Exercises MEF - 5 - 2018
Exercises MEF - 5 - 2018
Exercises MEF - 5 - 2018
Exercise 1
Calculate the limit of the following functions for x → ∞.
(a) f (x) = x ln 1 + xr .
x
(b) g (x) = 1 + xr .
Exercise 2
a) Let f, g be two continuous functions on [a, b] ⊂ R and let x0 ∈ (a, b) with f (x0 ) = g(x0 ). We then define
(
f (x) if x ∈ [a, x0 ),
h(x) =
g(x) if x ∈ [x0 , b].
Exercise 3
Given is a function sin(x)
(b) Use a second order Taylor approximation to approximate sin(0.1) around 0. Compute the approximation
error.
Exercise 4
Consider the function f (x) = ln(x2 + x − 1). Compute the exact value of f at x = 1.1 and compare it to the
third-order Taylor approximation in the neighborhood of x = 1. What is the order of the approximation error?
1
Exercise 5
Given is a variable x ∈ R which takes the value xt at time t (e.g. GDP). The expression
xt − xt−1
γ=
xt−1
is the growth rate at time t.
(a) Show that the growth rate γ can be approximated by 4ln(xt ) = ln(xt ) − ln(xt−1 ). (Hint: Use first order
Taylor approximation around xt−1 )
(b) Find the expression for the approximation error of the first order Taylor approximation.
(c) Argue using the results from b) why the first order Taylor approximation of γ is better if 4xt → 0.
Exercise 6
The price of a zero-coupon bond with face value F and maturity T as a function of the interest rate r is given by
F
P (r) = .
(1 + r)T
We are interested in examining the behavior of the bond price when the interest rate changes from its initial value
r0 to r1 = r0 + ∆r.
(a) Compute the first- and second-order derivatives of P (r). How would you interpret these derivatives (that
is, consider their signs and effects)?
(b) State the Taylor’s theorem for P (r1 ). Compute the first- and second-order approximation of P (r) at r1 .
What happens to the second-order term in the Taylor’s expansion when ∆r is close to 0?
(c) Prove that the actual bond price P (r1 ) is always larger than its first-oder approximation when ∆r is greater
than 0. What does your result imply for approximating bond prices using Taylor’s expansion? Hint: consider
the sign of the second-order term.
Exercise 7
Assume
1
(x2 + y 2 ) sin x2 +y x2 + y 2 =
2, 6 0,
f (x, y) =
0, x2 + y 2 = 0,
(a) Show that all first-order partials exist, and check whether they are continuous.
(b) Check whether the above function is differentiable at (0, 0).
Exercise 8
Let f : R2 → R be
√ xy
(
if (x, y) 6= (0, 0),
f (x, y) = x +y 2
2
.
0 if (x, y) = (0, 0).
(a) Is f a continuous function?
(b) Is f a differentiable function?