VICTORIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

2020

STUDENT NAME:

MATHEMATICAL METHODS (CBE) UNIT 3

SAC 1 – PART 2

S
MATHS TREK
FIRST DERIVATIVE

Reading time: 15 minutes

Writing time: 120 minutes

QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK

Number of Number of questions Number of marks

questions to be answered
6 6 66

Total 66

• Students are permitted to bring into the examination room: pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers,
sharpeners, rulers, a protractor, set squares, aids for curve sketching, one bound reference, one laptop
with Mathematica and any number of Mathematica files.
• Students are NOT permitted to bring into the examination: blank sheets of paper and/or correction
fluid/tape.
Materials supplied
• Question and answer book of 18 pages.
• Formula sheet
Instructions
• Write your name in the space provided above on this page.
• All written responses must be in English.
 Space: the final frontier.

These are the voyages of the starship JMSS Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange
new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilisations, to boldly go beyond the blank pages
where no Mathematician has gone before.
 3 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

Instructions
Answer all questions in the spaces provided
In all questions where a numerical answer is required, an exact value must be given unless otherwise
specified.
In questions where more than one mark is available, appropriate working must be shown.
Unless otherwise indicated, the diagrams in this book are not drawn to scale.

Note: Sections between these symbols, A, are story only and are not needed to answer the questions

A
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.52

We have been attacked, without provocation, by an alien race which our very knowledgeable bartender,
Beretic, calls the Borg. During this encounter we sustained very minimal damage and were successfully able
to neutralise their weapons before the proceeded to retreat into an unexplored sector of the Galaxy.

Despite Beretic’s warning, I feel compelled to investigate this sector in the hope of learning more about the
Borg before heading back. Commander Rykaralambous is leading an away team in an attempt to learn more
about this unfamiliar alien race.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

A
Commander Rykaralambous observes the Borg ship from a distance. The ship itself is like nothing they have
ever seen before. It appears to be in the shape of a giant cube.

Question 1 (15 marks)

Commander Rykaralambous attempts to model the volume by the equation:

=− −5 − 7 + 13

where V is the volume in and x is the length of one side of the cube in km.

Using Commander Rykaralambous’ model:

a. i. Find the volume of the Borg Cube when the length of one side of the cube is 1 km. 1 mark

ii. Find, in km and correct to four decimal places, the length of one side of the Borg cube
when the volume is 40 . 1 mark
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 4

The cubic polynomial =− −5 − 7 + 13 can be written in the form +ℎ + .

b. i. Explain why = −1. 1 mark

ii. Show that ℎ + = 65. 2 marks

iii. Find the values of h and k. 2 marks

c. i. Find the coordinates of all of the stationary points of and use a sign table to
determine their nature. 3 marks
 5 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

ii. Hence, sketch the graph of = over a suitable domain on the axes below.
Label all axes intercepts and stationary points with their coordinates. 3 marks

d. i. Find the value of x for which the maximum volume of the Borg Cube occurs. 1 mark

ii. Is Commander Rykaralambous’ model a good fit to find the maximum volume of the
Borg Cube? Justify your answer with an explanation. 1 mark
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 6

A
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.55

Commander Rykaralambous, due to his unfamiliarity with a species such as the Borg, has been struggling to
determine the exact details of the Borg ship.

I have asked the Enterprises’ bartender, Beretic, to join the away team and share his knowledge of the Borg
with them in the hope that this will lead us to some answers about why they attacked us.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

A
 7 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

Question 2 (8 marks)
Each Borg ship is required to have a volume of 48 km . However, as they are also a thrifty bunch, they
always attempt to keep the surface area of their ship to a minimum.

a. Show that the total surface area of a closed-rectangular prism with a volume of 48 km3 and
2 ( x 3 + 96 )
square base of side length x km can be expressed as A( x) = where x ≥ 0 . 2 marks
x

b. Find A '( x ) and hence find the minimum total surface area of the closed rectangular prism
correct to two decimal places. 3 marks

c. For what values of x is A( x ) strictly decreasing? Express your answers correct to two
decimal places. 1 mark

d. For what value(s) of x, correct to two decimal places, is the surface area of the cube less
than 100 ? 2 marks
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 8

A
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.57

The Borg have proven to be more cunning than we had initially anticipated. Their initial retreat, has
revealed itself to be a ruse through which to lure us into their territory. One hour ago, we lost contact with
our away team, led by Commander Rykaralambous.

