Edexcel FP3 — Question 13

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleFP3 (Further Pure Mathematics 3)
TopicHyperbolic functions

13. \begin{figure}[h]
\captionsetup{labelformat=empty} \caption{Figure 2} \includegraphics[alt={},max width=\textwidth]{6706ed7f-4575-4898-b757-aee8475b2a30-08_625_1365_333_456}
\end{figure} A rope is hung from points \(P\) and \(Q\) on the same horizontal level, as shown in Fig. 2. The curve formed by the rope is modelled by the equation $$y = a \cosh \left( \frac { x } { a } \right) , \quad - k a \leq x \leq k a$$ where \(a\) and \(k\) are positive constants.
  1. Prove that the length of the rope is \(2 a \sinh k\). Given that the length of the rope is \(8 a\),
  2. find the coordinates of \(Q\), leaving your answer in terms of natural logarithms and surds, where appropriate.