Calculus 3

Worksheet
Summer 2008
Putnam Exam Problems
Instructions: Work all problems. Show work. Problem answers that are
correct but show no work may not receive any credit. All problems are at
your level. The Putnam exam is a competitive exam held yearly that involves
undergraduates from all over the United States, and is also international in
scope. Because the problems are "contrived" and have little "real-world" value,
they may not be as interesting for you as some other problems in applied areas
of mathematics such as physics or engineering. Since they are challenging, they
allow us to develop a feel for what research is like in mathematics.
There are a number of advantages for a student in working such problems.
First, they are abstract and require us to use mathematical reasoning. This is
a good way to develop skill and ability at using calculus. Second, they were
invented by mathematicians, and therefore arise out of the connections that
various mathematicians have formed with the subject material in calculus. By
discovering these connections ourselves (or nding other connections) we are
learning to connect the dots between mathematics and other areas of thinking.
This helps us to work with mathematics better as a type of language.
The mathematicians clearly have the advantage because they are "reverse"
engineering, and see the simple paths. On the other hand, you must engineer
a solution by following various paths from the endpoints of the mathematicians
who constructed the problems. There are numerous paths which are merely
futile to take from these endpoints. As you study such contrived problems
over the years, you would discover the ways in which mathematicians think and
become adept at reverse engineering yourself. This would, of course, be a long-
term goal in which few are ultimately interested. Then you would become a
practiced problem solver at such contrived problems, and a specialist in these
types of problems. Of course, too, some of you may become mathematicians,
and by that means acquire insight into competition problems although you may
not indulge yourself in solving them.
Try to work the problems in the spirit to which they were intended: over
a short period of time, alone and independently, and using no references or
calculators. When you nd that a problem is outside such a range, collaborate
with other students and consult other resources. Since the problems are highly
articial (constructed just for the Putnam exam competition), always try rst
to reverse engineer, by thinking about what might have been in the mind of the
person who constructed a problem.
Incidentally, many problems besides Putnam problems can be reverse en-
gineered. However, if a problem was solved at a particular point in history,
we today may have lost the context, and may not nd the problem easy, de-
spite the fact that it might, in historical context, have been a relatively easy
1
problem. This tells us that some of the dicult unsolved problems of today
merely require an appropriate context, which, if one can discover, allows one to
solve what may have been in the past extremely dicult problems. This was
Gausss great strength, to recognize contexts (what we might call thinking out-
side the box), perhaps simple, that existed in his day for solving the challenging
problems of his time.
Problem 1
Let 1 be the region consisting of the points (r, j) of the Cartesian plane
satisfying both [r[ [j[ _ 1 and [j[ _ 1. Sketch the region 1 and nd its area.
Problem 2
Consider a polynomial ) (r) with real coecients having the property ) (q (r)) =
q () (r)) for every polynomial q (r) with real coecients. Determine and prove
the nature of ) (r).
Problem 3
Inscribe a rectangle of base / and height / and an isosceles triangle as well.
The isosceles triangle is to lie outside the rectangle and shares a side of length
/ with the rectangle. For what value of / do the rectangle and triangle have
the same area.
Problem 4
A right circular cone has base of radius 1 and height 3. A cube is inscribed
in the cone so that one face of the cube is contained in the base of the cone.
What is the side-length of the cube?
Problem 5
Prove or disprove: if r and j are real numbers with j _ 0 and j (j + 1) _
(r + 1)
2
, then j (j 1) _ r
2
.
Problem 6
Determine all polynomials 1 (r) such that 1
_
r
2
+ 1
_
= (1 (r))
2
+ 1 and
1 (0) = 0.
Problem 7
Let ) (r) = a
1
sinr + a
2
sin2r + ...a
n
sin:r, where a
1
, a
2
, ... a
n
are real
numbers and where : is a positive integer. Given that [) (r)[ _ [sinr[ for all
real r, prove that [a
1
+ 2a
2
+...:a
n
[ _ 1.
Problem 8
Let / be a xed positive integer. The :th derivative of 1,
_
r
k
1
_
has the
form
1
n
(r)
(r
k
1)
n+1
2
where 1
n
(r) is a polynomial. Find 1
n
(1).
Problem 9
Let ) (r) be dened for a _ r _ /. Assuming appropriate properties of
continuity and derivability, prove that for a < r < /:
f(x)f(a)
xa

f(b)f(a)
ba
r /
=
1
2
)
00
(,)
where , is some number between a and /.
Problem 10
Find the maximum value of ) (r) = r
3
3r on the set of all real numbers r
satisfying r
4
+ 36 _ 13r
2
. Explain your reasoning.
Problem 11
Find the minimum value of
(r + 1,r)
6

