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Determine the percentage error if the radius of Earth is measured to be 3950 mi with an error of ± 100 mi.

7.6%

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Key concepts

  • A differentiable function y = f ( x ) can be approximated at a by the linear function
    L ( x ) = f ( a ) + f ( a ) ( x a ) .
  • For a function y = f ( x ) , if x changes from a to a + d x , then
    d y = f ( x ) d x

    is an approximation for the change in y . The actual change in y is
    Δ y = f ( a + d x ) f ( a ) .
  • A measurement error d x can lead to an error in a calculated quantity f ( x ) . The error in the calculated quantity is known as the propagated error . The propagated error can be estimated by
    d y f ( x ) d x .
  • To estimate the relative error of a particular quantity q , we estimate Δ q q .

Key equations

  • Linear approximation
    L ( x ) = f ( a ) + f ( a ) ( x a )
  • A differential
    d y = f ( x ) d x .

What is the linear approximation for any generic linear function y = m x + b ?

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Determine the necessary conditions such that the linear approximation function is constant. Use a graph to prove your result.

f ( a ) = 0

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Explain why the linear approximation becomes less accurate as you increase the distance between x and a . Use a graph to prove your argument.

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When is the linear approximation exact?

The linear approximation exact when y = f ( x ) is linear or constant.

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For the following exercises, find the linear approximation L ( x ) to y = f ( x ) near x = a for the function.

[T] f ( x ) = x + x 4 , a = 0

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[T] f ( x ) = 1 x , a = 2

L ( x ) = 1 2 1 4 ( x 2 )

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[T] f ( x ) = tan x , a = π 4

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[T] f ( x ) = sin x , a = π 2

L ( x ) = 1

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[T] f ( x ) = x sin x , a = 2 π

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[T] f ( x ) = sin 2 x , a = 0

L ( x ) = 0

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For the following exercises, compute the values given within 0.01 by deciding on the appropriate f ( x ) and a , and evaluating L ( x ) = f ( a ) + f ( a ) ( x a ) . Check your answer using a calculator.

[T] ( 15.99 ) 1 / 4

1.9996875

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[T] sin ( 3.14 )

0.001593

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For the following exercises, determine the appropriate f ( x ) and a , and evaluate L ( x ) = f ( a ) + f ( a ) ( x a ) . Calculate the numerical error in the linear approximations that follow.

cos ( 0.01 )

1 ; error, ~0.00005

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( 1.01 ) −3

0.97 ; error, ~0.0006

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8.99

3 1 600 ; error, ~4.632 × 10 −7

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For the following exercises, find the differential of the function.

y = 3 x 4 + x 2 2 x + 1

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y = x cos x

d y = ( cos x x sin x ) d x

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y = x 2 + 2 x 1

d y = ( x 2 2 x 2 ( x 1 ) 2 ) d x

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For the following exercises, find the differential and evaluate for the given x and d x .

y = 3 x 2 x + 6 , x = 2 , d x = 0.1

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y = 1 x + 1 , x = 1 , d x = 0.25

d y = 1 ( x + 1 ) 2 d x , 1 16

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y = tan x , x = 0 , d x = π 10

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y = 3 x 2 + 2 x + 1 , x = 0 , d x = 0.1

d y = 9 x 2 + 12 x 2 2 ( x + 1 ) 3 / 2 d x , −0.1

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y = sin ( 2 x ) x , x = π , d x = 0.25

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y = x 3 + 2 x + 1 x , x = 1 , d x = 0.05

d y = ( 3 x 2 + 2 1 x 2 ) d x , 0.2

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For the following exercises, find the change in volume d V or in surface area d A .

d V if the sides of a cube change from 10 to 10.1.

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d A if the sides of a cube change from x to x + d x .

12 x d x

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d A if the radius of a sphere changes from r by d r .

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d V if the radius of a sphere changes from r by d r .

4 π r 2 d r

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d V if a circular cylinder with r = 2 changes height from 3 cm to 3.05 cm .

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d V if a circular cylinder of height 3 changes from r = 2 to r = 1.9 cm .

−1.2 π cm 3

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For the following exercises, use differentials to estimate the maximum and relative error when computing the surface area or volume.

A spherical golf ball is measured to have a radius of 5 mm , with a possible measurement error of 0.1 mm . What is the possible change in volume?

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A pool has a rectangular base of 10 ft by 20 ft and a depth of 6 ft. What is the change in volume if you only fill it up to 5.5 ft?

−100 ft 3

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An ice cream cone has height 4 in. and radius 1 in. If the cone is 0.1 in. thick, what is the difference between the volume of the cone, including the shell, and the volume of the ice cream you can fit inside the shell?

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For the following exercises, confirm the approximations by using the linear approximation at x = 0 .

Practice Key Terms 7

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Source:  OpenStax, Calculus volume 1. OpenStax CNX. Feb 05, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11964/1.2
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