Examiners commentaries 2011

Examiners commentaries 2011

05b Mathematics 2
Specific comments on questions Zone A
Question 1
This question uses ideas from Section 2.4 of the subject guide to see that as
ex = 1 + x +

x3
x4
x5
x2
+
+
+
+
2!
3!
4!
5!

and

sin x = x

x3
x5
+
,
3!
5!

we find that




2
3
x3
x5
1
x3
1
x3
esin x = 1 + x
+
+
x
+
+
x
+
3!
5!
2!
3!
3!
3!
1
1
4
5
+ (x ) + (x ) + ,
4!
5!
if we keep the relevant terms from both series. Indeed, as we want to keep terms up to x5 , we
can see that the brackets in the third term give us



 3
x3
x3
x
x
+
x
+ = (x)(x) + 2(x)
+
3!
3!
3!
x4
+ ,
= x2
3
and the brackets in the fourth term give us



 3

x3
x3
x
x3
+
x
+
x
+ = (x)(x)(x) + 3(x)(x)
+
x
3!
3!
3!
3!
x5
= x3
+ ,
2
whereas the fifth and sixth terms give us x4 + and x5 + respectively. In particular, notice
that here were trying to make it clear that each term that arises from these products is obtained
by multiplying out the relevant brackets so that we find all of the necessary terms. Overall then,
we have






x5
1
x4
1
x5
x3
+
+
x2
+ +
x3
+
esin x = 1 + x
6
120
2!
3
3!
2




1
1
+
x4 + +
x5 + + ,
4!
5!
and, gathering up the terms, this gives us
esin x = 1 + x +

x2
x4
x5
+ 0x3

+ ,
2
8
15

as the power series for f (x) = esin x in terms up to x5 .

05b Mathematics 2

Note that it really is much easier to make use of the standard Taylor series (such as the ones for
ex and sin x that we used here) rather than trying to use Taylors theorem directly on f (x).
Especially as we would need to find the first five derivatives of f (x) to answer this question and
this would get very messy very quickly!

Question 2
As in Section 4.6 of the subject guide, we can use Cramers rule to solve the system of
equations by, firstly, writing them in matrix form as Ax = b where

2 1 1
x
1
2 , x = y and b = 0 .
A = 1 1
1
2 1
z
1
Then, secondly, we have to find the determinant of
determinants

0

det(Ax ) = 1
1

2

det(Ay ) = 1
1

2

and
det(Az ) = 1
1

A, i.e. det(A), which is 14 as well as the


1 1 
1
2  = 4,
2 1

0
1 
1 2  = 2,
1 1

1 0 
1 1 = 6.
2
1

So that, thirdly, we can get

x=

4
2
det(Ax )
=
= ,
det(A)
14
7

y=

det(Ay )
2
1
=
=
det(A)
14
7

and z =

det(Az )
6
3
=
= ,
det(A)
14
7

i.e. we have x = 2/7, y = 1/7 and z = 3/7 as the required solution.

Question 3
We are asked to solve the differential equation
dp
2p(t) = et ,
dt
and, as this is linear, we follow Section 5.3 of the subject guide and solve it by comparing it to
the standard form
dp
+ P (t)p(t) = Q(t),
dt
to get P (t) = 2 and Q(t) = et . Note, in particular, the use of P (t) here in the standard form
so that we do not confuse it with the function, p(t), that we have been asked to find. So,
following the standard method, the integrating factor is
R

P (t) dt

=e

2 dt

= e2t ,

and multiplying both sides of our linear differential equation by this gives us
e2t

dp
e2t p(t) = e3t
dt


d  2t
e p(t) = e3t ,
dt

Examiners commentaries 2011

if we use the product rule to simplify the left-hand-side. We then integrate both sides with
respect to t to get
Z
1
2t
e p(t) = e3t dt = e3t + c.
3
Then, multiplying both sides of this expression by e2t , this gives us
1
p(t) = et + ce2t ,
3
as the general solution.1 However, we are told that p(0) = 2/3 and so we have
2
1
= +c
3
3
which means that

c = 1,

1
p(t) = et + e2t ,
3

is the particular solution we seek.

