when the pile is 3
cm high?
15. The Camp-n-Swim campgrounds has a small lake for recreational swimming. Periodically, the
lake is treated to control the growth of harmful bacteria. The concentration of harmful bacteria
per cubic centimeter is given by H(x) = 3x2 − 42x + 150, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 14 where x is the
number of days after treatment.
a. How many days after a treatment is the concentration minimized?
b. What is the minimum concentration?
16. The percentage of codling moths that survive the pupa stage at a given temperature T degrees
Celsius is modeled by the formula P (T ) = −1.42T 2 + 68T − 746, for 20 ≤ T ≤ 30. Find the
temperatures at which the greatest and smallest percentage of moths survive.