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Calculus Level 4

A cubic polynomial f ( x ) f(x) vanishes at x = 2 x=2 i.e f ( 2 ) = 0 f(2)=0 and has a relative minimum/maximum at x = 1 x=-1 and x = 1 / 3 x=1/3 respectively. If

1 1 f ( x ) d x = 14 3 , \int _{ -1 }^{ 1 }{ f(x)dx } = \frac { 14 }{ 3 },

find f ( 3 ) \lfloor f(-3) \rfloor .


The answer is 6.

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2 solutions

Ravi Dwivedi
Jul 9, 2015

Clearly the roots of quadratic function f'(x) are x=-1 and x=1/3 . So

Moderator note:

Simple standard approach.

Suppose f ( x ) = a x 3 + b x 2 + c x + d . f(x) = ax^{3} + bx^{2} + cx + d. We then have that

f ( 2 ) = 8 a + 4 b + 2 c + d = 0 , f(2) = 8a + 4b + 2c + d = 0, (i).

Now since f ( x ) = 3 a x 2 + 2 b x + c , f'(x) = 3ax^{2} + 2bx + c, we have that

f ( 1 ) = 3 a 2 b + c = 0 , f'(-1) = 3a - 2b + c = 0, (ii), and

f ( 1 3 ) = a 3 + 2 b 3 + c = 0 a + 2 b + 3 c = 0 , f'(\frac{1}{3}) = \frac{a}{3} + \frac{2b}{3} + c = 0 \Longrightarrow a + 2b + 3c = 0, (iii).

Finally, 1 1 f ( x ) d x = a x 4 4 + b x 3 3 + c x 2 2 + d x , \displaystyle\int_{-1}^{1} f(x) dx = \frac{ax^{4}}{4} + \frac{bx^{3}}{3} + \frac{cx^{2}}{2} + d*x,

which when evaluated from x = 1 x = -1 to x = 1 x = 1 results in the equation

2 b 3 + 2 d = 14 3 b + 3 d = 7 , \frac{2b}{3} + 2d = \frac{14}{3} \Longrightarrow b + 3d = 7, (iv).

Solving equations (i) through (iv) simultaneously gives us that

a = 7 29 , b = 7 29 , c = 7 29 a = -\dfrac{7}{29}, b = -\dfrac{7}{29}, c = \dfrac{7}{29} and d = 70 29 . d = \dfrac{70}{29}.

Thus f ( x ) = 7 29 ( x 3 + x 2 x 10 ) , f(x) = -\dfrac{7}{29}(x^{3} + x^{2} - x - 10), and so

f ( 3 ) = 7 29 ( 25 ) = 6.0344... = 6 . \lfloor f(-3) \rfloor = \lfloor -\dfrac{7}{29} * (-25) \rfloor = \lfloor 6.0344... \rfloor = \boxed{6}.

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