The diagram below shows the Gateway Arch, which is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The arch stands at 192 metres tall and is 192 metres wide.
The arch can be modelled by part of a curve as shown in the diagram below.
The highest point of the curve lies on the -axis and the curve is symmetrical about the -axis. The two endpoints both lie on the -axis. It is known that the curve satisfies the differential equation
for some constants and .

- (i)
Show that the substitution reduces the differential equation to
- (ii)
By using the substitution , where , to solve the reduced differential equation in part (i), show that
- (iii)
Given that and , find in terms of .
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Worked solution
11(i)
1. Find an expression for the second derivative $\frac{\mathrm{d}^2y}{\mathrm{d}x^2}$ in terms of $p$.
Given the substitution , we differentiate both sides with respect to :
Multiplying by gives:
2. Substitute the expressions back into the original differential equation to yield the required reduced form.
Substitute and into the original differential equation :
Dividing both sides by the constant :
11(ii)
1. Separate the variables of the differential equation and apply the substitution $p = \tan u$.
From part (i), we have the reduced differential equation . Separating the variables:
Using the given substitution , we differentiate to get .
Substitute this into the integral:
2. Simplify the integrand using trigonometric identities and integrate both sides.
Using the identity , the denominator is . Since , , so .
The integral simplifies to:
Using the standard result for integrating :
(Note: The absolute value is omitted since for the given domain of .)
3. Determine the initial condition from the physical context of the arch.
The problem states that the highest point of the arch lies on the -axis. At this maximum turning point (), the tangent is horizontal, so .
Given the substitution , we have:
When , .
4. Substitute the initial condition to find the constant of integration $C$.
Substitute and into the integrated equation:
Thus, the equation simplifies to:
5. Use trigonometric identities to isolate $\tan u$ and solve for $p$.
Using the Pythagorean identity , we can factorise it as:
Substitute into the identity:
Subtracting this from our earlier equation () gives:
Since :
11(iii)
1. Rearrange the expression from (ii) to find $\frac{\mathrm{d}y}{\mathrm{d}x}$ and substitute the given constants $a$ and $k$.
From parts (i) and (ii), we know that and .
Equating these expressions:
Substitute and :
2. Integrate with respect to $x$ to find the general solution for $y$.
3. Apply the boundary condition at the highest point to find the constant of integration $C$ and write the final equation.
The arch is tall, and its highest point lies on the -axis. This gives the boundary condition when .
Substituting back and rounding to 3 significant figures:
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