P425/1
PRINCIPAL MATHEMATICS
PAPER 1
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education
PRINCIPAL MATHEMATICS
Paper 1
1
2 Hours
3
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
This paper consists of three sections; A, B and C. It has five examinations
items.
Section A has one compulsory item.
Sections B and C have two items each.
Attempt one item from each section for sections B and C
Answer a total of three items.
Any additional item(s) answered will not be marked.
All answers must be written in the answer booklets/sheets provided.
Silent non-programmable scientific calculators and mathematical tables with
a list of formulae may be used.
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
SECTION A ITEM 1
SECTION B ITEM 2
ITEM 3
SECTION C ITEM 4
ITEM 5
TOTAL
1
SECTION A
ITEM 1
A group of students working on a project to design a robotic vehicle that will follow
a circular track. The track is represented by a circle in a coordinate plane and three
key points on the track where the robot will pass are given A (5, 7), B (1, 3) and C
(2, 2).Their goal is to determine the exact equation of the circular track.
In addition to finding the equation, they must also calculate some important
parameters related to the tangents to the circular track, as the robot needs to
calculate these tangents to the track at specific points for optimal navigation. The
robot should be able to calculate these tangents to prevent collisions with
boundaries and optimize its trajectory along the track.
A new point D (6, 8) is suggested by one of the students that it should be added on
track but unfortunately the majority of the group members did not accept it and this
brought confusion in the group while another student from the group suggested
that the point Q (7, 1) which is outside the circular track could be useful and the
distance from the point Q to the tangent at point A had to be known.
TASK:
As an S6 student help the group members to know the equation of the circular
track stating its Centre and radius. Help them also to know whether the suggested
point D should be added on the track or not and the distance of the point Q from the
tangent at point A
SECTION B
ITEM 2
A Mechanical Engineer working on designing a new type of mechanical system and
part of the analysis involves working with polynomial functions and approximations.
The Engineer is given the polynomial p(x) which is defined by the equation:
p ( x )=( x+ 2 )( x−1 ) Q ( x )+ ( ax+ b )
Where Q(x) is the quotient and (ax+b) is the remainder when p(x) is divided by
(x+2) (x-1). From the system’s calculations it is found out that when p(x) is divided
by (x-1), the remainder is 4 and when divided by (x+2) the remainder is 1
However the engineer still has to approximate certain values in order to analyse the
1
efficiency of the mechanical system. One such value is and for the
√144.0144
−1
engineer to know the value he decides to use the expansion of ( 1+ x ) 2 which is
expanded up to the fourth term and then the first two terms are used to
approximate the value two significant figures.
As the engineer was analyzing the performance of the components produced using
the system they were modeled using the quadratic function f ( x )=x 2 +12 x+32 . To
2
optimize the performance of the system the Engineer is required to write the
function in the form a ( x +b )2+ c , where a, b and c are constants and later find the
minimum value of the function and the value of x for which the function is minimum
TASK: As a mathematician help the Engineer to;
a) Determine the values of a and b
1
b) Approximate the value of to two significant figures using the
√144.0144
−1
expansion for ( 1+ x ) 2 .
c) Write the function f(x) in the form a ( x +b )2+ c and hence find the minimum
value of the function and the value of x for which it occurs.
ITEM 3
a) You are a machine operator optimizing a machine’s performance. The
machine’s speed overtime follows an arithmetic progression (A.P) while its
energy consumption follows a geometric progression (G.P). The e first terms
1
of both sequences are the same, the G.P has a common ratio of and its
3
sum to infinity is 9. The A.P has a common difference of 2, you need to
calculate the sum of the first ten terms of the Arithmetic progression.
Additionally the following equations describe the items produced from the
components x, y and z produced by the machine and their sum provides the
total output.
x +2 y+ 2 z=5
2 x+3 y +5 z=10
3 x+ y+ 2 z=6
As part of your optimization process you are required to find the machine’s total
output when 5 items are produced from the x-component, 3 items are produced
from the y-component and 4 items are produced from the z-component
TASK:
As the machine operator find out the sum of the first ten terms of the Arithmetic
progression and total output for the given items.
b) During the machine’s process as the operator you found out that the
expression
√3−2 must be written in the form p+q √ 3 in order to optimize the
2 √ 3−2
energy output of the machine. However, you were also tasked as the
machine operator to find out the value of m from the logarithmic equation
that represents a relationship between the machine’s power settings and the
energy output.
3
log m 5+ 4 log 5 m=4
√3−2 in the form p+q 3
TASK: As the machine operator express the expression
2 √ 3−2
√
and hence find the value of m.
SECTION C
ITEM 4
The Uganda National Revenue Authority (UNRA) is studying traffic patterns on the
Kampala-Jinja High way. They have developed a mathematical model to predict
traffic density at different times of the day.
2
x −4
The traffic density function D(x) at times X-hours is given by D ( x )=
( x +1 )2 ( x−5)
TASK:
As a Traffic engineer, you need to analyse this model and present the function as a
sum of partial fractions and hence evaluate the function when the time ranges from
6 hours to 7 hours.
ITEM 5
a) A Robotics engineer is designing a sensor system where the relationship
between an input signal x (time in seconds) and the Angular position y (in
radians) of a rotating arm is governed by e x =tan 2 y .
The smoothness of the arm’s motion depends on how the acceleration of y changes
2 x 3x
d y e −e
with respect to time and it was found out that 2
= 2
d x 2 ( 1+ e 2 x )
TASK: Help the engineer to prove that the above statement is true.
b) A bio technology is monitoring the growth of a bacterial culture in a
controlled bio reactor. The size of the culture, S (measured in grams)
changes overtime, t (in hours) according to the differential equation.
ds 2 e 2t
=
dt √ s
At the start of the experiment, the culture mass is 9 grams when t=0. The
laboratory technician was wondering after how many hours the bacterial culture will
reach the mass of 16 grams and what will be the mass of the bacterial culture
when the time is 2.4 hours.
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TASK: As a mathematician help the Laboratory Technician to form an expression of
S in terms of t and help him to know the time t when the size is 16 grams and the
mass when the time is 2.4 hours