For the following exercises (1-3), the given functions represent the position of a particle traveling along a horizontal line.
- Find the velocity and acceleration functions.
- Determine the time intervals when the object is slowing down or speeding up.
1. [latex]s(t)=2t^3-3t^2-12t+8[/latex]
2. [latex]s(t)=2t^3-15t^2+36t-10[/latex]
3. [latex]s(t)=\dfrac{t}{1+t^2}[/latex]
4. A rocket is fired vertically upward from the ground. The distance [latex]s[/latex] in feet that the rocket travels from the ground after [latex]t[/latex] seconds is given by [latex]s(t)=-16t^2+560t[/latex].
- Find the velocity of the rocket 3 seconds after being fired.
- Find the acceleration of the rocket 3 seconds after being fired.
5. A ball is thrown downward with a speed of 8 ft/s from the top of a 64-foot-tall building. After [latex]t[/latex] seconds, its height above the ground is given by [latex]s(t)=-16t^2-8t+64[/latex].
- Determine how long it takes for the ball to hit the ground.
- Determine the velocity of the ball when it hits the ground.
6. The position function [latex]s(t)=t^2-3t-4[/latex] represents the position of the back of a car backing out of a driveway and then driving in a straight line, where [latex]s[/latex] is in feet and [latex]t[/latex] is in seconds. In this case, [latex]s(t)=0[/latex] represents the time at which the back of the car is at the garage door, so [latex]s(0)=-4[/latex] is the starting position of the car, 4 feet inside the garage.
- Determine the velocity of the car when [latex]s(t)=0[/latex].
- Determine the velocity of the car when [latex]s(t)=14[/latex].
7. The position of a hummingbird flying along a straight line in [latex]t[/latex] seconds is given by [latex]s(t)=3t^3-7t[/latex] meters.
- Determine the velocity of the bird at [latex]t=1[/latex] sec.
- Determine the acceleration of the bird at [latex]t=1[/latex] sec.
- Determine the acceleration of the bird when the velocity equals 0.
8. A potato is launched vertically upward with an initial velocity of 100 ft/s from a potato gun at the top of an 85-foot-tall building. The distance in feet that the potato travels from the ground after [latex]t[/latex] seconds is given by [latex]s(t)=-16t^2+100t+85[/latex].
- Find the velocity of the potato after 0.5 sec and 5.75 sec.
- Find the speed of the potato at 0.5 sec and 5.75 sec.
- Determine when the potato reaches its maximum height.
- Find the acceleration of the potato at 0.5 s and 1.5 s.
- Determine how long the potato is in the air.
- Determine the velocity of the potato upon hitting the ground.
9. The position function [latex]s(t)=t^3-8t[/latex] gives the position in miles of a freight train where east is the positive direction and [latex]t[/latex] is measured in hours.
- Determine the direction the train is traveling when [latex]s(t)=0[/latex].
- Determine the direction the train is traveling when [latex]a(t)=0[/latex].
- Determine the time intervals when the train is slowing down or speeding up.
10. The following graph shows the position [latex]y=s(t)[/latex] of an object moving along a straight line.

- Use the graph of the position function to determine the time intervals when the velocity is positive, negative, or zero.
- Sketch the graph of the velocity function.
- Use the graph of the velocity function to determine the time intervals when the acceleration is positive, negative, or zero.
- Determine the time intervals when the object is speeding up or slowing down.
11. The cost function, in dollars, of a company that manufactures food processors is given by [latex]C(x)=200+\dfrac{7}{x}+\dfrac{x^2}{7}[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the number of food processors manufactured.
- Find the marginal cost function.
- Use the marginal cost function to estimate the cost of manufacturing the thirteenth food processor.
- Find the actual cost of manufacturing the thirteenth food processor.
12. The price [latex]p[/latex] (in dollars) and the demand [latex]x[/latex] for a certain digital clock radio is given by the price-demand function [latex]p=10-0.001x[/latex].
- Find the revenue function [latex]R(x)[/latex].
