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1C 10.

2 1

Having seen how to represent curves by parametric equations, we now apply the methods of
calculus to these parametric curves. In particular, we solve problems involving tangents, area, arc
length, and surface area.

TANGENTS
In the preceding section we saw that some curves defined by parametric equations x  f t
and y  tt can also be expressed, by eliminating the parameter, in the form y  Fx.
(See Exercise 67 for general conditions under which this is possible.) If we substitute
x  f t and y  tt in the equation y  Fx, we get

tt  F f t

and so, if t, F, and f are differentiable, the Chain Rule gives

tt  F f tf t  Fx f t

If f t  0, we can solve for Fx:

tt
1 Fx 
f t

Since the slope of the tangent to the curve y  Fx at x, Fx is Fx, Equation 1
enables us to find tangents to parametric curves without having to eliminate the parameter.
Using Leibniz notation, we can rewrite Equation 1 in an easily remembered form:

dy
dy dt dx
2  if 0
dx dx dt
dt

Second Derivative for a Parametrized Curve Given a param-etrized curve c(t) = (x(t), y(t)),
show that

d  dy  x  (t)y  (t) − y  (t)x  (t)

=
dt dx x  (t)2
Use this to prove the formula

d 2y x  (t)y  (t) − y  (t)x  (t)

2
=
dx x  (t)3
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1C 10.2 2

dt

EXAMPLE 1 A curve C is defined by the parametric equations x  t 2, y  t 3  3t.

(a) Show that C has two tangents at the point (3, 0) and find their equations.
(b) Find the points on C where the tangent is horizontal or vertical.
(c) Determine where the curve is concave upward or downward.
(d) Sketch the curve.
SOLUTION
(a) Notice that y  t 3  3t  tt 2  3  0 when t  0 or t  s3 . Therefore the
point 3, 0 on C arises from two values of the parameter, t  s3 and t  s3 . This
indicates that C crosses itself at 3, 0. Since

dy
dx

dydt
dxdt

3t 2  3
2t

3
2
 t
1
t

the slope of the tangent when t  s3 is dydx  6(2s3 )  s3 , so the equa-

tions of the tangents at 3, 0 are

y  s3 x  3 and y  s3 x  3

(b) C has a horizontal tangent when dydx  0, that is, when dydt  0 and dxdt  0.
Since dydt  3t 2  3, this happens when t 2  1, that is, t  1. The corresponding
points on C are 1, 2 and (1, 2). C has a vertical tangent when dxdt  2t  0, that is,
t  0. (Note that dydt  0 there.) The corresponding point on C is (0, 0).
(c) To determine concavity we calculate the second derivative:

2
d y

d
dt
 
dy
dx

3
2
1
1
t2

3t 2  1
dx 2 dx 2t 4t 3
dt

Thus the curve is concave upward when t  0 and concave downward when t  0.
(d) Using the information from parts (b) and (c), we sketch C in Figure 1. M

y
y=œ„
3 (x-3)
t=_1
(1, 2)

(3, 0)
0 x

t=1
(1, _2)
y=_ œ3
„ (x-3)
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1C 10.2 3
EXAMPLE
(a) Find the tangent to the cycloid x  r  sin  , y  r 1  cos   at the point
where   3. (See Example 7 in Section 10.1.)
(b) At what points is the tangent horizontal? When is it vertical?
SOLUTION
(a) The slope of the tangent line is

dy dyd r sin  sin 

  
dx dxd r1  cos   1  cos 

W
When
h   3 we have

xr  
3
 sin

3
r

3

s3
2

y  r 1  cos

3

r
2

dy sin3 s3 2
and    s3
dx 1  cos3 1  12

Therefore the slope of the tangent is s3 and its equation is

y
r
2
 s3  x
r
3

rs3
2
or s3 x  y  r  
s3
2
The tangent is sketched in Figure 2.

y
(_πr, 2r) (πr, 2r) (3πr, 2r) (5πr, 2r)

π
¨= 3
0 2πr 4πr x
FIGURE 2

(b) The tangent is horizontal when dydx  0, which occurs when sin   0 and
1  cos   0, that is,   2n  1, n an integer. The corresponding point on the
cycloid is 2n  1 r, 2r.
When   2n, both dxd and dyd are 0. It appears from the graph that there are
vertical tangents at those points. We can verify this by using l’Hospital’s Rule as follows:

dy sin  cos 
lim   lim   lim  
 l2n dx  l 2n 1  cos   l 2n sin 

A similar computation shows that dydx l  as  l 2n , so indeed there are verti-
cal tangents when   2n, that is, when x  2n r. M
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1C 10.2 4

AREAS

We know that the area under a curve y  Fx from a to b is A  xab Fx dx, where
Fx 0. If the curve is traced out once by the parametric equations x  f t and y  tt,

 t  , then we can calculate an area formula by using the Substitution Rule for
Definite Integrals as follows:

a

A  y y dx  y tt f t dt

or

y tt f t dt 

EXAMPLE Find the area under one arch of the cycloid

x  r   sin   y  r 1  cos  

y
SOLUTION One arch of the cycloid is given by 0    2. Using the Substitution Rule
wit
withh y  r1  cos  dx  r 1  cos   d, we have
2r 2
0 2πr x Ay y dx  y r1  cos   r1  cos   d
0 0

