Calculus 1 : Calculus

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #111 : How To Find Acceleration

A paper airplane flies across a room. It's position is represented by , where  represents distance in feet and  represents time in seconds.

What is the acceleration of the airplane?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Take the first derivative by using the Power Rule () of :

Using the Power Rule again, find the second derivative of :

Example Question #511 : Calculus

A snowball rolls into a valley. Its position is represented by , where  represents distance in terms of meters and  represents time in terms of seconds.

What is the acceleration of the snowball?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Take the second derivative, using the Power Rule () twice, of :

Example Question #511 : Calculus

A weight hanging from a spring is stretched down 3 units beyond its rest position and released at time  to bob up and down. Its position at any later time  is

      

What is the acceleration at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #123 : Acceleration

The position of a particle is given by the expression

.

At what time  is the acceleration of the particle ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the acceleration of a particle given the equation for position x(t), utilize the relationship

Therefore, to find the acceleration, we take the second derivative of x(t):

Now to find where the acceleration is 30, we set 6t equal to 30 and solve for t:

Which gives us the correct answer.

Example Question #124 : Acceleration

The velocity of a particle is given by the equation

.

To two decimal places, what is the acceleration of the particle at  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The acceleration of a particle is given by the first derivative of the velocity:

Here, the chain rule must be used to fine the derivative of the velocity:

Finally, evaluate the expression for acceleration at t=3:

Example Question #122 : Acceleration

Find  at , where

.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

In order to evaluate at , we need to find .

We found this by using the definition of derivatives for exponential functions and the product rule.

Remember that the definition of derivaties for exponential functions are

.

 

Remember that the product rule is as follows:

 

Now lets find .

Now lets evaluate .

 

 

 

 

Example Question #126 : Acceleration

Find the acceleration of a particle at  with a position defined by .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration of a particle is given by the second derivative of the position function. The position function is 

Taking the first derivative gives the velocity function:

Taking the second derivative gives the acceleration function:

Evaluating the function at  gives the acceleration at this time:

Example Question #127 : Acceleration

A given ball has a position defined by the equation . What is its acceleration at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is defined as the second derivative of position, or .

According to the Power Rule, the first derivative 

 for all ;

therefore, the second derivative 

Applying this to 

, we get 

 and 

.

Plugging in 

Example Question #128 : Acceleration

A given propeller plane has a position defined by the equation . What is its acceleration at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is defined as the second derivative of position, or .

According to the Power Rule, the first derivative 

 for all ;

therefore, the second derivative 

Applying this to 

, we get 

 and 

.

Plugging in 

Example Question #129 : Acceleration

A given object has a position defined by the equation . What is its acceleration at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is defined as the second derivative of position, or .

According to the Power Rule, the first derivative 

 for all ;

therefore, the second derivative 

Applying this to 

, we get  and .

Plugging in 

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