Immediately after losing contact with the away team we received the following message from the Borg ship.

“We are the Wolfram Collective.

You will be assimilated.

Resistance is futile.”

I now fear something terrible may have happened to our away team.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

The Borg/Wolfram collective have captured the JMSS Enterprises’ away team and are in the process of
assimilating the crew into the Wolfram Collective. One by one, each member of the crew is operated on by
the Borg who attach electronic and mechanical implants into them, making them composites of human and
machine…

A
Question 3 (8 marks)
The Borg surgeon is attempting to put an implant into Commander Rykaralambous that will allow him to
become connected to the Wolfram Collective.

1
The Implant signal can be modelled by the equation I (t ) = where t is the time, in seconds, since the implant
t
was inserted into Commander Rykaralambous’ head.

Commander Rykaralambous brain waves can be modelled by the equation R(t ) = t 2 − 7t + 12 .

1
a. Find the values of c and d such that I ( R( x) ) = . 2 marks
( x − c)( x − d )

b. State the maximal domain for which I ( R( x) ) is defined. 2 marks

 9 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

To check that Commander Rykaralambous has successfully been integrated into the Wolfram Collective, the
Surgeon conducts an experiment that uses a parameter, h, to control Commander Rykaralambous.

The Surgeon identifies two linear equations that are dependent on the parameter h. When a value for h is
chosen, the number of intersections that occur between the two lines determines what work Commander
Rykaralambous will do.

The two linear equations are:

hx + 12 y = 24
3x + hy = m

c. Find the value(s) of h for which there is a unique solution to the intersection of these two
equations. 2 marks

d. Find the value(s) of h and m for which there are no solutions to the intersection of these
two equations. 2 marks
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 10

A
Just as the Borg Surgeon completes the operation on Commander Rykaralambous (now known as “2 of 8” or
“16” to his Borg friends) the JMSS Enterprise is able to teleport Commander Rykaralambous and the other
crew members off the ship.

Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.59

We have successfully recovered our away team, or at least, what was our away team. It appears that the
Borg’s objective is to assimilate all cultures and species together into one. The members of our away team
have been assimilated and no longer recognise their old identities. They now refer to themselves as numbers,
as part of the Wolfram Collective. It appears as though the Borg have a hive mind that works towards one
goal of assimilating everything.

While the ship’s doctor, Beverleanne McCrusherlin, attempts to remove the implants and restore our crew to
their original selves, myself and the rest of the ship have a more pressing matter to deal with. After being
uploaded to the Wolfram Collective, the Borg gained access to all of Commander Rykaralambous’
knowledge, including the location of Earth.

The Borg are now en-route towards Earth to continue their Assimilation.

It is now up to us to stop them.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

As the JMSS Enterprise races towards Earth in the hope of arriving before the Borg ship, Captain Maycard
contacts the only person who he knows who might have some insight into how to defeat the Borg…
Khanmond.

Having spent the last 60 years in the G-03 high security prison, Khanmond seems eager to share his wisdom
with Captain Maycard. He suggests that JMSS Enterprise might be able to overwhelm the Borg by synching
their time of attack with when the Borgs’ biorhythms are at their weakest. He explains to Captain Maycard
that a biorhythm is a wave that can be read and then used to predict various aspects of a Borg’s behaviour.

