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2001 Paper 2 Q1
D: 1600.0 B: 1500.0
generalised binomial theorem binomial expansion square root approximation polynomial approximation error estimation rational approximation small x expansion

Use the binomial expansion to obtain a polynomial of degree \(2\) which is a good approximation to \(\sqrt{1-x}\) when \(x\) is small.

  1. By taking \(x=1/100\), show that \(\sqrt{11}\approx79599/24000\), and estimate, correct to 1 significant figure, the error in this approximation. (You may assume that the error is given approximately by the first neglected term in the binomial expansion.)
  2. Find a rational number which approximates \(\sqrt{1111}\) with an error of about \(2 \times {10}^{-12}\).

Solution: \begin{align*} && \sqrt{1-x} &= (1-x)^{\frac12} \\ &&&= 1 -\frac12x+\frac{\frac12 \cdot \left (-\frac12 \right)}{2!}x^2 + \frac{\frac12 \cdot \left (-\frac12 \right) \cdot \left (-\frac32 \right)}{3!} x^3\cdots \\ &&&\approx 1-\frac12x - \frac18x^2 \end{align*}

  1. \(\,\) \begin{align*} && \frac{3\sqrt{11}}{10} &= \sqrt{1-1/100} \\ &&&\approx 1 - \frac{1}2 \frac{1}{100} - \frac{1}{8} \frac{1}{100^2} \\ &&&= \frac{80000-400-1}{80000} \\ &&&= \frac{79599}{80000}\\ \Rightarrow && \sqrt{11} &\approx \frac{79599}{24000} \\ \\ &&\text{error} &\approx \frac{1}{16} \frac{10}3 \frac{1}{100^3} \\ &&&= \frac{1}{48} 10^{-5} \\ &&&\approx 2 \times 10^{-7} \end{align*}
  2. Taking \(x = 1/10^4\) we have \begin{align*} && \frac{3 \sqrt{1111}}{100} &= \sqrt{1-1/10^4} \\ &&&\approx 1 - \frac12 \frac1{10^4} - \frac18 \frac{1}{10^8} \\ &&&= \frac{799959999}{800000000} \\ \Rightarrow && \sqrt{1111} & \approx \frac{266653333}{8000000} \\ \\ && \text{error} &\approx \frac{100}{3} \frac{1}{16} \frac{1}{10^{12}} \\ &&&= \frac{1}{48} \frac{1}{10^{10}} \\ &&&\approx 2 \times 10^{-12} \end{align*}

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1998 Paper 1 Q3
D: 1500.0 B: 1500.0
true-false logarithms exponentials trigonometric identities polynomial approximation inequality AM-GM inequality proof

Which of the following statements are true and which are false? Justify your answers.

  1. \(a^{\ln b}=b^{\ln a}\) for all \(a,b>0\).
  2. \(\cos(\sin\theta)=\sin(\cos\theta)\) for all real \(\theta\).
  3. There exists a polynomial \(\mathrm{P}\) such that \(|\mathrm{P}(\theta)-\cos\theta|\leqslant 10^{-6}\) for all real \(\theta\).
  4. \(x^{4}+3+x^{-4}\geqslant 5\) for all \(x>0\).

Solution:

  1. True. \begin{align*} && \ln a \cdot \ln b &= \ln b \cdot \ln a \\ \Leftrightarrow && \exp ( \ln a \cdot \ln b) &= \exp ( \ln b \cdot \ln a) \\ \Leftrightarrow && \exp ( \ln a )^{\ln b} &= \exp ( \ln b )^{\ln a} \\ \Leftrightarrow && a^{\ln b} &= b^{\ln a} \\ \end{align*}
  2. False. Consider \(\theta = 0\). We'd need \(\cos 0 = 1 = \sin 1\), but \(0 < 1 < \frac{\pi}{2}\) so \(\sin 1 \neq 1\)
  3. False. If the polynomial has positive degree, then as \(n \to \infty\), \(\P(x) \to \pm \infty\), in particular it must be well outside the interval \([-1,1]\). Therefore it can't be within \(10^{-6}\) of \(\cos \theta\) which is confined to that interval. The only polynomial which is restricted to that range are constants, but then \(|\cos 0 - c| \leq 10^{-6}\) and \(|\cos \pi - c| \leq 10^{-6}\) \(2 = |1-(-1)| \leq |1-c| + |-1-c| \leq 2\cdot 10^{-6}\) contradiction.
  4. True. \begin{align*} && (x^2-x^{-2})^2 &\geq 0 \\ \Leftrightarrow && x^4-2+x^{-4} &\geq0 \\ \Leftrightarrow && x^4+3+x^{-4} &\geq 5 \\ \end{align*}

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