Math 1210 Signature Assignment

Skyler Montalvo
Suppose that a particle moves according to the law of motion 𝑆(𝑡) = 𝑡4 − 6𝑡3 + 4𝑡2 +
3 with t ≥ 0, where s is in meters and t is in seconds. Use your knowledge of the
relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration to answer the following
questions

A) Find the velocity of the particle at time t.

What is the velocity at t=0?
To find the velocity function from our given function all you need to do is
take the derivative of the 𝑆(𝑡) = 𝑡4 − 6𝑡 3 + 4𝑡2 + 3 and to find the velocity at
t=0 plug 0 into your new function.
𝑉(𝑡) = 4𝑡 3 − 18𝑡 2 + 8𝑡

𝑉(0) = 0

B) Determine, using algebraic analysis, when the particle is moving in a positive

direction, a negative direction, and when it is at rest.
To find where the particle is at rest you need to find out when the velocity
is equal to 0. To do so you need to factor out the velocity equation which comes
out to 2𝑡(2𝑡 − 1)(𝑡 − 4)and you get zeroes occurring at 0, ½, and 4.
To find where the particle is negative and positive, we can plug in values around
our zeroes and determine where the particle will be negative or positive. I’m
going to use the values ¼, 2, and 5.
1 15
𝑉( ) =
4 16
𝑉(2) = −24

𝑉(5) = 90

With these values we can conclude that the particle is negative from (½,4) and
positive from (0,½)U(4,∞)
C) Find the total distance traveled by the particle in the first 6 seconds.
This question asks us to find the total distance traveled by the particle in the first
6 seconds. This is quite easy. You are going to need the points of rest (½,4), initial
position (0), and the end position (6). And from here we will plug in our points
into our original function𝑆(𝑡) = 𝑡4 − 6𝑡3 + 4𝑡2 + 3
𝑆(0) = 3m
1
𝑆 ( ) = 3.3125m
2

𝑆(4) = −61m

𝑆(6) = 147m

And now we do |𝑆 (12) − 𝑆(0)| + |𝑆(6) − 𝑆(4)|

(|3.3125 − 3| + |147 + 61| = 208.3125 m)

The particle traveled 208.3125 meters in the first 6 seconds.
D) Find the acceleration of the particle at time t.
What is the acceleration at t = 0?
To find the acceleration function we need to take the second derivative of
𝑆(𝑡) = 𝑡 4 − 6𝑡 3 + 4𝑡 2 + 3

First Derivative: S’(t)= 4𝑡3 − 18𝑡2 + 8𝑡

Second Derivative: S”(t)= 12𝑡2 − 36𝑡 + 8
Our new equation now is 𝑎(𝑡) = 12𝑡2 − 36𝑡 + 8
Plug in 0 as “t”
𝑎(0) = 8
 E) When is the particle speeding up and slowing down?
S(t), V(t), a(t).

From this graph we can tell that the particle is speeding up from (0,0.5)U(4,∞)
because it is concave up and the particle is slowing down from (0.5,4) because it is
concave down
Reflection Paragraph
The hardest part of this was probably finding the distance traveled in the
first 6 seconds because the particle could be moving in both directions and
potentially at a different velocity every second. It took me a while to understand
that it wasn’t moving at a constant velocity and that it could speed up and slow
down until I started looking at the graph of the function then it all just clicked in
my head. This project also taught me how to use an online graphing calculator
albeit not to its maximum potential it introduced me to something I am going to
start using in the future. I think a different real-world application of derivatives
could be calculating profits and losses for a new company or really any company,
and helping set prices of new items to maximize profit and minimizing loss of
money and at the same time also being able to find a reasonable price for the
new item.