Khanmond explains: “There are three types of biorhythm: The Emotional Biorhythm - this concerns a Borg’s
level of emotional sensitivity and aspects such as confidence. The Physical Biorhythm - this relates to a
Borg’s capacity to perform physical tasks such as their strength and energy. The Intellectual Biorhythm -
This relates to a Borg’s ability to perform complex mental problem solving tasks like completing the square
and finding the derivative of log e ( x ) . If you attack a Borg when all three Biorhythms are in a state of flux
you will be able to defeat them FOR SURE!”

Captain Maycard considers Khamond’s suggestions carefully. Khanmond is highly intelligent and a brilliant
strategist… he has also shown, in the past, that he can be deceptive…

Can his advice be trusted?

A
 11 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

Question 4 (12 marks)

Each biorhythm cycle (physical, emotional and intellectual) starts at birth and can be modelled using a sine
function. Since the Borg can think and act as one, a model that is developed for one Borg can be applied to all
Borg.

The Borg’s physical biorhythm can be modelled by the equation

 2π t 
P (t ) = sin  
 12 

where t is the number of hours after assimilation and t ≥ 0 .

a. Find the amplitude and period of P (t ) . 2 marks

b. Sketch the first 48 hours of the Borg’s physical biorhythm after assimilation. Label all
intercepts and endpoints with their coordinates. 3 marks
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 12

When P (t ) > 0 , the Borg’s physical well-being can be described as being positive. When P (t ) < 0 , the Borg’s
physical well-being is described as being negative. The critical point occurs when the positive crosses over
to the negative or vice versa.

c. How many critical points (the time when P is zero) occur for t where 0 < t < 48 ? 1 mark

It is known that the biorhythms of each of the physical, emotional and intellectual cycles will have absolute
maximum and minimum values of +1 and -1 respectively.

d. The period of the emotional cycle is 8 hours. Write down the equation that could be used
to model the emotional cycle. 1 mark

e. The period of the intellectual cycle is 10 hours. Write down the equation that could be
used to model the intellectual cycle. 1 mark
 13 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

A double critical event occurs when two of the cycles have a critical point at the same time.

f. If a double critical event is defined to be when two of the cycles have the same t-intercept.
How often do the following double critical events occur?

i. physical and intellectual 1 mar k

ii. physical and emotional 1 mark

iii. emotional and intellectual. 1 mark

Super critical events occur when all three cycles have a critical event occurring at the same time. It is at this
time that Khanmond suggests Captain Maycard should attack the Borg as it is when they are at their most
vulnerable.

g. How often do these super critical events occur? 1 mark

A
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.64

I have conversed with the high security prisoner known as Khanmond and, based on his suggestions, have
formed a plan of attack for defeating the Borg before they reach Earth.

We will attack them when they are at their weakest, when their biorhythms are aligned in what is known as a
super critical event. Khanmond has explained the science to me and it seems to be the most promising course
of action. I just hope that we can trust him.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

Meanwhile, in a cell block in the High Security Prison G-03 Khanmond laughs hysterically.
“Fools!” he exclaims “I have finally had my revenge. You don’t stand a chance against the Borg Maycard.
Biorhythms are pure pseudoscience you bonehead! Consider this to be revenge for what your predecessor,
Kork, did to my Triggles.”

A
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 14

Question 5 (18 marks)

The Borg ship follows the path of the quartic function, f, defined by the rule:

f : R → R, f ( x) = 3 x 4 + 4 x3 − 12 x 2

where the distances, x and y = f ( x ) , are measured in astronomical units.

Part of the graph is shown below.

a. Find the coordinates of point M at which the absolute minimum value of the function f
occurs. 1 mark

b. State the values of b for which the graph of y = f ( x ) + b has no x-intercepts. 1 mark
 15 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

As the Borg ship comes into view, the JMSS-enterprise fires a laser beam at them. The Diagram below shows
the path of the laser beam, L, relative to the path of the Borg ship, f.

