Worksheet Math 124 Week 6

Worksheet for Week 6: Implicit Differentiation and Parametric Curves

In this worksheet, you’ll use parametrization to deal with curves that have more than
one tangent line at a point. Then you’ll use implicit differentiation to relate two derivative
functions, and solve for one using given information about the other.

Curve A: Curve B:
y = x2 (x + 1)
2 y (1 − 12 y) = x2
2

1. (a) Use impicit differentiation to find all the points in Curve A with a horizontal tangent
line. (Looking at the graph, how many such points should there be?)

Solution: Using implicit differentiation, we get dxdy

= x(3x+2)
2y
, so the points
2
where dy/dx = 0 are those with x-coordinate − 3 . (We can’t set x = 0, because
then the equation for Curve A says that y is also 0. Then dy/dx
has a2 zero4 in
4
the denominator.) Solving for y, we get the two points − 23 , 27


and − 3 , − 27 .
4
( 27 ≈ .148148....)

(b) What about Curve B?

Solution: Using implicit differentiation, we get

dy 2x
= ,
dx 2y − 23 y 2

so the points where dy/dx = 0 are those with x = 0 and y nonzero. If x = 0 on

the curve, then either y = 0 or y = 2, so we have only the point (0, 2).

dy
(c) Try to find dx
at the point (0, 0) on both graphs. What goes wrong?

Solution: It’s not possible to plug in x = 0 and y = 0 to either of the

dy
expressions for dx . The derivative function tells us nothing about (0, 0).
Worksheet Math 124 Week 6

2. In this problem you’ll look at the curves from Page 1 in a different way.

Suppose a cat is chasing a ball around on the floor, and its position is described by the
parametric equations

(x(t), y(t)) = (t2 − 1, t − t3 ).

Graph A: Graph B:
y 2 = x2 (x + 1) y 2 (1 − 21 y) = x2

(a) The cat is following one of the paths from the previous page (reprinted above).
Which path does the cat follow? Circle this curve. How do you know it’s the right
one?

Solution: The expressions for x(t) and y(t) satisfy the equation corresponding
to Curve A. That is, y(t)2 = x(t)2 (x(t) + 1).

(b) Draw an arrow on the circled graph above, to indicate in which direction the cat is
running.

Solution: As long as t is bigger than 1, the expression y(t) = t − t3 is negative,

so the cat eventually stays in the lower half of the plane. The cat enters the
picture in the upper right, runs around a loop near the origin, and runs away
to the lower right.

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Worksheet Math 124 Week 6

(c) At which time(s) t does the cat run through the point (0, 0) ?

Solution: If x(t) = 0, then t = ±1, and if y = 0 then t = ±1 or t = 0. So the

only times when x and y are both zero are t = ±1.

dy
(d) Remember that it wasn’t possible to find dx at (0, 0) using the method on Page
1. But now that the graph has been parametrized, you can do it. What are the
tangent line(s) to the parametrized curve (x(t), y(t)) at (0, 0)?

Solution: We’ll use the chain rule, which says that

dy
dy dt
= dx
.
dx dt

Now
dy dx
= 1 − 3t2 , = 2t.
dt dt
At t = 1 we have dy
dt
= −2 and dx
dt
= 2; at t = −1 we have dydt
= −2 and dx
dt
= −2. So
the slopes are −1 and 1, respectively, and the equations of the tangent lines are

y = −x and y = x.

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Worksheet Math 124 Week 6

3. This next question is a new type of problem that you can solve now that you know
about implicit differentiation. Suppose a snowball is rolling down a hill, and its radius
r is growing at a rate of 1 inch per minute. The volume V of the snowball grows more
quickly as the snowball gets bigger. In this question, you’ll find the rate of change of
the volume, dV
dt
, at the instant when the radius r is 6 inches.
(a) First, apply geometry to the situation. Can you think of an equation that relates
the variables r and V to each other?

Solution: V = 43 πr3 .

(b) Now the variables V and r change as time changes, so we can think of them as
functions of t. Differentiate the equation you came up with in part (a) with respect
to t.

dV
Solution: dt
= 4πr2 dr
dt
.

(c) What is the rate of change of the radius? Use this to simplify your equation from
part (b).

dr
Solution: The rate is given; dt
= 1. (Units: inches/minute.)

(d) What is the rate of change of V when the radius of the snowball is 6 inches?

dV
Solution: dt
= 4π(6)2 = 144π. (Units: cubic inches/minute.)

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