To find the approximate change, p, in p(t) when t changes from 1 to 3/2, we use the ideas in
Section 2.3 of the subject guide, to see that
p ' p0 (1)t,
where t =

3
2

1 = 12 . So, differentiating our expression for p(t) with respect to t, we get

p0 (t) =

1 t
e + 2e2t
3


and so
p '

p0 (1) =

=
1 + 6e3
3e

1
1 + 6e3
+ 2e2 =
,
3e
3e

 
1
1 + 6e3
=
,
2
6e

is the required approximate change in p(t).2

Question 4
Given the inverse supply and demand functions
pS (q) = 1 + 2q

pD (q) = 6 3q,

and

respectively, we can easily find the equilibrium quantity, q , by solving the equation
pS (q ) = pD (q )

1 + 2q = 6 3q

5q = 5

q = 1,

and the equilibrium price, p , can then be found by using, say, p = pD (q ) = 6 3 = 3.

1A

common error at this point was to let A = ce2t and then treat the solution as
1
p(t) = et + A,
3
where A is a constant. But, this is clearly incorrect as, if A = ce2t , it is not a constant as its value depends on t!
2 A common error here was to say that p is given by
p( 23 ) p(1),
but this is the exact change in p(t) when t changes from 1 to 3/2 and this is not what the question was asking for.
Another common error was to say that p is given by the definite integral
Z 3/2
p(t) dt,
1

but this is just wrong. Indeed, this error probably arose because people were thinking of the definite integral
Z 3/2
p0 (t) dt,
1

which is, incidentally, another way of finding the exact change in p(t) since we have

3/2
Z 3/2
= p( 23 ) p(1).
p0 (t) dt = p(t)
1

05b Mathematics 2

If a percentage of the price tax of 100r% is imposed on the market, then as in Section 2.6 of the
subject guide, the supply function3
q S (p) =

p1
2

qrS (p) = q S (p rp) =

becomes

p rp 1
,
2

and the demand function4 stays unchanged, i.e. we have

qrD (p) = q D (p) =

6p
.
3

The new equilibrium price, pr , can then be found by solving the equation qrS (pr ) = qrD (pr ), i.e.
6 pr
pr rpr 1
=
2
3

3pr 3rpr 3 = 12 2pr

which means that

pr =

(5 3r)pr = 15,

15
.
5 3r

The new equilibrium quantity, qr , can then be found using the demand function,5 i.e. we have


1
15
(10 6r) 5
5 6r

D
qr = qr (pr ) = 2
=
=
.
3 5 3r
5 3r
5 3r
There are several ways of finding the consumer surplus (which is discussed in Section 2.9 of the
subject guide) in the presence of the tax and we illustrate the two most common methods here.
Method 1: Using the formula in Section 2.9 of the subject guide, the consumer surplus in the
presence of the tax is given by
Z qr

CS =
pD
r (q) dq pr qr ,
0

where the inverse demand function in the presence of the tax is pD

r (q) = 6 3q. So, evaluating
the integral, we have
Z
0

qr


q



3 2 r
3
3 5 6r
5 6r

(6 3q) dq = 6q q
= qr (4 qr ) =
4
,
2
2
2 5 3r
5 3r
0

in terms of r and, as such, the required consumer surplus is given by



 


3 5 6r
5 6r
15
5 6r
CS =
4

2 5 3r
5 3r
5 3r
5 3r


3 5 6r [4(5 3r) (5 6r)] 10
=
2 5 3r
5 3r

2
3 5 6r
=
,
2 5 3r
if we simplify our answer as far as possible.6
3 Of

course, the inverse supply function, pS (q), means that the supply equation is p = pS (q) and so we have
p = 1 + 2q

q=

p1
,
2

which is q = q S (p) in terms of the supply function, q S (p).

4 Again, the inverse demand function, pD (q), means that the demand equation is p = pD (q) and so we have
p = 6 3q

q=

6p
,
3

which is q = q D (p) in terms of the demand function, q D (p).

5 A common error at this point is to use the original supply equation, i.e. q = q S (p), instead of the modified one,
i.e. q = qrS (p), to find the new equilibrium quantity. To avoid this mistake, it is usually a good idea to use the demand
equation, as we do here, since this doesnt change!
6 Indeed, notice that this simplification is much easier if you notice the common factors and use the brackets that we
already have in place to their best advantage.

