Calculus 1 : Calculus

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #551 : Spatial Calculus

Find the acceleration function  if the velocity function is .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is equal to the derivative of velocity.

 

Recall the following rules of differentiation to help solve this problem.

Power Rule:

 

Differentiation rules for sine and cosine: 

Chain rule: 

Therefore, by the chain rule, the power rule, and the derivative rule for sine, 

.

 

 

Example Question #552 : Spatial Calculus

Find the acceleration function  if the position function is .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is equal to the second derivative of position with respect to time.

Recall the following rules of differentiation to help solve this problem.

Power Rule: 

 

Product Rule: 

Exponentials Rule: 

Therefore, by the product rule, the power rule, and the rule for differentiating exponentials,

 

 

Example Question #553 : Spatial Calculus

The position of a snake's head as it moves through the sand is given by . This distance is in meters. At what rate is its head accelerating at seconds?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The position is given by the function . First find the function for velocity by finding the derivative using the chain rule:

Then find the function for acceleration by finding the derivative using the chain rule:

We are seeking the acceleration at seconds, so plug in for t:

Example Question #161 : How To Find Acceleration

An object is traveling along a path determined by the function . Use meters for position and seconds for time. What is its initial acceleration?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Take the first derivative to determine the function for velocity, using the chain rule:

.

Now use the chain rule again to find the second derivative, the function for acceleration:

We're looking for the acceleration at , so plug in 0:

At 0, sine is 0 and cosine is 1, so this results in

Example Question #551 : Calculus

Given the velocity function, find the acceleration at .

Possible Answers:

None of these

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The derivative of velocity is accleration.

The power rule states that the derivative of  is .

Thus the acceleration function is

.

The last step is to plug in 4 to the acceleration function.

Example Question #552 : Calculus

Given the position function, find the acceleration function.

Possible Answers:

None of these

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Velocity is the derivative of position. Acceleration is the derivative of velocity. That means that the second derivative of position is the acceleration.

The derivative of  is .

So using these rules

.

Example Question #551 : Calculus

The position of a particle is given by the function: 

What is its acceleration function?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration can be found as the second time derivative of the position function, or the first time derivative of the velocity function:

Begin by finding the velocity function by deriving the postion function with respect to time:

After that, derive once more to find acceleration:

Example Question #553 : Calculus

The velocity of a function is given by the function . What is the acceleration function?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is given as the time derivative of velocity:

Therefore, if velocity is given as:

Then acceleration is

 

which can also be written as 

If the derivative seems tricky, it may help to view the velocity function as

 

and then to use the product rule of derivatives.

Example Question #161 : How To Find Acceleration

A particle moves with the following position equation:

What is the accleration of the particle at the position ?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the acceleration function, we must find the second derivative of the position equation (which is the acceleration equation):

The derivatives were found using the following rules:

Now, plug in the point x=0 into the second derivative function to find the acceleration of the particle:

Example Question #554 : Spatial Calculus

A particle's position at any time is given by the function .

What is its acceleration at time  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Acceleration is the second time derivative of the positional function and the first time derivative of the velocity function:

If position is expressed as:

Then acceleration can be found to be:

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