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TMUA 2016 · Paper 2 · Question 17 of 20

TMUA 2016 Paper 2 Question 17

Trigonometry — Intersections of a sine curve with a family of lines. Try it first; the answer and a full worked solution are below.

TMUA 2016 · Paper 2TrigonometryIntersections of a sine curve with a family of lines8 optionshard
Consider these simultaneous equations, where c is a constant:

y= 3sinx+ 2 y=x+c

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1   For some value of c: there is exactly one solution with 0 xπ and there is at least one solution with π<x< 0.
2   For some value of c: there is exactly one solution with 0 xπ and there are no solutions with π<x< 0.
3   For some value of c: there is exactly one solution with 0 xπ and there are no solutions with x>π.

  1. Anone
  2. B1 only
  3. C2 only
  4. D3 only
  5. E1 and 2 only
  6. F1 and 3 only
  7. G2 and 3 only
  8. H1, 2 and 3
Show the answer and worked solution
answer · H
  1. Anone
  2. B1 only
  3. C2 only
  4. D3 only
  5. E1 and 2 only
  6. F1 and 3 only
  7. G2 and 3 only
  8. H1, 2 and 3
Rearrange to c=g(x) where g(x)= 3sinx+ 2 x, so each statement is about how many times the horizontal line y=c meets the graph of g. Since g'(x)= 3cosx 1, the turning points are at cosx=13, i.e. x± 1.23. On [0, π], g rises from 2 to about 3.60 then falls to 2 π1.14, so there is exactly one solution there whenever 2 πc< 2. On (π,  0), g dips to a minimum of about 0.40, so choosing c= 1 gives a solution there (statement 1) while c= 0 gives none (statement 2). For x>π the values of g stay below 2π, so any c 2πc= 0 again — gives no solution there (statement 3). All three hold.