- Find the marginal revenue function.
- Find the marginal revenue at [latex]x=2000[/latex] and [latex]x=5000[/latex].
13. [T] A profit is earned when revenue exceeds cost. Suppose the profit function for a skateboard manufacturer is given by [latex]P(x)=30x-0.3x^2-250[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the number of skateboards sold.
- Find the exact profit from the sale of the thirtieth skateboard.
- Find the marginal profit function and use it to estimate the profit from the sale of the thirtieth skateboard.
14. [T] In general, the profit function is the difference between the revenue and cost functions: [latex]P(x)=R(x)-C(x)[/latex].
Suppose the price-demand and cost functions for the production of cordless drills is given respectively by [latex]p=143-0.03x[/latex] and [latex]C(x)=75,000+65x[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the number of cordless drills that are sold at a price of [latex]p[/latex] dollars per drill and [latex]C(x)[/latex] is the cost of producing [latex]x[/latex] cordless drills.
- Find the marginal cost function.
- Find the revenue and marginal revenue functions.
- Find [latex]R^{\prime}(1000)[/latex] and [latex]R^{\prime}(4000)[/latex]. Interpret the results.
- Find the profit and marginal profit functions.
- Find [latex]P^{\prime}(1000)[/latex] and [latex]P^{\prime}(4000)[/latex]. Interpret the results.
15. A small town in Ohio commissioned an actuarial firm to conduct a study that modeled the rate of change of the town’s population. The study found that the town’s population (measured in thousands of people) can be modeled by the function [latex]P(t)=-\frac{1}{3}t^3+64t+3000[/latex], where [latex]t[/latex] is measured in years.
- Find the rate of change function [latex]P^{\prime}(t)[/latex] of the population function.
- Find [latex]P^{\prime}(1), \, P^{\prime}(2), \, P^{\prime}(3)[/latex], and [latex]P^{\prime}(4)[/latex]. Interpret what the results mean for the town.
- Find [latex]P''(1), \, P''(2), \, P''(3)[/latex], and [latex]P''(4)[/latex]. Interpret what the results mean for the town’s population.
16. [T] A culture of bacteria grows in number according to the function [latex]N(t)=3000\left(1+\dfrac{4t}{t^2+100}\right)[/latex], where [latex]t[/latex] is measured in hours.
- Find the rate of change of the number of bacteria.
- Find [latex]N^{\prime}(0), \, N^{\prime}(10), \, N^{\prime}(20)[/latex], and [latex]N^{\prime}(30)[/latex].
- Interpret the results in (b).
- Find [latex]N''(0), \, N''(10), \, N''(20)[/latex], and [latex]N''(30)[/latex]. Interpret what the answers imply about the bacteria population growth.
17. The centripetal force of an object of mass [latex]m[/latex] is given by [latex]F(r)=\dfrac{mv^2}{r}[/latex], where [latex]v[/latex] is the speed of rotation and [latex]r[/latex] is the distance from the center of rotation.
- Find the rate of change of centripetal force with respect to the distance from the center of rotation.
- Find the rate of change of centripetal force of an object with mass 1000 kilograms, velocity of 13.89 m/s, and a distance from the center of rotation of 200 meters.
The following questions (18-19) concern the population (in millions) of London by decade in the 19th century, which is listed in the following table.
| Years since 1800 | Population (millions) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.8795 |
| 11 | 1.040 |
| 21 | 1.264 |
| 31 | 1.516 |
| 41 | 1.661 |
| 51 | 2.000 |
| 61 | 2.634 |
| 71 | 3.272 |
| 81 | 3.911 |
| 91 | 4.422 |
18. [T]
- Using a calculator or a computer program, find the best-fit linear function to measure the population.
- Find the derivative of the equation in (a) and explain its physical meaning.
- Find the second derivative of the equation and explain its physical meaning.
19. [T]
- Using a calculator or a computer program, find the best-fit quadratic curve through the data.
- Find the derivative of the equation and explain its physical meaning.