2 2
 r2 y 1  cos  2 d  r 2 y 1  2 cos   cos 2  d
0 0

 r2 y
2

0
[1  2 cos   1
2 1  cos 2  d ]
[
 r 2 32   2 sin   14 sin 2 ]2
0  r 2 ( 2 ⴢ 2)  3 r 2
3
M
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1C 10.2 5

ARC LENGTH

We already know how to find the length L of a curve C given in the form y  Fx,
a  x  b. Formula 8.1.3 says that if F is continuous, then

3 L y a
b
 1
dy
dx
2
dx y
C
Pi _ 1
P™

Pi
P¡
Pn
P¸

4 L y


  dx
dt
2

dy
dt
2
dt
0 x

EXAMPLE If we use the representation of the unit circle given

x  cos t y  sin t 0  t  2

then dxdt  sin t and dydt  cos t, so Theorem 6 gives

L y
0
2
 
dx
dt
2

dy
dt
2
2

0
2
dt  y ssin 2 t  cos 2 t dt  y dt  2
0

as expected. If, on the other hand, we use the representation given in Example 3 in Sec-
tion 10.1,
x  sin 2t y  cos 2t 0  t  2

then dxdt  2 cos 2t, dydt  2 sin 2t, and the integral in Theorem 6 gives

y0
2
 
dx
dt
2

dy
dt
2
dt  y
0
2
s4 cos 2 2t  4 sin 2 2t dt  y
0
2
2 dt  4
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 6

V EXAMPLE Find the length of one arch of the cycloid \ 苷 U共1 ⫺ cos ␪ 兲.

SOLUTION From Example 3 we see that one arch is described by the parameter interval
0 艋 ␪ 艋 2␲. Since

G[ G\
苷 U共1 ⫺ cos ␪ 兲 and 苷 U sin ␪
G␪ G␪

we have

/苷 y
0
2␲
冑冉 冊 冉 冊
G[
G␪
2
⫹
G\
G␪
2
G␪ 苷 y
0
2␲
sU 2共1 ⫺ cos ␪ 兲2 ⫹ U 2 sin 2␪ G␪

2␲ 2␲
苷y sU 2共1 ⫺ 2 cos ␪ ⫹ cos 2␪ ⫹ sin 2␪ 兲 G␪ 苷 U y s2共1 ⫺ cos ␪ 兲 G␪
0 0

To evaluate this integral we use the identity sin 2[ 苷 12 共1 ⫺ cos 2[兲 with ␪ 苷 2[, which
gives 1 ⫺ cos ␪ 苷 2 sin 2共␪兾2兲. Since 0 艋 ␪ 艋 2␲, we have 0 艋 ␪兾2 艋 ␲ and so
sin共␪兾2兲 艌 0. Therefore

ⱍ
s2共1 ⫺ cos ␪ 兲 苷 s4 sin 2 共␪兾2兲 苷 2 sin共␪兾2兲 苷 2 sin共␪兾2兲 ⱍ
2␲ 2␲
and so / 苷 2U y sin共␪兾2兲 G␪ 苷 2U 关⫺2 cos共␪兾2兲 ] 0
0

苷 2U关2 ⫹ 2兴 苷 8U M

y
L=8r

0 2πr x

FIGURE 5
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 7

SURFACE AREA

In the same way as for arc length, we can adapt Formula 8.2.5 to obtain a formula for
surface area. If the curve given by the parametric equations x 苷 f 共t兲, y 苷 t共t兲, ␣ 艋 t 艋 ␤,
is rotated about the x-axis, where f ⬘, t⬘ are continuous and t共t兲 艌 0, then the area of the
resulting surface is given by

7
␤
S 苷 y 2␲ y
␣
冑冉 冊 冉 冊
dx
dt
2
⫹
dy
dt
2
dt

The general symbolic formulas S 苷 x 2␲ y ds and S 苷 x 2␲ x ds

are still valid, but for parametric curves we use

ds 苷 冑冉 冊 冉 冊
dx
dt
2
⫹
dy
dt
2
dt

EXAMPLE Show that the surface area of a sphere of radius r is 4␲ r 2.

SOLUTION The sphere is obtained by rotating the semicircle

x 苷 r cos t y 苷 r sin t 0艋t艋␲

about the x-axis. Therefore, from Formula 7, we get

␲
S 苷 y 2␲ r sin t s共⫺r sin t兲2 ⫹ 共r cos t兲2 dt
0

␲ ␲
苷 2␲ y r sin t sr 2共sin 2 t ⫹ cos 2 t兲 dt 苷 2␲ y r sin t ⴢ r dt
0 0

␲ ␲
苷 2␲r 2 y sin t dt 苷 2␲r 2共⫺cos t兲 0 苷 4␲ r 2
] M
0