Unit 7: Differential Equations
Calculus BC · Unit 7 · Paper 1

Differential Equations unit test

A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.

Each paper is built from this unit’s 24 terms and is the same for everyone, so a teacher can assign “Unit 7, Paper 1” and every student sits the identical test. Multiple choice is marked objectively; the written sections you mark yourself against the model answer and rubric.
Suggested time 36 min 33 points0/17 attempted
1

Solutions cannot cross

2

Finding concavity without the solution

3

Exponentiating a sum gives a product

4

Choosing the step size

5

Logistic differential equation

6

Fastest growth in a logistic model

7

AP does not require solving the logistic equation

8

Euler recomputes the slope

9

Verify a candidate solution twice

10

Logistic carrying capacity

11

State the domain of a particular solution

12

Match a slope field by structure

Short answer 1. Define or explain: Zero slopes locate the factors

3 pts

Short answer 2. Define or explain: Separation needs a product form

3 pts

Short answer 3. Define or explain: Euler's method

3 pts

Short answer 4. Define or explain: Fastest logistic growth at M/2

3 pts

Free response

9 pts

NO CALCULATOR. Let y = f(x) be the particular solution to the differential equation dy/dx = (3 − x)y² with initial condition f(1) = −1.

A. Find f″(1), the value of d²y/dx² at the point (1, −1). Show the work that leads to your answer.

B. Write the second-degree Taylor polynomial for f about x = 1.

C. The second-degree Taylor polynomial for f about x = 1 is used to approximate f(1.1). Given that |f‴(x)| ≤ 60 for all x in the interval 1 ≤ x ≤ 1.1, use the Lagrange error bound to show that this approximation differs from f(1.1) by at most 0.01.

D. Use Euler’s method, starting at x = 1 with two steps of equal size, to approximate f(1.4). Show the work that leads to your answer.