Examiners commentaries 2011

Method 2: As the demand function is linear, we know that the demand curve will be a straight
line and the consumer surplus will therefore be the area of a triangle. Indeed, if we sketch this
straight line and the equilibrium point when the tax is present, we can see that the triangle in
question has a height of 6 pr and a base of qr . Consequently, the consumer surplus in the
presence of the tax, i.e. the area of this triangle, is simply
1
1
CS = qr (6 pr ) =
2
2

5 6r
5 3r



15
6
5 3r

1
=
2

5 6r
5 3r



15 18r
5 3r

3
=
2

5 6r
5 3r

2
,

as before.7

Question 5
This is a three-variable optimisation problem of the type discussed in Section 3.4 of the subject
guide.
In particular,
we are asked to find the maximum value of xyz subject to the constraint

x + 2 y + 4 z = M where x, y, z > 0 and M is a positive constant. To do this, we use the

Lagrangean

L(x, y, z, ) = xyz ( x + 2 y + 4 z M ),
and we want to solve the equations which are obtained by setting the partial derivatives of the
Lagrangean equal to zero, i.e.
Lx (x, y, z, ) = 0

Ly (x, y, z, ) = 0

Lz (x, y, z, ) = 0

L (x, y, z, ) = 0

yz = 0,
2 x

xz = 0,
y
2
xy = 0,
z

( x + 2 y + 4 z M ) = 0.

simultaneously. The first three of these equations can be used to eliminate and, after a bit of
thought, we can see that

2
1
1
= = = ,
xyz
y
x
2 z
which means that we have

x
= y = 4z.
4

Now, we can use this to find the value of x (say), by noting that this gives us
y=

x
4

and

z=

x
,
42

which, when substituted into the fourth equation (i.e. the constraint x + 2 y + 4 z = M ),
yields

x
x
M2
x+2
+4
= M = 3 x = M = x =
,
2
4
9
and hence, using our expressions for y and z in terms of x again, we also find that
y=

M2
(4)(9)

and

z=

M2
.
(42 )(9)

7 Of course, if you were to tackle the question in this way, the Examiners would expect to see such a sketch of
the demand function and the equilibrium point in the presence of the tax as well as an identification of the relevant
triangular region with the consumer surplus as this is part of the reasoning involved in getting the answer.
Indeed, a common error at this point involved the use of an incorrect height and/or base since there was no sketch
and hence no clear understanding of the dimensions of the triangle which we are interested in. Another useful tip is
that, in situations such as this, we always use axes where p runs vertically and q runs horizontally as, with these axes,
the consumer surplus is where we expect it to be based on Figure 2.4 of the subject guide.

05b Mathematics 2

Consequently, the required maximum value of xyz is

 2


M
M2
M2
M6
M6
,
=
=
9
(4)(9)
(42 )(9)
(43 )(93 )
363

when subject to the constraint x + 2 y + 4 z = M .

Question 6
The best approach for solving the system of equations in the question is to use row operations as
in Section 4.8 of the subject guide. Here, the augmented matrix is

1 1
1
1 | a
1 2 1 2 | 2

1 1 1 1 | b ,
2 1 1 1 | 1
where a and b are constants and, in particular, it is easy to reduce
performing the following row operations.

1 1
1
1 | a
1 1
1 2 1 2 | 2 R2 R1 R2 0 3

1 1 1 1 | b R3R
0 2
1 R3
R
2R
R
4
1
4
2 1 1 1 | 1
0 3

1 1
1 1 1 1 |
a
0 1
a2
R2 13 R2 0 1 0 1 |
R3 R3 3R2
3

R3 R4 0 3 3 3 | 2a 1 R4 R4 2R2 0 0
0 2 0 2 | ab
0 0

1 1 1 1 |
a
a2

1
0
1
0
1
|
R3 3 R3
3

.
a+1
R4 3R4 0 0 1 0 |

3
0 0 0 0 | a 3b + 4

this to its row-echelon form by

1 1
0 1
3 0

|
a
| a2

| ab
| 2a 1

|
a
a2
|
3

| a+1

1 1
0 3
0 2
3 3

a3b+4
3

If we now look at the fourth row, we see that in order to have solutions we must have
a 3b + 4 = 0 and this is the relationship between a and b that we seek. So, provided that this
relationship holds, we have the equations
u + v + w + x = a,