−1
The path of the laser beam, L, is at a tangent to the path of the Borg ship at x = .
3
c. Find the equation of the path of the laser beam. Express your answer in the form L = mx + c 2 marks

The path of the laser beam, L, intersects with the path of the Borg ship at two other points.

d. State the x-values of the two other points of intersection. Express your answers in the
a± b
form , where a, b and c are all integer values. 2 marks
c
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 16

The Borg ship adjusts their course to avoid the laser beam so that they now are travelling along the path defined
by the rule:

B ( x) = 2 x 2 + ( k − 3) x + 2

where k is a real number that the Borg can change at whim.

Captain Maycard gives the ship’s chief engineer, Stevie LaFinch weapons control and asks him to plot a path
that will intersect with the Borg ship’s path.

Stevie LaFinch begins by modelling the path of the JMSS Enterprise as a straight line with the rule:

J ( x) = k − 5 x

Where the same k value is being used as that in the Borg ship’s path, B.

e. i. Find the values of k for which the graphs of B ( x ) and J ( x ) intersect exactly once. 3 marks

ii. Hence, find the value(s) of k for which the graphs of B ( x ) and J ( x ) never intersect. 1 mark
 17 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

The Borg choose to use a value of k = −1 .

f. Show that the gradient, m, of the tangent to B ( x ) at the point ( a, B(a) ) is m = 4a − 4 . 2 marks

Stevie LaFinch knows that the JMSS Enterprise will be closest to the Borg ship when the gradients of both
B ( x ) and J ( x ) are the same.

g. Using your answer to part f., find the value of a for which the gradients of both B ( x ) and
J ( x ) are the same. 2 marks

Stevie LaFinch wants to work out what the minimum distance between the JMSS Enterprise and the Borg ship
 −1  −1  
will be when the Borg ship is located at the point with coordinates  , B    and the JMSS Enterprise is
 4  4 
travelling along a path defined by the equation E ( x ) = −1 − 4 x .
 −1  −1  
h. Show that the distance from the point  , B    to the JMSS Enterprise when it is
 4  4 
1093 67
anywhere on the path E ( x ) = −1 − 4 x , can be expressed as D = + x + 17 x 2 . 2 marks
64 2
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 18

i. Hence find the minimum distance between the JMSS Enterprise and the point
 −1  −1  
 , B . 2 marks
 4  4 
 19 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

As the JMSS Enterprise draws close to the Borg ship, they begin their attack, firing their lasers and photon
torpedoes.

Question 6 (5 marks)

The Borg are determined to try and avoid the attack and enter into a flight path with unknown parameters.

Let p : R → R, p ( x ) = 3 x 4 + 4 x 3 + 6( n − 2) x 2 − 12nx + n 2 where n ∈ R

a. Solve = 0 in terms of n. 1 mark

b. i. Find the values of n for which p has only one stationary point. 1 mark

ii. Find the minimum value of p when = 2. 1 mark

iii. If p has only one stationary point, find the values of n for which = 0 has
no solutions. 2 marks
2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 1 20

A
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 98060.75

The Borg have been defeated. Thanks to our chief engineer, Stevie LaFinch, we were able to anticipate the
movements of the Borg ship and strike at it when it was at its weakest. As it turns out, our weapons were
mostly useless against the Borg Cube. Our ships chief operations officer, Data, however, came up with a
rather ingenious idea of teleporting a small furry creature known as a Triggle on board the Borg Cube.

It appears as though the conditions aboard the Borg ship were so perfect for the reproduction of Triggles
that after just a few minutes, the number of Triggles aboard their ship had multiplied so rapidly that the Borg
could not assimilate them all and, within hours, the Borg Cube no longer functional due to the immense
number of Triggles that had taken over the ship. As we now speak, the Borg ship floats listlessly through
space, every cubic centimetre of space filled with the furry creatures.

We have saved the planet Earth and the Federation of United Planets.

Let us hope that this is the last that we will see of the Borg for a very long while.

Captain Jean-Rowen Maycard

A
 21 2020 MATHS METHODS SAC 1 – PART 2

END OF QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK