School of Science & Technology

EG1001: Mathematics I
Stage 1 Examination

Mock Exam paper 2024

External Examiner: Dr Eldad Avital

Internal Examiner: Professor Alfredo Pinelli

Page 1 of 9
Question 1
Consider the function f (x) = 1 − log(x − 1), x > 1.

a) Starting from the graph of the natural logarithm, y = log(x), given in

figure 1, sketch the graph of f (x). [4 marks]

Figure 1: The graph of y = log(x)

.

b) On the same graph, draw the graph of f −1 (x). [4 marks]

c) Determine the expression of f −1 (x), the inverse of f (x). [4 marks]
−1
d) Determine the domain and the range of both f (x) and f (x).
[4 marks]

Solution 1

a)
Proceeding step by step, we first plot y = log(x − 1) in figure 2. Next we plot
the function y = 1 − log(x − 1) in figure 3.

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 Figure 2: The graph of y = log(x − 1)
.

Figure 3: The graph of y = 1 − log(x − 1)

.

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 b)
By symmetry across y = x we obtain the graph of the inverse function (see
figure 4).

Figure 4: The graph of the inverse function

.

c)
y = 1 − log(x − 1) → ln(x − 1) = 1 − y → x − 1 = e1−y → x = 1 + e1−y
Thus, f −1 (x) = 1 + e1−y .

d) Domain of f (x) is all real x > 1 (this is also the Range of f −1 (x)). Domain
of f −1 (x) is R (this is also the Range of f (x)).

Question 2
Compute the following limits.
x2 −5x+6
a) limx→2± x2 −4x+4
[6 marks]
3x
b) limx→∞ √4+x 2 [6 marks]

Solution 2

a)
x2 − 5x + 6 (x−2)
(x − 3) 
1
lim± 2
= lim = lim± − = ∓∞
x→2 x − 4x + 4 x→2 ±
(x − 2)
2 x→2 x−2

Page 4 of 9
 b) r
3x 9x2
lim √ = lim
x→∞ 4 + x2 x→∞ 4 + x2
the latter is a ∞/∞ form, we can use Hopital theorem:
r r r
9x2 9x2 18x
lim = lim = lim =3
x→∞ 4 + x2 x→∞ 4 + x2 x→∞ 2x

Question 3
Compute the first three, non-zero terms of the MacLaurin series of the func-
tion f (x) = sinh(x2 ) Hint: recall that sinh(x) = 21 (ex − e−x )and start with
the expansion of ex and then use an appropiate substitution.
[10 marks]

Solution 3

Let y = x2 , we then have

y2 y3 y4 y5 y2 y3 y4 y5
ey = 1+y + + + + +· · · and e−y = 1−y + − + − +· · ·
2! 3! 4! 5! 2! 3! 4! 5!
Thus,

y2 y3 y4 y5 y2 y3 y4 y5
  
1 y −y 1
sinh(y) = (e −e ) = 1+y+ + + + + ··· − 1 − y + − + − + ···
2 2 2! 3! 4! 5! 2! 3! 4! 5!

and
y3 y5
 
1
sinh(y) = 2y + 2 + 2 + · · ·
2 3! 5!
Using y = x2 , we find:
x6 x10
sinh(x2 ) = x2 + +
3! 5!
Question 4
Compute the following integrals
x−1
R
a x2 −4
dx
Hint: use a decomposition in partial fractions [12 marks]
R log(2x+1)
b (2x+1)2
dx
Hint: use integration by parts, after having introduced the substitution z = 2x + 1.
R R
Integration by part formula udv = uv − vdu. [6 marks]

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 Solution 4

a)
x−1 A B (A + B)x − 2A − 2B
2
= + =
x −4 x−2 x+2 x2 − 4
Thus, 
A+B =1 1 3
=⇒ A = and B =
2A − 2B = −1 4 4
Finally,

x−1
Z Z
1 dx 3 dx 1 3
2
= + = log(x − 1) + log(x + 2) + c
x −4 4 x−2 4 x+2 4 4

b) We start by introducing the change of variable z = 2x + 1 (dz = 2dx).

