MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

A1 MATH 3202 Due: Sept. 20, 2017

Hand in your solutions at the beginning of class on Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017.

1. A particle moves along the planar curve given by

r(t) = (t sin t)i + (1 cos t)j.

Find its velocity and acceleration vectors at times t = and 3/2.

Solution: We differentiate the vector function once with respect to t to obtain the velocity
vector
dr
= v(t) = (1 cos t)i + sin tj.
dt
Differentiating this result once again with respect to t we obtain the acceleration vector

d2 r dv
2
= = a(t) = sin ti + cos tj.
dt dt
We thus have v() = 2i, a() = j and v(3/2) = i j as well as a(3/2) = i.

2. Find the parametric equations for the line that is tangent to the curve

r(t) = a sin ti + a cos tj + btk

at time t = 2.
Solution: We need to compute the first derivative of the above vector function, which is

r0 (t) = a cos ti a sin tj + bk.

The tangent vector at time t = 2 is then r0 (2) = ai + bk. This is the vector parallel
to the tangent line. The tangent line itself passes through the point r(2) = (0, a, 2b).
Hence, the vector equation for the tangent line is h0, a, 2bi + tha, 0, bi. The associated
parametric equations are

x = at, y = a, z = 2b + bt.

3. A particle moves along the top of the parabola y 2 = 2x from left to right at a constant
speed of 5 units per second. Find the velocity of the particle as it moves through the
point (2, 2).
Solution: We begin with a parameterization of the parabola. Choosing y as parameter,
the parabola can be parameterized as

y2
r(y) = i + yj.
2
 2

We now differentiate this parameterization of the curve to obtain the tangent vector
r0 (y) = yi + j.
We know that at point (2, 2) the particle has speed 5. Hence, the velocity of the particle
is
v = vT,
where T is the unit tangent vector. The unit tangent vector at point (2, 2) is
r0 (2) 2i + j
T= 0
= .
|r (2)| 5
Thus, the velocity in point (2, 2) is

v = 5T = 2 5i + 5j.

4. Show that if the dot product of the velocity and acceleration of a moving particle is
positive (or negative), then the speed of the particle is increasing (or decreasing).
Solution: We begin with the definition of the speed, v = |v|. For the sake of simplicity,
we work with the square of the speed, i.e.
v2 = v v
Differentiating this expression with respect to t on both sides yields, using the product
rule,
dv dv dv dv
2v =v + v = 2v .
dt dt dt dt
Therefore,
dv
v = v a.
dt
As v > 0 by definition, this equation implies that if v a > 0 then dv
dt
> 0 and likewise if
dv
v a < 0 then dt < 0, which was what we wanted to show.
5. Show that
d du d2 u du d3 u
 
2 = 3
dt dt dt dt dt
Assume that all vector functions encountered have continuous derivatives of all orders.
Solution: We use the product rule
d du d2 u d2 u d2 u du d3 u
 
2 = 2 2 + 3.
dt dt dt dt dt dt dt
The first terms on the right hand side involves the cross product of the same vectors which
vanishes identically. Hence we arrive at
d du d2 u du d3 u
 
2 = 3.
dt dt dt dt dt
 3

6. Write the product rule for

d
(u (v w)) .
dt
Solution: We again use the product rule and find
d du d
(u (v w)) = (v w) + u (v w)
dt dt dt
   
du dv dw
= (v w) + u w +u v .
dt dt dt