Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-year-1-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/discrete-mathematics-continuous-mathematics-and-probability/continuous-mathematics/4/d/solution
Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford 2022 Discrete mathematics, continuous mathematics, and probability Continuous mathematics 4 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Minimize the square of the Euclidean distance, using minimizers under strictly increasing transformations. For ,For fixed the unique minimum has . Put and . Its derivative isLet . Since , it is strictly increasing, with limits and at the two ends of . It therefore has exactly one zero. The sign of changes there from negative to positive, proving the unique global minimum. The nearest point is at that zero.[ref]
The Newton root-finding iteration isStarting at gives , , and . Moreover certifies the rounding. Thus to three significant figures; more accurately .
New to topics? Read the docs here!