_
r
6
+ 1,r
6
_
2
(r + 1,r)
3
+ (r
3
+ 1,r
3
)
for r 0.
Problem 12
Suppose ) and q are nonconstant, dierentiable, real-valued functions on 1.
Furthermore, suppose that for each pair of real numbers r and j, ) (r +j) =
) (r) ) (j) q (r) q (j) and q (r +j) = ) (r) q (j) + q (r) ) (j). If )
0
(0) = 0,
prove that () (r))
2
+ (q (r))
2
= 1 for all r.
Problem 13
A dart, thrown at random, hits a square target. Assuming that any two
parts of the target of equal area are equally likely to be hit, nd the probability
that the point hit is nearer to the center than to any edge. Write your answer
in the form
_
a
_
/ +c
_
,a where a, /, c, and d are positive integers.
Problem 14
If a
0
, a
1
, ... a
n
are real numbers satisfying
a
0
1
+
a
1
2
+...
a
n
: + 1
= 0
show that the equation
a
0
+a
1
r +a
2
r
2
+...a
n
r
n
= 0
has at least one real zero.
Problem 15
3
Find all of the continuous positive functions ) (r), for 0 _ r _ 1, such that
_
1
0
) (r) dr = 1
_
1
0
) (r) rdr = c
_
1
0
) (r) r
2
dr = c
2
where c is a real number.
Problem 16
Which is greater: (
_
:)
p
n+1
or
__
: + 1
_
p
n
where : 8?
Problem 17
Show that if r is positive, then
log
e
_
1 +
1
r
_

1
1 +r
Problem 18
From the vertex (0, c) of the catenary j = c cosh(r,c) a line 1 is drawn
perpendicular to the tangent to the catenary at a point 1. Prove that the
length of 1 intercepted by the axes is equal to the ordinate j of the point 1.
Problem 19
Prove or disprove that there is at least one straight line normal to the graph
of j = coshr at a point (a, cosha) and also normal to the graph of j = sinhr at
a point (c, sinhc) (At a point on a graph, the normal line is the perpendicular
to the tangent line at that point.)
Problem 20
Let ) be a twice-dierentiable real-valued function satisfying
) (r) +)
00
(r) = rq (r) )
0
(r)
where q (r) _ 0 for all real r. Prove that [) (r)[ is bounded.
Problem 21
Prove that if the family of integral curves of the dierential equation
dj
dr
+j (r) j = (r) , j (r) (r) ,= 0
is cut be the line r = /, the tangents at the points of intersection are concurrent.
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Problem 22
A not uncommon calculus mistake is to believe that the product rule for
derivatives says that ()q)
0
= )
0
q
0
. If ) (r) = c
x
2
, determine, with proof,
whether there exists an open interval (a, /) and a nonzero function q dened on
(a, /) such that this wrong product rule is true for r in (a, /).
Problem 23
Consider the horizontal line j = c, for a positive constant c. When we
examine the graph of j = 2r 3r
3
, we notice that the intersection with j = c
divides up the rst quadrant into three bounded regions and two unbounded
regions, provided j = c lies below the peak of j = 2r3r
3
. One of the bounded
regions is triangular-like and the one of the others shaped like a lens. Find c
so that the areas of these two regions will be equal.
Problem 24
Find the length of the curve j
2
= r
3
from the origin to the point where the
tangent makes an angle of 45
o
with the r-axis.
Problem 25
Let \ be the region in the cartesian plane consisting of all points (r, j)
satisfying the sumultaneous conditions
[r[ _ j _ [r[ + 3 and j _ 4
Find the centroid ( r, j) of \ .
Problem 26
Evaluate
_
4
2
_
ln(9 r)
_
ln(9 r) +
_
ln(r + 3)
dr
Problem 27
Prove
22
7
=
_
1
0
r
4
(1 r)
4
1 +r
2
dr
Problem 28
Evaluate
_
=2
0
dr
1 + (tanr)
p
2
Problem 29
Evaluate
5
lim
x!1
_
1
r

a
x
1
a 1
_
1=x
where a is a positive number not equal to one.
Problem 30
Let r
n
, : _ 0, be a sequence of nonzero real numbers such that
r
2
n
r
n1
r
n+1
= 1
for : = 1, 2, .... Prove that there exists a real number a such that r
n+1
=
ar
n
r
n1
, for all : _ 1.
Problem 31
Let T
0
= 2, T
1
= 3, T
2
= 6, and, for : _ 3,
T
n
= (: + 4) T
n1
4:T
n2
+ (4: 8) T
n3
The rst ten terms of the sequence are:
2, 3, 6, 14, 40, 152, 784, 5168, 40576, 363392
Find, with proof, a formula for T
n
of the form
T
n
=
n
+1
n
where
n
and 1
n
are well-known sequences.
Problem 32
Write
1

