Example test [83 marks]

1. [Maximum mark: 19] [Link].TZ2.5

Howell Industries is an international company that sells travel coffee mugs. Their
market research predicts that the average number of mugs they will sell each
month is modelled by the equation

n = 20 000 − 1 000x

where x represents the selling price, in euro (EUR), of each mug.

A salesperson suggests that Howell Industries should sell the mugs for 16 EUR

each.

(a) Find the average number of mugs that this model predicts
Howell Industries will sell at this price. [2]

(b) Calculate Howell Industries’ average monthly income, before

any expenses, at this selling price. [2]

(c) Hence, write down the function R (x) that can be used to
predict Howell Industries’ average monthly income, before
expenses, at any selling price, x. [1]

Howell Industries has 10 000 EUR of fixed monthly operational costs.

Additionally, Howell Industries must pay their mug supplier 10 EUR for each
coffee mug.

(d) Calculate Howell Industries’ average monthly profit if they sell

each mug at a price of 16 EUR. [3]

(e) Show that the average monthly profit for any selling price, x,
can be found using the function
P (x) = −1 000x
2
+ 30 000x − 210 000. [2]

(f.i) Find P ′(x). [2]

 ([Link]) Show that the salesperson’s selling price does not maximize
their average monthly profit. [2]

Howell Industries negotiates a new deal with their mug supplier. Under the new
deal, the supplier agrees to discount the cost of each mug based on the number
of mugs purchased by Howell Industries. The cost charged by the supplier for
each mug can be found using the function

C (n) = 10 − 0. 0001n

where n represents the number of mugs sold by Howell Industries.

(g) Find the function that can be used to find Howell Industries’
average monthly profit using the new deal from the supplier. [3]

(h) Hence, find the selling price, per mug, that Howell Industries
should choose in order to maximize their average monthly
profit under the new deal. [2]

2. [Maximum mark: 18] [Link].TZ0.2

The heights, h, of 200 university students are recorded in the following table.

(a.i) Write down the mid-interval value of 140 ≤ h < 160. [1]

([Link]) Calculate an estimate of the mean height of the 200 students. [2]
This table is used to create the following cumulative frequency graph.

(b) Use the cumulative frequency curve to estimate the

interquartile range. [2]

Laszlo is a student in the data set and his height is 204 cm.

(c) Use your answer to part (b) to estimate whether Laszlo’s height
is an outlier for this data. Justify your answer. [3]

It is believed that the heights of university students follow a normal distribution

with mean 176 cm and standard deviation 13. 5 cm.

It is decided to perform a χ2 goodness of fit test on the data to determine

whether this sample of 200 students could have plausibly been drawn from an
underlying distribution N (176, 13. 5 ).
2

(d) Write down the null and the alternative hypotheses for the test. [2]

As part of the test, the following table is created.

 (e.i) Find the value of a and the value of b. [4]

([Link]) Hence, perform the test to a 5 % significance level, clearly

stating the conclusion in context. [4]

3. [Maximum mark: 18] [Link].TZ0.5

The following diagram is a map of a group of four islands and the closest
mainland. Travel from the mainland and between the islands is by boat. The
scheduled boat routes between the ports A, B, C, D and E are shown as
dotted lines on the map.
Let the undirected graph G represent the boat routes between the ports A, B,
C, D and E.

(a) Draw graph G. [1]

(b) Graph G can be represented by an adjacency matrix P , where

the rows and columns represent the ports in alphabetical order.

(b.i) 0 1 2 4 1
⎛ ⎞
1 2 5 a 2

Given that P 3 = 2 5 4 6 5 , find the value of a.

4 a 6 4 6

⎝ ⎠
1 2 5 6 2 [2]

([Link]) Hence, write down the number of different ways that someone
could start at port B and end at port C, using three boat route
journeys. [1]

(c) Find a possible Eulerian trail in G , starting at port A. [2]

The cost of a journey on the different boat routes is given in the following table;
all prices are given in USD. The cost of a journey is the same in either direction
between two ports.

