A subaquatic probe is descending into an ocean trench. Its rate of descent, v m min−1v\text{ m min}^{-1}v m min−1, is monitored over a 50-minute period. The following velocity readings were extracted from the probe's telemetry system at 10-minute intervals:
| t (min)t \text{ (min)}t (min) | 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v (m min−1)v \text{ (m min}^{-1})v (m min−1) | 15.0 | 42.4 | 58.6 | 55.2 | 39.8 | 12.5 |
An oceanographer, Marcus, claims that in the period 10≤t≤4010 \le t \le 4010≤t≤40, the probe descends approximately 1550 metres.
Determine whether Marcus is correct, showing clearly the calculations you have used based on the trapezium rule with all available data for this interval.
137 exam-style questions on OCR (MEI) A Level Maths 1.10 Numerical Methods (A-level only), covering 1.10.1 Locate roots by change of sign (A-level only), 1.10.2 When change of sign methods fail (A-level only), 1.10.3 Fixed point iteration (A-level only), 1.10.4 Newton-Raphson method (A-level only), 1.10.5 Convergence of iterations (A-level only), 1.10.6 Trapezium rule (A-level only), 1.10.7 Upper and lower bounds using rectangles (A-level only), and 1.10.8 Numerical methods to solve problems (A-level only). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.