k=1
6
k
(3
k+1
2
k+1
) (3
k
2
k
)
as a rational number.
Problem 33
Let ) (:) be the sum of the rst : terms of the sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3,
4, ... where the :th term is given by
a
n
=
_
:,2 for : even
(: 1) ,2 for : odd
Show that if r and j are positive integers and r j then rj = ) (r +j)
) (r j).
Problem 34
Is the innite series
6
1

n=1
1
:
(n+1)=n
convergent? Prove your statement.
Problem 35
Prove that if

1
n=1
a
n
is a convergent series of positive numbers, so is
1

n=1
(a
n
)
n=(n+1)
Problem 36
The alternating harmonic series
1
1
2
+
1
3

1
4
+
1
5

1
6
+
1
7

1
8
+... (1)
is a convergent series. Let us assume this, and denote its sum by :. Rearrange
the alternating harmonic series as follows
1 +
1
3

1
2
+
1
5
+
1
7

1
4
+
1
9
+
1
11

1
6
+... (2)
This second series is also convergent, something we will again assume, and let
us denote its sum by o. Denote by :
k
and o
k
, respectively, the partial sums of
(1) and (2). Prove that
o
3n
= :
4n
+
1
2
:
2n
and also that o is not equal to :.
Problem 37
Is the following series convergent or divergent?
1 +
1
2

19
7
+
2!
3
2
_
19
7
_
2
+
3!
4
3
_
19
7
_
3
+
4!
5
4
_
19
7
_
4
+...
Problem 38
Show that if the series
a
1
+a
2
+a
3
+... +a
n
+...
converges, then the series
a
1
+
a
2
2
+
a
3
3
+...
a
n
:
+...
converges also.
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Problem 39
Assume that [) (r)[ _ 1 and [)
00
(r)[ _ 1 for all r on an interval of at least
length two. Show that [)
00
(r)[ _ 2 on the interval.
Problem 40
For a point 1 on an ellipse, let d be the distance from the center of the ellipse
to the line tangent to the ellipse at 1. Prove that (11
1
) (11
2
) d
2
is constant
as 1 varies along the ellipse, where 11
1
and 11
2
are the distances from 1 to
the foci 1
1
and 1
2
, respectively, of the ellipse.
Problem 41
Find the minimum value of
(n )
2
+
_
_
2 n
2

9

_
2
for 0 < n <
_
2 and 0.
Problem 42
A coast artillery gun can re at any angle of elevation between 0
o
and 90
o
in a xed vertical plane. If air resistance is neglected and the muzzle velocity
is constant (=
0
), determine the set H of points in the plane and above the
horizontal which can be hit.
Problem 43
A particle of unit mass moves on a straight line under the action of a force
which is a function ) () of the velocity of the particle, but the form of this
function is not known. A motion is observed, and the distance r covered in
time t is found to be connected with t by the formula r = at+/t
2
+ct
3
, where a,
/ and c have numerical values determined by observation of the motion. Find
the function ) () for the range of covered by the experiment.
Problem 44
A can buoy is to be made of three pieces, namely, a cylinder and two equal
cones, the altitude of each cone being equal to the altitude of the cylinder. For
a given area of surface, what shape will have the greatest volume?
Problem 45
Evaluate
_
a
0
_
b
0
exp
_
max
_
/
2
r
2
, a
2
j
2
__
djdr
where a and / are positive.
Problem 46
8
Show that if ` _ 1,2 there does not exist a real-valued function n such that
for all r in the closed interval 0 _ r _ 1,
n(r) = 1 +`
_
1
x
n(j) n(j r) dj
Problem 47
Evaluate
lim
n!1
_
1
0
_
1
0
...
_
1
0
cos
2
_

2:
(r
1
+r
2
+...r
n
)
_
dr
1
dr
2
...dr
n
Problem 48
Let be the area of the region in the rst quadrant bounded by the line
j = (1,2) r, the r-axis, and the ellipse (1,9) r
2
+ j
2
= 1. Find the positive
number : such that is equal to the area of the region in the rst quadrant
bounded by the line j = :r, the j-axis and the ellipse (1,9) r
2
+j
2
= 1.
Problem 49
Let
G(r, j) =
_
j
r
2
+ 4j
2
,
r
r
2
+ 4j
2
, 0
_
Prove or disprove that there is a vector-valued function
F(r, j, .) = (' (r, j, .) , (r, j, .) , 1 (r, j, .))
with the following properties: 1) ', , and 1 have continuous partial deriv-
atives for all (r, j, .) ,= (0, 0, 0); 2) curl F = 0 for all (r, j, .) ,= (0, 0, 0); and
F(r, j, 0) = G(r, j).
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