Z Z
log(2x + 1) 1 log(z)
2
dx = dz
(2x + 1) 2 z2

We integrate by parts choosing u = ln(z) (du = dz/z ) and v = −z −1 (dv = z −2 dz ):

Z Z
1 log(z) log(z) 1 11 log(z) 1
2
dz = − + dz = − − +c
2 z 2z 2 zz 2z 2z
Undoing the substitution:
Z
log(2x + 1) log(2x + 1) 1
2
dx = − − +c
(2x + 1) 2(2x + 1) 2(2x + 1)

Question 5
Compute the area of the region between the graph of

f (x) = −ex

and line through A = (1, −e) and B = (0, −1). [7 marks]

Solution 5

We notice that A and B belong to the graph of f (x), thus they are the points of
intersection between f (x) and the line. The line through A and B has equation
y(x) = (1 − e)x − 1 and the segment AB is situated below f (x). We thus have:
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
Area = −ex − [(1 − e)x − 1]dx = [1 − (1 − e)x − ex ]dx
0 0 0
 1
1−e 2 3−e
Area = x − x − ex =
2 0 2

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Question 6
Solve the equation z 4 + iz 3 + z 2 + iz = 0. [8 marks]

Solution 6

Clearly z = 0 is a solution. The others are the solutions of

z 3 + iz 2 + z + i = 0 =⇒ z 2 (z + i) + z + i = (z + i)(z 2 + 1) = 0

Thus another solution is z = −i. The others verify z 2 + 1 = 0:

√
z 2 = −1 =⇒ z = ± −1 = ±i

Thus the solutions are: z = 0, z = ±i.

Question 7
Find all complex roots of the equation z 4 + 2z = 0. Write them down in the z = x + iy
form. [8 marks]

Solution 7

Clearly z = 0 is a solution, the others are the solutions of z 3 = −2 = 2e−iπ .

z 3 = 2 · e−i(π+2πk) → z = 21/3 ei(−π/3+2kπ)) for k = 0, 1, 2

Thus,
√ !
1 3
z0 = 21/3 e−iπ/3 = 21/3 (cos(−π/3) + isin(−π/3)) = 21/3 −i
2 2
√ !
1 3
z1 = 21/3 eiπ/3 = 21/3 (cos(π/3) + isin(π/3)) = 21/3 +i
2 2

z2 = 21/3 eiπ = −21/3

Question 8
Compute the determinant of the 3 × 3, real matrix A given by:
 
a 1 1
A= b a 0 
b 2a a

For what value of a, A is a singular matrix? [10 marks]

Solution 8

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 Apply the elemetary operation C2 = C2 − C3 to obtain

a 1 1 a 0 1
b a 0 = b a 0
b 2a a b a a

Let’s compute the determinant of A, developping along the first row:

det(A) = a · a2 − 1(ba − ba) = a3

The matrix is singular if det(A) = 0, i.e. when a = 0.

Question 9
Write down the equation of the line through point A = (7, −1/3, 2), perpendicular to
the plane 5x − 4y + z = 0 . [8 marks]

Solution 9

v = (5, −4, 1), thus the parametric equation of the

A vector orthogonal to the plane is ⃗
line is: 
 x = 7 + 5t
y = − 13 − 4t
z =2+t


Question 10
Given the line r with parametric equation

 x = −1 + t
y = −2t
z = 1 + 3t


Show that point Q = (1, 1/2, 3) does not belong to the line and find the equation of
the plane thought Q that contains the line r . [9 marks]

Solution 10

From the first parameteric equation, imposing x = 1, we have t = 2. Using

t = 2 for the other two coordinates y and z , we find another point different from
Q. By imposing t = 0 and t = 1 we find that points A = (−1, 0, 1) and B =
(0, −2, 4) belong to the plane. Thus, we are reduced to find the equation of the
plane containing A, B and Q. We have AB = (0, −2, 4)−(−1, 0, 1) = (1, −2, 3)
and AQ = (1, 1/2, 3) − (−1, 0, 1) = (2, 1/2, 2). A vector normal to the plane is

⃗i ⃗j ⃗k
11 9⃗
⃗n = AB × AQ = 1 −2 3 = − ⃗i + 4⃗j + k
2 2
2 1/2 2

Page 8 of 9
The equation of the plane is:

11 9
− x + 4y + z = ⃗n · ⃗rQ = 10 =⇒ −11x + 8y + 9z = 20
2 2
End of solutions

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