Problem Set 1

MTH211
Solutions
1 Questions on understanding the lecture
Lxrcisr + Check that the following parametric equations give the same curve:
> x = 1 + cos t, y = 2 + sint, t 2;
> x = t, y = 2

2t t
2
, 0 t 2
give the same curve. What kind of a curve is it? Find a single equation in x, y that
represents this curve.
Soii1ioN The rst equation represents the lower semi-circle of the unit circle centred
at the point (1, 2). In the second equation, substituting t = x to the formula for y, we
get
y = 2

2x x
2
(y+2)
2
= 2xx
2
, y 2 (x1)
2
+(y+2)
2
= 1, y 2,
which is the same semi-circle. :)
Lxrcisr z Check that the parametric equations
> x = 2t, y = 3t;
> x = 2 6t, y = 3 + 9t
give the same curve. What kind of a curve is it? Find a single equation in x, y that
represents this curve.
1
Soii1ioN As these equations are linear, both of them represent straight lines. Further,
the rst line is parallel to the vector (2, 3) and the second line is parallel to the vector
(6, 9) = 3(2, 3), so the lines are parallel.
To check that its the same line, its enough to nd one point belonging to both of
them. For example, by letting t = 0 in the rst equation, we see that (0, 0) is on the rst
line. Now lets see out if it is on the other line as well:

2 6t = 0
3 + 9t = 0
t =
1
3
,
so its true. Thus this is the line parallel to the vector (2, 3), which means that its slope
is
3
2
and containing the origin, which means that its equation is y =
3x
2
. :)
Lxrcisr A parametric equation of a 3D curve is, naturally, x = x(t), y = y(t), z = z(t).
(a) What is a parametric equation of a straight line in R
3
?
(b) Write down a parametric equation for the tangent line to a curve in R
3
given by
x = x(t), y = y(t), z = z(t) at a point (x
0
, y
0
, z
0
).
(c) Write down a parametric equation for the tangent line to the curve x = t, y = t,
z = t
2
at the point (1, 1, 1).
Soii1ioN (3a) x = x
1
+ot, y = y
1
+bt, z = z
1
+ot, where the vector (o, b, o) is parallel
to the line and the point (x
1
, y
1
, z
1
) lies on the line.
(3b) x = x
0
+x

(o)t, y = y
0
+y

(o)t, z = z
0
+z

(o)t, where t = o is the value of parameter

giving the point (x
0
, y
0
, z
0
).
(3c) x = 1 +t, y = 1 +t, z = 1 + 2t. :)
2 Questions on calculation
Lxrcisr The curve (in the plane) traced out by a point I on the circumference of a
circle as the circle rolls along a straight line is called a cycloid. Suppose the circle has
radius i and rolls along the x-axis, and that one position I is the origin.
(a) Find parametric equations for the cycloid described above. (Ans: x = i( sin),
y = i(1 cos ), R.)
2
(b) Study the unit tangent vector on this curve.
Soii1ioN (a) We let our parameter be the angle which the circle has rotated. Ro-
tating the circle an angle means that a point on the cirle moves along an arc of
length i. As the circle rolls along the x-axis this translatse to moving the centre
of the circle a distance i.
Letting = 0 correspond to the point I being at the origin. The centre Q of
the circle will at the same time be right above the origin, i.e. at position (0, i).
Consequently, after rotating the angle , the centre will have moved horizontally
the distance i to position (i, i).
At the same time, the point I has moved relative to Q so

QI = (i sin, i cos ).
Hence, the position vector for I is

OI =

OQ +

QI = (i, i) + (i sin, i cos ) = i( sin, 1 cos ),

i.e.
x = i( sin), y = i(1 cos ), R.
(b) We have x

() = i(1 cos ), y

() = i sin, so using the method from the lecture

notes, at any point (x
0
, y
0
) = (x(
0
), y(
0
)) on the curve where (x

(
0
), y

(
0
)) = (0, 0),
that is when
0
= 2, i.e. y
0
= 0, we have a tangent line given by
x(t) = x(
0
) +tx

(
0
) = i(
0
sin
0
) +ti(1 cos
0
),
y(t) = y(
0
) +ty

(
0
) = i(1 cos
0
) +t(i sin
0
), t R.
For
0
= 2l, we have (x

(
0
), y

(
0
)) = (0, 0) so we cant construct the unit tangent
vector (1,(x

, y

))[x

, y

]. However, looking at near

0
= 2l we see that (using
lHosptial)
lim
2l

()
x

()
= lim
2l

i sin
i(1 cos )
= lim
2l

i cos
i sin
= ,
while
lim
2l
+
y

()
x

()
= lim
2l
+
i sin
i(1 cos )
= lim
2l
+
i cos
i sin
= +.
This means that as we approach such a point from the left, the tangent slopes
steeply downwards, while if we approach from the right it slopes steeply upwards.
At the point itself the curve has a sharp cusp. :)
3
Lxrcisr g Consider the curve parametrized by
x(t) = t
3
, y(t) = t
6
, t [1, 1].
Note that the curve passes through the origin (because t = 0 gives x = y = 0). Does
it have a tangent there?
Soii1ioN This is just the curve y = x
2
which clearly has a (horizontal) tangent at the
origin.
Note however that this tangent is not found using the above parametrization since at
the origin (corresponding to t = 0) we have (x

