View Full Version : Related rates
Goldenboko
01-13-2010, 10:51 PM
Mid-term coming up, and I seem to be really rusty on my conic related rates.
Found a good example online, "A conical water tank with vertex down has a radius of 8 feet at the top and is 16 feet high. If water flows into the tank at a rate of 12ft^3 per minute, how fast is the depth of the water increasing when the water is 10 feet deep."
I'm sure I can remember how to do this, but seeing one out would help for my midterm as I won't be getting help from my teacher.
Endless
01-14-2010, 10:32 AM
Ooo, I'm a bit rusty at that, so let's see.
Volume of a cone: 1/3 pi*r^2*h
Your cone fills up at a speed of 12ft^3/min, so in one minute, the height goes from h to H as follows:
1/3*pi*R^2*H-1/3*pi*r^2*h = 12
We know that at max height, r_max = 8 and h_max = 16, and since the radius is proportional to the height (it's a cone), we have r = h/2
Therefore 1/3*pi*(H/2)^2*H-1/3*pi*(h/2)^2*h = 12
H^3 = (12*3*4/pi)+h^3
H = (144/pi + h^3)^(1/3)
With h=10, your new height after one minute is H ~ 10.150512 ft, so the speed in ft/min is the difference in height:
S = H-h ~ 0.150512ft/min
If you want to generalize for any given height h, what is the speed in ft/min:
S = H-h = (144/pi + h^3)^(1/3)-h
Generalized more for any cone of radius alpha*h:
S = {[(36/pi)+((alpha)^2*(h^3))]/(alpha^2)}^(1/3) - h
And furthermore, with a speed v in ft^3/min:
S = {[(3*v/pi)+((alpha)^2*(h^3))]/(alpha^2)}^(1/3) - h
Goldenboko
01-14-2010, 03:44 PM
Thanks! It was putting this part
We know that at max height, r_max = 8 and h_max = 16, and since the radius is proportional to the height (it's a cone), we have r = h/2
Together that impeded me from finishing the problem. Took the Exam 2 hours after reading, sadly after all that, there was no conic question!
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