MTH 251

Computer Lab 1

Names:

Section 2.1: Limits, ROC, and Tangent Lines. Due Wednesday, January 15
Consider the height (in feet) of a falling object given by the equation
s(t) = 50 16t2
1. Is the velocity of the object constant during its fall, or does it change? How do you
know?

2. What is the average velocity of the object over the first one second of the object falling?
Dont forget to include units!

3. How might you estimate the velocity of the object after it has been falling for exactly
one second? Explain. (Note: You dont necessarily need to compute it, just explain
how you might compute it!)

4. Use a calculator to compute the average velocity of this falling object over the following
time intervals (in seconds). Dont forget to include units!
(a) [0.5, 1]

(b) [0.75, 1]

(c) [0.9, 1]

(d) [0.99, 1]

5. Use GeoGebra to graph this function. Follow the steps below:

Open a new GeoGebra window.
In the input bar located at the bottom of the screen, type in the height function as
s(t)=5016t 2, then hit Enter.
Re-scale each axis. To do this, right-click the main Graphics window (except for
the graph of the function itself), then choose Graphics .... Set x Min: 1, x Max:
2, y Min: 10, and y Max: 60. Close this Graphics window.
Label each axis. To do this, right-click the main Graphics window, then choose
Graphics ... again. Left-click xAxis and type t under Label. Similarly, leftclick yAxis and type s(t) under Label. Close this window.
6. Show grid. To do this, right-click the main Graphics window and left-click Grid.
7. Plot two points (0.5, s(0.5)) and (1, s(1)) on the graph. To do this, type A=(0.5, s(0.5))
and B=(1, s(1)) in the input bar. The first point (0.5, s(0.5)) should be labeled as A
and the second point (1, s(1)) should be labeled as B, respectively.
8. Using the line tool
(1, s(1)) from #7.

, graph the secant line connecting the points (0.5, s(0.5)) and

9. Copy and paste the graph you just created onto a new word document. To do this:
Open up a new word document. (You will be pasting the graph here later on.)
Type 4(a).
Go back to GeoGebra screen and go to Edit tab.
Choose Graphics View to Clipboard (or simply hit ctrl+shift+C simultaneously).
Go back to the word document and hit ctrl+V simultaneously. Now the graph
should be pasted!
Adjust the size of the graph if necessary.
DONT PRINT IT OUT YET!
10. How is the slope of this line related to your answer to question 4(a) above? Hint:
Change how GeoGebra displays the equations of lines. To do this, right-click the secant
line from #8 and left-click Equation y=mx+b. (Now, the equation of the secant line
should be displayed in slope-intercept form in the Algebra window.) Explain clearly!

11. Repeat this process for 4(b)-(d) above. You may do this by creating a slider. (This is
pretty cool!) To do this, follow the steps below.
Type a=1 in the input bar.
In the Algebra window, left-click on the circle next to a=1 so that the slider
appears in the main Graphics window.
Right-click on the slider in the main Graphics window and go to Object Properties
....
Under the Slider tab, make min = 0, max = 1, and increment = 0.01.
Under the Basic tab, click on Show label and be sure Name and Value are
selected in the drop down menu. Close this window.
In the input bar, type in A=(a, s(a)).
Now, left-click the slider. You can either (1) drag or (2) hit J/I on your keyboard to
slide the slider !
12. Adjust the value of a according to part (b)-(d).
13. Copy and paste each graph by following the steps in #9 above. Label each graph as
4(b), 4(c), and 4(d), respectively. (You may paste them onto the same word document
you created in #9 to save the trees!) Print and attach it to this lab write-up!
14. Use the result obtained in 4(a)-4(d) above to estimate the instantaneous velocity of
the object after it has been falling for exactly 1 second. You shouldnt have to do
ANY calculations to answer this question!
Approximate instantaneous velocity is
(Dont forget to include units!)