v+x=

a2
3

and w =

a+1
,
3

which will give us an infinite number of solutions as we have four variables but only three
equations. So, if we let x = t where t is any real number,8 we can use back-substitution to see
that the second and third equations give us
v=

a2
t
3

and w =

a+1
,
3

respectively whereas the first equation gives us


 

a2
a+1
a+1
u=a
t
t=
.
3
3
3
Consequently, the solutions we seek are
u=

a+1
,
3

v=

a2
t,
3

w=

a+1
3

and x = t,

where t is any real number.

8 It is essential at this point that we take one of the variables, in this case x, to be any real number as this is what
is giving us an infinite number of solutions in what follows. That is, different values of t give us different solutions and,
as there are an infinite number of values of t that we can pick, this means that we have an infinite number of solutions.

Examiners commentaries 2011

Question 7
As in Section 5.6.1 of the subject guide, it is easy to reduce the given coupled system of
differential equations to the given second-order differential equation by noting that the first
equation gives us
1
g(t) = f 0 (t) f (t),
2
and so differentiating this with respect to t we get
g 0 (t) =

(?)

1 00
f (t) f 0 (t).
2

Then if we substitute these expressions for g(t) and g 0 (t) into the second equation we get


1 0
1 00
0
f (t) f (t) = 9f (t) 4
f (t) f (t) + et ,
2
2
and this can be simplified to give
f 00 (t) + 2f 0 (t) + 10f (t) = 2et ,
as required.
We then use this result to find f (t) by noting that this is a second-order differential equation
with constant coefficients and, as such, it can be solved using the ideas in Section 5.4 of the
subject guide. Here, the auxiliary equation is
m2 + 2m + 10 = 0,
which, using the quadratic formula, gives us

2 4 40
2 36
2 6 1
m=
=
=
= 1 3 1,
2
2
2
i.e. we have no real solutions, but this means that the complementary function is
fc (t) = et [A sin(3t) + B cos(3t)],
for arbitrary constants A and B. To find a particular solution, we notice that the right-hand-side
of our differential equation is 2et and so we seek a particular solution of the form fp (t) = et
where is a constant that has to be determined. This gives us
fp0 (t) = et

fp00 (t) = et ,

and

which, when substituted into the differential equation, gives us

et + 2(et ) + 10et = 2et

9 = 2

2
,
9

and so fp (t) = 29 et . Lastly, adding these together, we get the general solution of our differential
equation, which is
2
f (t) = fc (t) + fp (t) = et [A sin(3t) + B cos(3t)] + et ,
9
for arbitrary constants A and B.
We now want to find the function, f (t), of this form that also satisfies the given initial
conditions. Indeed, since f (0) = 2/9, we have
2
2
=B+
9
9
which means that

B = 0,

2
f (t) = Aet sin(3t) + et ,
9

05b Mathematics 2

for some arbitrary constant A. Then, using the product rule, we can see that
2
f 0 (t) = Aet sin(3t) + 3Aet cos(3t) et ,
9

()

whereas using g(0) = 1/6 and the first of the original equations we see that
 
 
7
2
1
4 1
0
f (0) = 2f (0) + 2g(0) = 2
+2
= + = ,
9
6
9 3
9
so, putting these two pieces of information together, we find that
2
7
= 3A
9
9

A=

1
.
3

Thus, we have found that

f (t) =

1 t
2
e sin(3t) + et ,
3
9

is the particular solution for f (t).

We are then asked to use this to find g(t) and so, by taking A = 1/3 in () above, we have
1
2
f 0 (t) = et sin(3t) + et cos(2t) et ,
3
9
which together with (?) above, means that
1 0
f (t) f (t)
2
 

1
1 t
2 t
1 t
2 t
t
=
e sin(3t) + e cos(3t) e

e sin(3t) + e
2
3
9
3
9
1
1
1
= et sin(3t) + et cos(3t) et .
2
2
3

g(t) =

is the corresponding particular solution for g(t).

Question 8
(a) We find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the matrix by using the method in Section 4.14
of the subject guide. To find the eigenvalues of the matrix, A, we solve the equation


1
a2 

det(A I) = 0 = 
= 0 = (1 2 ) 9a2 = 0,
9
1 
which involves the difference of two squares and so it can easily be solved by writing
[(1 ) + 3a][(1 ) 3a] = 0

= 1 3a,

i.e. the eigenvalues of A are 1 + 3a and 1 3a. To find an eigenvector corresponding to each of
these eigenvalues we seek a non-zero vector, x , which is a solution to the equation
(A I)x = 0, i.e.
If = 1 + 3a, we see that

   
3a a2
x
0
=
9
3a
y
0

a
x= y
3

 
a
,
3

is an eigenvector if we take y = 3.
If = 1 3a, we see that

   
3a a2
x
0
=
9 3a
y
0
is an eigenvector if we take y = 3.

a
x= y
3


=


a
,
3

Examiners commentaries 2011

Using these, we see that since a 6= 0,9



a a
P =
3 3


and

D=


1 + 3a
0
,
0
1 3a

can be chosen for the invertible matrix, P , and the diagonal matrix, D, such that P 1 AP = D.10
(b) As in Section 6.11 of the subject guide, we can use the result from (a) to solve the given
coupled first-order difference equations. Here, we let
 
xt
xt =
so the given difference equations can be written as xt+1 = Axt .
yt
We now choose two new sequences, ut and vt , such that
 
ut
xt = P ut with ut =
,
vt
so that

ut+1 = P 1 xt+1 = P 1 Axt = P 1 AP ut = Dut ,

since P 1 AP = D. This means that, as long as a 6= 0, we have

 

 
ut+1
1 + 3a
0
ut
=
=
ut+1 = (1 + 3a)ut
vt+1
0
1 3a
vt

and vt+1 = (1 3a)vt ,

and, as these difference equations just describe geometric progressions, they can easily be solved
to yield
ut = A(1 + 2a)t
and
vt = B(1 2a)t ,
for arbitrary constants A and B. Then using xt = P ut again, we have
  

 

xt
a a
A(1 + 3a)t
aA(1 + 3a)t + aB(1 3a)t
=
=
,
yt
3 3
B(1 3a)t
3A(1 + 3a)t 3B(1 3a)t
and so
xt = aA(1 + 3a)t + aB(1 3a)t

and yt = 3A(1 + 3a)t 3B(1 3a)t ,

is the general solution to our coupled system of difference equations. Indeed, using the initial
conditions x0 and y0 , we can solve the equations
x0 = aA + aB

and

y0 = 3A 3B,

3x0 + ay0
6a

and

B=

straightforwardly to get
A=
which means that
xt =

3x0 ay0
,
6a

3x0 + ay0
3x0 ay0
(1 + 3a)t +
(1 3a)t ,
6
6

and

3x0 + ay0
3x0 ay0
(1 + 3a)t
(1 3a)t ,
2a
2a
is the required particular solution to our coupled system of difference equations in terms of x0
and y0 .
yt =

reason why a 6= 0 is important here is discussed in (c).

course, this is only one of the many possible pairs of matrices that we could choose for P and D: others are
possible depending on which eigenvectors we choose when we form the columns of P (any non-zero multiple of the
eigenvectors above would work) and the order in which we choose to place them in P . For instance, choosing the other
order for the eigenvectors we found above, we can see that




a
a
1 3a
0
P =
and
D=
,
3 3
0
1 + 3a
9 The

10 Of

is another possible answer here.

05b Mathematics 2

(c) When a = 0, the matrix P in (a) is not invertible as we have



0 0
P =
= det(P ) = 0.
3 3
Consequently, as we can not find an invertible matrix P , we can not diagonalise A in this case
and so we can not use diagonalisation to solve the coupled system of difference equations in (b).
However, if a = 0, our first equation in (b) becomes
xt+1 = xt

xt = x0 ,

as this is now describing a constant progression whereas the second equation in (b) then becomes
yt+1 = 9x0 + yt

yt = y0 + (9x0 )t,

as this is now describing an arithmetic progression.11

11 In particular, notice that we can not just set a = 0 in our answer from (b) since that answer assumes (as it arises
from a diagonalisation argument) that a 6= 0!

10