- Find the second derivative of the equation and explain its physical meaning.
For the following exercises (20-21), consider an astronaut on a large planet in another galaxy. To learn more about the composition of this planet, the astronaut drops an electronic sensor into a deep trench. The sensor transmits its vertical position every second in relation to the astronaut’s position. The summary of the falling sensor data is displayed in the following table.
| Time after dropping (s) | Position (m) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | −1 |
| 2 | −2 |
| 3 | −5 |
| 4 | −7 |
| 5 | −14 |
20. [T]
- Using a calculator or computer program, find the best-fit quadratic curve to the data.
- Find the derivative of the position function and explain its physical meaning.
- Find the second derivative of the position function and explain its physical meaning.
21. [T]
- Using a calculator or computer program, find the best-fit cubic curve to the data.
- Find the derivative of the position function and explain its physical meaning.
- Find the second derivative of the position function and explain its physical meaning.
- Using the result from (c), explain why a cubic function is not a good choice for this problem.
The following problems (22-24) deal with the Holling type I, II, and III equations. These equations describe the ecological event of growth of a predator population given the amount of prey available for consumption.
22. [T] The Holling type I equation is described by [latex]f(x)=ax[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the amount of prey available and [latex]a>0[/latex] is the rate at which the predator meets the prey for consumption.
- Graph the Holling type I equation, given [latex]a=0.5[/latex].
- Determine the first derivative of the Holling type I equation and explain physically what the derivative implies.
- Determine the second derivative of the Holling type I equation and explain physically what the derivative implies.
- Using the interpretations from (b) and (c), explain why the Holling type I equation may not be realistic.
23. [T] The Holling type II equation is described by [latex]f(x)=\dfrac{ax}{n+x}[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the amount of prey available and [latex]a>0[/latex] is the maximum consumption rate of the predator.
- Graph the Holling type II equation given [latex]a=0.5[/latex] and [latex]n=5[/latex]. What are the differences between the Holling type I and II equations?
- Take the first derivative of the Holling type II equation and interpret the physical meaning of the derivative.
- Show that [latex]f(n)=\frac{1}{2}a[/latex] and interpret the meaning of the parameter [latex]n[/latex].
- Find and interpret the meaning of the second derivative. What makes the Holling type II function more realistic than the Holling type I function?
24. [T] The Holling type III equation is described by [latex]f(x)=\dfrac{ax^2}{n^2+x^2}[/latex], where [latex]x[/latex] is the amount of prey available and [latex]a>0[/latex] is the maximum consumption rate of the predator.
- Graph the Holling type III equation given [latex]a=0.5[/latex] and [latex]n=5[/latex]. What are the differences between the Holling type II and III equations?
- Take the first derivative of the Holling type III equation and interpret the physical meaning of the derivative.
- Find and interpret the meaning of the second derivative (it may help to graph the second derivative).
- What additional ecological phenomena does the Holling type III function describe compared with the Holling type II function?
25. [T] The populations of the snowshoe hare (in thousands) and the lynx (in hundreds) collected over 7 years from 1937 to 1943 are shown in the following table. The snowshoe hare is the primary prey of the lynx.
| Population of snowshoe hare (thousands) | Population of lynx (hundreds) |
|---|---|
| 20 | 10 |
| 55 | 15 |
| 65 | 55 |
| 95 | 60 |
- Graph the data points and determine which Holling-type function fits the data best.
- Using the meanings of the parameters [latex]a[/latex] and [latex]n[/latex], determine values for those parameters by examining a graph of the data. Recall that [latex]n[/latex] measures what prey value results in the half-maximum of the predator value.
- Plot the resulting Holling-type I, II, and III functions on top of the data. Was the result from part (a) correct?
Candela Citations
- Calculus Volume 1. Authored by: Gilbert Strang, Edwin (Jed) Herman. Provided by: OpenStax. Located at: https://openstax.org/details/books/calculus-volume-1. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. License Terms: Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/calculus-volume-1/pages/1-introduction


