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MATHEMATICS - CASE STUDY

    Introduction


Roller Coaster

 

During a field trip to an amusement park, a teacher asked her students to determine the slope at a specific point of the roller coaster ride. A portion of the path of the ride can be described using the following parametric equations:

     x = 100t2
     y = 100(t3 - 2t)

for -1.5 ≤ t ≤ 0.

   
    Questions


Path Described by Parametric Equations
x = 100t2 and y = 100(t3 - 2t)
 

Determine the tangent when t is -1.1.

   
  Approach

 
  • Note that the parametric equations are defined for an interval of t only (i.e., -1.5 ≤ t ≤ 0).