Science:Math Exam Resources/Courses/MATH101/April 2009/Question 01 (e)

MATH101 April 2009

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[hide] Question 01 (e)
Find the length of the curve $x=100+2y^{3/2},\ 0\leq y\leq 11.$

Make sure you understand the problem fully: What is the question asking you to do? Are there specific conditions or constraints that you should take note of? How will you know if your answer is correct from your work only? Can you rephrase the question in your own words in a way that makes sense to you?

If you are stuck, check the hints below. Read the first one and consider it for a while. Does it give you a new idea on how to approach the problem? If so, try it! If after a while you are still stuck, go for the next hint.

[show] Hint 1
For this problem, the look of the problem should tell you that you should try to think about the arc length formula but with the roles of x and y switched. That is, think of x as a function of y (instead of the usual thinking of y as a function of x).

[show] Hint 2
In the setting of the first hint, the length of this curve is equal to $\int _{a}^{b}{\sqrt {1+\left({\frac {dx}{dy}}\right)^{2}}}dy$ for some values of $a$ and $b$ .

[show] Hint 3
A final substitution should take you to an easy to evaluate integral and thus the final answer.

Checking a solution serves two purposes: helping you if, after having used all the hints, you still are stuck on the problem; or if you have solved the problem and would like to check your work.

If you are stuck on a problem: Read the solution slowly and as soon as you feel you could finish the problem on your own, hide it and work on the problem. Come back later to the solution if you are stuck or if you want to check your work.
If you want to check your work: Don't only focus on the answer, problems are mostly marked for the work you do, make sure you understand all the steps that were required to complete the problem and see if you made mistakes or forgot some aspects. Your goal is to check that your mental process was correct, not only the result.

[show] Solution
To solve this question, the question itself hints that we should be thinking as x as a function of y. $x=100+2y^{3/2}~$ Now, ${\frac {dx}{dy}}=2(3/2)y^{3/2-1}=3{\sqrt {y}}$ Thus, the length is given by $\int _{0}^{11}{\sqrt {1+(3{\sqrt {y}})^{2}}}\,dy=\int _{0}^{11}{\sqrt {1+9y}}\,dy$ Let $u=1+9y$ so that $du=9dy$ . Changing the endpoints gives $u(0)=1+9(0)=1$ and $u(11)=1+9(11)=100$ . Thus, ${\begin{aligned}\int _{0}^{11}{\sqrt {1+(3{\sqrt {y}})^{2}}}\,dy&=\int _{0}^{11}{\sqrt {1+9y}}\,dy\\&={\frac {1}{9}}\int _{1}^{100}{\sqrt {u}}\,du\\&={\frac {1}{9}}\left(2u^{3/2}/3\right){\Bigr \|}_{1}^{100}\\&={\frac {2}{27}}\left(u^{3/2}\right){\Bigr \|}_{1}^{100}\\&={\frac {2}{27}}(100^{3/2}-1^{3/2})\\&={\frac {2}{27}}(10^{3}-1)\\&={\frac {2}{27}}(999)\\&=74\end{aligned}}$