
Page:
To complete this test bite we recommend you print off this question page and complete your working on paper. Then compare your answers and working to ours on the answer page.
Find the equation of the tangent to the curve
where x = 4.

Hence the equation is
. That is, ![]()
At what point on the curve
is the tangent parallel to
?
which has gradient -2

We need ![]()
. At (-1, 4) the tangent to the curve is parallel to 2x + y = 0
Is the function
decreasing, increasing or stationary when x is equal to:
a) 1
b)
![]()
c) 2

a)
which is less than 0, so the function is decreasing
b)
the function is stationary
c)
which is greater than 0, so the function is increasing
Find the stationary points on the curve
and determine their nature.

for stationary points
![]()
| x | -1 | ||
| 3(x + 1)2 = y' | + ve | 0 | + ve |
| tangent |
|
|
|
When x = -1, y = 1, so the point (-1, 1) is a point of inflection. The stationary point is (-1, 1)
Sketch the curve with the equation
.

for stationary points
![]()
| x | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 4x2 (x - 3) = y' | - ve | 0 | - ve | - ve | 0 | + ve |
| tangent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(falling) point of inflection at (0, 0)
minimum turning point at (3, -27)

Graph of y = x to power of four - 4x cubed
The point P lies in the first quadrant on the line with equation
. A rectangle is formed with sides parallel to the axes and vertices at P and the origin.
Find the position of P for which the shaded area is greatest.

Shaded area under straight line with point P
Let the point P have coordinates (x,y). So the area required, A, is given by xy. Using the equation of the line we find that
becomes
![]()
Thus
for stationary points
![]()
We can tell this is a maximum turning point because we're dealing with a quadratic function with a negative leading term.
Page: