Re: 2012 HSC MX1 Marathon
Teachers (and other people in general) become lazy when it comes to writing solutions, even to their own examinations... So go figure.
Yes you can treat 'i' as a constant when doing integration.
Another interesting point is that the complex exponential function e^(i theta) is periodic with period 2*pi*i. This makes the complex log function a bit more complicated.
Re: 2012 HSC MX1 Marathon
Just a question, if don't mind answering... How did you find the Level 1 (or whatever maths course you did) when you did it? And how did you go in it? Just curious -- that's all.
I know you're into elegant methods etc, but one does not do determinants in high school (or any linear algebra) therefore, although it is elegant, chances are that this student will have no clue what this is.
And @ the op: There's a theorem that actually says that given any three points there...
It was in a 2U or 3U HSC paper recently (can't remember which year but I think it was 2010) and these types of questions were my teacher's favourite in exams he'd set.
As a, b, c are in GP: b = ar, c = ar^2 for some r>0 (as b, c > 0)
Now as a>0
and Δ=b^2 - 4ac = (ar)^2 - 4a(ar^2) = -3(ar)^2 < 0 (as (ar)^2 >0)
Therefore y=ax^2+bx+c is positive definite and therefore lies entirely above the x axis.
Complex analysis is a very beautiful course. Most of my friends hated it though.
You can do things like finding a solution to sin z = 2 (can't remember if this particular case has a solution, but it could have a complex solution) using sin z = (e^z - e^(-z) )/(2i) or by letting z=x+iy and using...
You should really say \text{pv }i^i because of periodicity.
By definition,
\text{pv } i^i = e^{i Log i} = e^{ i (ln|i| + i Arg(i))}= e^{i( 0 + i \frac{\pi}{2} )} = e^{-\frac{\pi}{2}} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{e^{\pi}}}
If you didn't use pv then you'd get something like a + exp(2pi k) term as well...
I think that's the same as |arg(z-1+root3)| <= pi/3 because by definition |arg(z-1+root3)|>=0 for all z (abs value of anything is non negative).
So the expression becomes -pi/3 <= arg(z-1+root3) <= pi/3.
For y=\pm \frac{1}{2}x \sqrt{1-\frac{4}{x^2}}
As x->infinity 4/x^2->0, So y-> +/- (1/2)x
This basically means that for large values of x, the curve tends to go near the curve/line y=+/-(1/2)x. Of course it would also approach infinity, but it will do so by staying close to y=+/-(1/2)x.
Well this year's 4U paper was just the stock standard questions, nothing with a twist... Hasn't been like this since 1981 I think.
Anyway I think it has heaps to do with the way 4U is delivered. A good teacher for 4U is important.