, y

) = (0, 0). Using other parametrizations

however, for example x(t) = t, y(t) = t
2
, works around this problem. :)
3 Questions on logical thinking
Lxrcisr 6 Prove that the angle between the tangent line to the curve x = 3 cos t, y =
3 sint, z = 2t at any point and the z-axis is constant (does not depend on the point).
Soii1ioN The tangent vector to this curve is T = (3 sint, 3 cos t, 2). The direction of
the z-axis is indicated by k = (0, 0, 1). The cosine of the angle between them is
cos =
T k
T k
=
2

13
,
and hence = arccos
2

13
, which doesnt depend on t. :)
4 Extra problems on parametric curves
Lxrcisr y Prove that hyperbolae x
2
y
2
= o and xy = b are orthogonal to each other
at each point they intersect. Here, o and b are non-zero parameters.
Soii1ioN Suppose the two curves intersect at some point (x
0
, y
0
), then its easy to see
that x
0
= 0, y
0
= 0 as we have x
0
y
0
= b = 0. Dierentiating with respect to x from the
equation x
2
y
2
= o, we see that Jy,Jx = x,y for y = 0. In particular, the slope of the
tangent line at (x
0
, y
0
) of the curve x
2
y
2
= o is given by x
0
,y
0
. Similarly, dierentiating
with respect to x from the equation xy = b, we see that Jy,Jx = y,x for y = 0. In
particular, the slope of the tangent line at (x
0
, y
0
) of the curve xy = b is given by y
0
,x
0
.
As x
0
,y
0
(y
0
,x
0
) = 1, this shows the two tangent lines are orthogonal to each other
at each point they intersect. :)
4
Lxrcisr 8 An astroid is given by the equation x
2,3
+ y
2,3
= 1. Prove that the length of
a piece of a tangent line between the coordinate axes is constant.
First Solution:
Soii1ioN Since sin
2
+ cos
2
= 1 and we have the equation (
3

x)
2
+ (
3

y)
2
= 1, we can
parameterize this curve as follows (with 0 < 2).
3

x = cos
3

y = sin

x =
3
cos
3

y =
3
sin
3

,
so the equation x
2,3
+ y
2,3
= 1 is just = 1 and we get the parametrization x = cos
3
,
y = sin
3
.
It follows that at any , the parametric equation of the tangent line of the curve is
given by
x(t) = cos
3
+x

()t = cos
3
3 cos
2
sint
y(t) = sin
3
+y

()t = sin
3
+ 3 sin
2
cos t, t R.
(1)
We may rst assume cos = 0 and sin = 0. This line intersects with the x-axis at
y(t) = sin
3
+ 3 sin
2
cos t = 0,
which implies
t =
sin
3 cos
,
and we then deduce that for this t,
x(t) = cos
3
3 cos
2
sin(
sin
3 cos
) = cos
3
+ cos sin
2
= cos ,
Therefore, the tangent line intersects with the x-axis at (cos , 0).
Similarly, the tangent line intersects with the y-axis at
x(t) = cos
3
3 cos
2
sint = 0,
which implies
t =
cos
3 sin
,
5
and we then deduce that for this t,
y(t) = sin
3
+ 3 sin
2
cos (
cos
3 sin
) = sin
3
+ cos
2
sin = sin.
Therefore, the tangent line intersects with the y-axis at (0, sin).
Its now easy to see that the distance between the two intersections is a constant 1.
When cos = 0 or sin = 0, the expressions given in (1) fail to give us the parametric
equation for the corresponding tangent lines. However, its easy to see directly that
corresponding to cos = 0, the points are (0, 1) and the tangent lines are vertical ones
and they intersect with the other axis (x-axis) at the origin so the length between the two
intersections is again constant 1. Similarly, corresponding to sin = 0, the points are
(1, 0) and the tangent lines are horizontal ones and they intersect with the other axis
(y-axis) at the origin so the length between the two intersections is again constant 1.
One can also choose a dierent parametrization of the curve to obtain the equations
for tangent lines at these special points, see the second solution below. :)
Second Solution:
Soii1ioN Dierentiating with respect to x from the equation x
2,3
+ y
2,3
= 1, we see
that Jy,Jx = y
1,3
,x
1,3
for x = 0. In particular, the slope of the tangent line at (x
0
, y
0
)
(x
0
= 0) of the curve x
2,3
+ y
2,3
= 1 is given by y
1,3
0
,x
1,3
0
. The tangent line at this point
is then given by y y
0
= y
1,3
0
,x
1,3
0
(x x
0
). This tangent line intersects with the x-axis
at A = (x
0
+y
2,3
0
x
1,3
0
, 0) = (x
1,3
0
, 0) as x
2,3
0
+y
2,3
0
= 1. Similarly, it intersects with the y-axis
at B = (0, y
0
+y
1,3
0
x
2,3
0
) = (0, y
1,3
0
). Its then easy to see that the distance |AB| between the
two points A, B is given by |AB| = 1 which is a constant. When x
0
= 0, we must have
y
0
= 1 and in this case its easy to see the tangent line passing through either (0, 1) or
(0, 1) is just a vertical line, which intersects the other axis (x-axis) at (0, 0) and in either
case, the length of the line segment is easily checked to be 1 as well. This completes the
solution. :)
6