Vertical and horizontal gaps to a parabola
The curve and the line have equations and respectively.
(i) The point on and the point on are such that they have the same -coordinate. Find the coordinates of and that gives the shortest distance . marks
(ii) The point on and the point on are such that they have the same -coordinate. Find the coordinates of and that gives the shortest distance . marks
(iii) Find the exact area of the polygon formed by joining the points found in (i) and (ii). marks
(iv) A variable point on with coordinates starts from origin and moves along the curve with increasing at a rate of 2 units/s. Find the rate of change of the area bounded by the curve, the -axis and the line , at the instant when . marks
[2017/ACJC/Prelim/I/8]
Solution
Optimisation: vertical gap
and . on and on have the same -coordinate. Find and that give the shortest distance .
Hint
For the same , .
Minimise this function of .
The question fixes the **same **, so the gap is vertical.
Answer · (i)
; .
Minimum AB=31/16.
The gap
is above everywhere (the quadratic has no real roots), so .
Differentiate
Set to zero.
Check
Alternatively, , so the same minimum occurs at without differentiation.
The points
. Minimum gap .
Explore the idea