Sofia wants to make a trip where she travels on each of the boat routes at least
once, beginning and ending at port A.

(d) Find the minimum cost of Sofia’s trip. [3]

The boat company decides to add an additional boat route to make it possible to
travel on each boat route exactly once, starting and ending at the same port.

(e.i) Identify between which two ports the additional boat route
should be added. [1]

([Link]) Determine the cost of the additional boat route such that the
overall cost of the trip is the same as your answer to part (d). [1]

The boat company plans to redesign which ports are connected by boat routes.
Their aim is to have a single boat trip that visits all the islands and minimizes the
total distance travelled, starting and finishing at the mainland, A.

The following table shows the distances in kilometres between the ports A, B,
C, D and E.
 (f.i) Use the nearest neighbour algorithm to find an upper bound
for the minimum total distance. [3]

([Link]) Use the deleted vertex algorithm on port A to find a lower

bound for the minimum total distance. [4]

4. [Maximum mark: 28] [Link].TZ0.1

This question uses differential equations to model the maximum velocity of a
skydiver in free fall.

In 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped from a height of 40 000 m. He was

attempting to travel at the speed of sound, 330 m s−1, whilst free-falling to the
Earth.

Before making his attempt, Felix used mathematical models to check how
realistic his attempt would be. The simplest model he used suggests that

dv
= g
dt

where v m s−1 is Felix’s velocity and g m s−2 is the acceleration due to gravity.
The time since he began to free-fall is t seconds and the displacement from his
initial position is s metres.

Throughout this question, the direction towards the centre of the Earth is taken
to be positive and v is a positive quantity.

When s = 0, it is given that Felix jumps with an initial velocity v = 10.

(a.i) Use the chain rule to show that
dv
= v
dv
. [1]
dt ds

([Link]) Assuming that g is a constant, solve the differential equation

v
dv

ds
= g to find v as a function of s. [4]

([Link]) Using g = 9. 8, determine whether the model predicts that

Felix will succeed in travelling at the speed of sound at some
point before s = 40 000. Justify your answer. [3]

(b) To test the model

= g,
dv

dt

Felix conducted a trial jump from a lower height, and data for v
against t was found.

(b.i) If the model is correct, describe the shape of the graph of v

against t. [2]

Felix’s data are plotted on the following graph.

([Link]) Use the plot to comment on the validity of the model in part (a). [1]
(c) An improved model considers air resistance, using

dv 2
= g − kv
dt

where k is a positive constant. You are reminded that initially

s = 0 and v = 10.

(c.i) By using
dv
= v
dv
, solve the differential equation to find v
dt ds

in terms of s, g and k. You may assume that g − kv2 > 0. [5]

Felix uses the graph of v against t shown in part (b) to estimate the value of k.

([Link]) The gradient is estimated to be 9. 672 when v = 40. Taking g

to be 9. 8, use this information to show that Felix found that
k = 8 × 10
−5
. [2]

([Link]) Hence, find the value of v predicted by this model, as s tends to

infinity. [2]

([Link]) Find the upper bound for the velocity according to this model,
given that 0 < s ≤ 40 000. Give your answer to four
significant figures. [2]

The assumption that the value of g is constant is not correct. It can be shown that
14
3.98×10
g =
6
2
.
(6.41×10 −s)

Hence, the new model is given by

14
dv 3.98×10 −5
v
ds
=
6 2
− (8 × 10 )v .
2

(6.41×10 −s)

When s = 0, it is known that v = 10.

(d) Use Euler’s method with a step length of 4000 to estimate the
value of v when s = 40 000. [4]
(e) After Felix completed his record-breaking jump, he found that
the answer from part (d) was not supported by data collected
during the jump.

(e.i) Suggest one improvement to the use of Euler’s method which

might increase the accuracy of the prediction of the model. [1]

([Link]) Suggest one factor not explicitly considered by the model in

part (d) which might lead to a difference between the model’s
prediction and the data collected. [1]

© International Baccalaureate Organization, 2025