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Diploma in Foundation StudiesScience, Technology and

Engineering 2014/2015

Semester One 2014/2015

Mr. Neil Humphries
Dr. Jonathan McLaughlin

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Examiners:

SAMPLE Maths Examination

Instructions:

Answer EIGHT questions from Section A

Answer FOUR questions from Section B

Use of calculators is permitted

All relevant information from the Mathematical tables is reproduced in

the Relevant Formul section on the final page of the exam paper
Indicate the relevant steps in each question clearly

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There is NO need to use graph paper

No. of pages: 5 (excluding this one).

Duration: TWO hours

Section A

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Attempt 8 questions from 10

40 marks: each question is worth 5 marks

A1. Express as a fraction in its simplest form:



2 3
3

7
3 5

A2. Expand and simplify fully:

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(2a 4ab)(2b ab)

2a2 b2

A3. Using the laws of indices, simplify fully:



8
27

 23

A4. Given that

x2 z + 2y = x2 + 4y 2z

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then solve for x.

A5. Consider the piecewise function f : R R defined as:

(
2x 2, for x < 2
f (x) =
ax2 6, for x 2, a R
Find the value of a for which f is continuous.

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A6. Evaluate the following limit as x approaches infinity:

lim

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3x2 9x + 11
2x2 7x

A7. Find the equation of the line containing the points (1, 2) and (4, 5).

A8. Find the area of an isosceles triangle with two sides of length 7 and with
one angle of length 120 .

A9. Find the distance between the point (4, 3) and the line 3x 4y = 10.

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A10. Determine whether the point (3, 1) is inside, on, or outside the circle
x2 + y 2 + 2x 2y 14 = 0.

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Section B

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Attempt 4 questions from 5

60 marks: each question is worth 15 marks

B1. (a) Sketch the graph of:

(i) [3 marks] the linear function 3x + y = 6

(ii) [4 marks] the quadratic function y = x2 + 7x + 10

(b) [8 marks] Solve the following system of simultaneous equations:

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x2 y = 4

xy = 2

B2. Consider the rational function y =

x2 + 8x + 7
x2 + 7x + 10

(i) [3 marks] Find the vertical asymptotes

(ii) [3 marks] Find the horizontal asymptote

(iii) [2 marks] Find the roots

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(iv) [2 marks] Find the y-intercept

(v) [5 marks] Using the above information, and by evaluating the function at
appropriate values of x, sketch the graph of y.

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B3. (a) [7 marks] Sketch the graph of the cubic function:

f (x) = x3 5x2 + 2x + 8

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Note that f (1) = 0.

(b) [8 marks] Show algebraically that the circles x2 + y 2 + 8x 2y 8 = 0 and
x2 + y 2 8x 14y + 40 = 0 touch externally.

B4. (a) [7 marks] Given a triangle T with side lengths 4, 7 and 9, find the
length of the three interior angles of T .

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(b) [4 marks] Find the equation of a circle with centre (1, 1) and radius

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(c) [4 marks] Find the equation of the tangent line which touches the circle
x2 + y 2 = 169 at the point (12, 5).

B5. (a) Let z1 = 1 + 2i, z2 = 2 4i, z3 = 6 + i and z4 = 4i:

Express each of the following in the form a + bi where a, b R:
(i) [2 marks]

(ii) [2 marks]

(iii) [2 marks]

z1 + z3 z4

z1 z2
z3
z2

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(b) [3 marks] Plot your answers from parts (a)(i), (a)(ii) and (a)(iii) on an Argand diagram.

(c) Use de Moivres theorem to express each of the following in the form a + bi
where a, b R:
(i) [3 marks]

(ii) [3 marks]

(3 4i)12
(2 3i)7

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Relevant Formul
Given a triangle:

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A
b

C
a

Sine Rule:

sin A
sin B
sin C
=
=
a
b
c

Cosine Rule: a2 = b2 + c2 2bc cos A

1
2 ab sin C

Area:

Given a circle S with equation x2 + y 2 + 2gx + 2f y + c = 0 then:

the centre of S is (g, f )
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the radius of S is g 2 + f 2 c

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The perpendicular distance between a point (x1 , y1 ) and a line ax + by + c = 0

is given by:
|ax1 + by1 + c|

a2 + b2
Given a complex number z = a + bi, where a, b R, then DeMoivres theorem
is stated as follows:
n

z n = (a + bi)n = (r(cos + i sin )) = rn (cos n + i sin n)

Note that in the following laws of indices, a, b, m and n are real numbers and
assume that neither a nor b are zero.
1. am an = am+n

2.

am
an

= amn

3. (am )n = amn

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4. (a b)m = am bm

n
n
5. ab = abn
6. a0 = 1

7. an =

1
an

8. a n =

a
1

9. a n = a n

m

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