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1.7 Differentiation

1.7 Differentiation

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Question 32

An orchard contains 1200 apple trees. A farmer observes a fungal infection spreading among the trees. Initially, 40 trees are infected. The number of infected trees is increasing by 25% each day.

a.

The total number of infected trees, xxx, is modelled by

x=A×Bt x = A \times B^t x=A×Bt

where A A\,A and B B\,B are constants and t t\,t is the number of days after the farmer first noticed the infection.

(i) Find the total number of infected trees 6 days after the farmer first noticed the infection based on this model.

(ii) Explain why this model is not realistic in the long term for the orchard.

[3]
b.

A refined model assumes the rate of increase of the number of infected trees is given by

dxdt=x(1200−x)4800 \frac{dx}{dt} = \frac{x(1200 - x)}{4800} dtdx​=4800x(1200−x)​

(i) Show that

∫(Cx+D1200−x)dx=∫dt \int \left( \frac{C}{x} + \frac{D}{1200 - x} \right) dx = \int dt ∫(xC​+1200−xD​)dx=∫dt

where C C\,C and D D\,D are positive integers to be found.

(ii) Hence, find t t\,t in terms of xxx.

(iii) Find the number of days it takes from when the infection is first noticed until half of the trees are infected.

[9]
Markscheme

1.7 Differentiation Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Maths
  3. /1.7 Differentiation

425 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Maths 1.7 Differentiation, covering 1.7.1 Derivative as gradient of the tangent, 1.7.2 Gradient of the tangent at a point, 1.7.3 Sketching the gradient function, 1.7.4 Second derivatives, 1.7.5 Second derivative as rate of change of gradient, 1.7.6 Convex, concave and points of inflection (A-level only), 1.7.7 Differentiation from first principles for powers of x, 1.7.8 Differentiation from first principles for sin x and cos x (A-level only), 1.7.9 Differentiating x^n, 1.7.10 Differentiating e^(kx) and a^(kx) (A-level only), 1.7.11 Differentiating trigonometric functions (A-level only), 1.7.12 Derivative of ln x (A-level only), 1.7.13 Tangents and normals, 1.7.14 Stationary points, 1.7.15 Increasing and decreasing functions, 1.7.16 Points of inflection (A-level only), 1.7.17 Product and quotient rules (A-level only), 1.7.18 Chain rule (A-level only), 1.7.19 Parametric and implicit differentiation (A-level only), 1.7.20 Constructing differential equations (A-level only), and 1.7 Differentiation. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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