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
If this part uses an earlier result, revisit (i) Optimisation: vertical gap or open all working together.
Optimisation: horizontal gap
on and on have the same -coordinate. Find and that give the shortest distance .
Hint
Write in terms of for each: has (the nearer branch) and has .
Minimise .
The negative branch is further from , so it never gives the shortest gap.
Answer · (ii)
; .
Minimum PQ=31/8.
The gap
On , ; use the nearer branch of . The gap is defined for , although its derivative formula below needs .
Differentiate
Solve.
Check
Alternatively, , so its global minimum is at ; the endpoint gives the larger gap 4. The source's intermediate square-completion subtraction is a typo: it must be .
The points
Use , so . The source's intermediate is a typo. The minimum gap is .
Explore the idea