A man 6 feet tall walks at a rate of 5 feet per second away from a light that is

protisvitfc

protisvitfc

Answered question

2021-11-23

A man 6 feet tall walks at a rate of 5 feet per second away from a light that is 15 feet above the ground. (a) When he is 10 feet from the base of the light, at what rate is the tip of his shadow moving? (b) When he is 10 feet from the base of the light, at what rate is the length of his shadow changing?

Answer & Explanation

pseudoenergy34

pseudoenergy34

Beginner2021-11-24Added 22 answers

Look at the ilustration in the book.
The lamppost is 15 ft. tall, and the man is 6 ft. tall. We use a proportion to find the shadow. s is the length of the base of the lamppost to the shadow, x is the length of the base of the lamppost to the man, so the length of the shadow is s - x. The lamppost is 15 ft. tall, and the man is 6 ft. tall. We use a proportion to find the shadow. s is the length of the base of the lamppost to the shadow, x is the length of the base of the lamppost to the man, so the length of the shadow is s - x.
156=ssx
Cross multiply and distribute
15s15x=6s
Isolate the variable s, and simplify the fraction.
s=53x
Take the derivative according to time.
dsdt=5dx3dt
Given that dxdt is 5 ft/sec, multply. This answer for a.
dsdt=53×5=253 ft/sec
dsdt we found in part a, dxdt is given in the problem.
dsdt=253,dxdt=5
Subtract. This is the answer to part b.
2535=103 ft/sec
star233

star233

Skilled2023-05-09Added 403 answers

To solve the given problem, we can use similar triangles and apply the chain rule from calculus. Let's proceed with the solution:
(a) Let's assume that the length of the man's shadow is represented by s and the distance between the man and the light is represented by x. We need to find the rate at which the tip of his shadow is moving, which is the derivative dsdt.
By similar triangles, we can set up the following proportion:
{length of shadow}{height of man}={distance from light+{length of shadow}}{height of light}
Using the given values, we have:
s6=x+s15
Now, let's solve this equation for s:
15s=6(x+s)
15s=6x+6s
9s=6x
s=2x3
To find dsdt, we can take the derivative of s with respect to time t. Since x is changing with time, we need to use the chain rule:
dsdt=dsdx·dxdt
To find dsdx, we differentiate the equation s=2x3 with respect to x:
dsdx=23
Given that the man is moving away from the light at a rate of 5 feet per second (dxdt=5), we can substitute the values into the equation:
dsdt=23·5
dsdt=103
Therefore, when the man is 10 feet from the base of the light, the tip of his shadow is moving at a rate of 103 feet per second.
(b) To find the rate at which the length of his shadow is changing, we need to find ddt, where represents the length of the shadow.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can write:
2=s2+x2
Differentiating both sides with respect to time t, we have:
2·ddt=2s·dsdt+2x·dxdt
Substituting the known values, we get:
2·ddt=2s·dsdt+2x·dxdt
2·ddt=2(2x3)·103+2x·5
2·ddt=40x9+10x
2·ddt=40x9+10x
2·ddt=40x+90x9
2·ddt=130x9
Simplifying the equation, we have:
·ddt=130x18
Now, we know that when the man is 10 feet from the base of the light, the length of his shadow is given by =s2+x2. Substituting the values, we get:
=(2x3)2+x2
=4x29+x2
=13x29
=13x3
Now, let's substitute this expression for into the equation we obtained earlier:
(13x3)·ddt=130x18
Simplifying further, we have:
13x·ddt=130x18
Dividing both sides by x and simplifying:
13·ddt=13018
Finally, solving for ddt, we find:
ddt=1301813
Therefore, when the man is 10 feet from the base of the light, the length of his shadow is changing at a rate of 1301813 feet per second.
alenahelenash

alenahelenash

Expert2023-05-09Added 556 answers

Let's denote the height of the man as h, the distance from the man to the base of the light as x, the length of the shadow as s, and the rate at which the man is walking as dxdt.
(a) We want to find the rate at which the tip of the shadow is moving, which is dsdt.
From the similar triangles formed by the man, his shadow, and the light, we have the following relationship:
hs=h+15x
Differentiating both sides of the equation with respect to time t, we get:
dhdt·1shs2·dsdt=dhdt·1xh+15x2·dxdt
We are given that dhdt=0 (since the man's height doesn't change), dxdt=5 feet per second, h=6 feet, and x=10 feet.
Plugging in these values, we can solve for dsdt:
0·1s6s2·dsdt=0·1106+15102·5
Simplifying the equation:
6s2·dsdt=2120
Now, solving for dsdt:
dsdt=2120·s26
Plugging in s=10 (since the length of the shadow is 10 feet when the man is 10 feet away from the base of the light), we can find the rate at which the tip of his shadow is moving:
dsdt=2120·1026
Therefore, the tip of his shadow is moving at a rate of 352 feet per second.
(b) We want to find the rate at which the length of his shadow is changing, which is dsdt.
From the similar triangles formed by the man, his shadow, and the light, we have the following relationship:
h+15s=hx
Differentiating both sides of the equation with respect to time t, we get:
dhdt·1sh+15s2·dsdt=dhdt·1xhx2·dxdt
Plugging in the known values, we get:
dsdt=hx·dhdth+15s·dsdt
Substituting the given values dhdt=0, dxdt=5 ft/s, h=6 ft, x=10 ft, we can solve for dsdt:
0·1s6+15s2·dsdt=0·110610·5
Simplifying the equation:
21s2·dsdt=3
Solving for dsdt:
dsdt=37·s21
Plugging in s=10, we can find the rate at which the length of his shadow is changing:
dsdt=37·102
Therefore, the length of his shadow is changing at a rate of 3007 ft/s.
xleb123

xleb123

Skilled2023-05-09Added 181 answers

Result:
(a)13
(b)415
Solution:
(a) Let x be the distance from the man to the base of the light, and let h be the length of the man's shadow. The height of the man's shadow is 15 feet, and the height of the man is 6 feet.
Using similar triangles, we have xh=615.
Differentiating both sides with respect to time t, we get dxdt·1h=615·dhdt.
Since the man is walking away from the light source, dxdt=5 feet per second.
We are interested in finding dhdt when x=10 feet.
Substituting the given values, we have 5·1h=615·dhdt.
Simplifying, we get dhdt=5h·615.
At x=10 feet, we can find h using the proportion: 10h=615.
Solving for h, we have h=756 feet.
Substituting h into the expression for dhdt, we get dhdt=5756·615.
Simplifying further, we find dhdt=13 feet per second.
Therefore, the tip of the man's shadow is moving at a rate of 13 feet per second.
(b) To find the rate at which the length of the man's shadow is changing, we differentiate the equation xh=615 with respect to time t.
ddt(xh)=ddt(615).
Using the quotient rule, we have 1h·dxdtxh2·dhdt=0.
Since dxdt=5 feet per second, we can substitute the known values and solve for dhdt.
1756·510(756)2·dhdt=0.
Simplifying, we find dhdt=5756·6(756)2.
Further simplification yields dhdt=415 feet per second.
Therefore, the length of the man's shadow is changing at a rate of 415 feet per second when he is 10 feet from the base of the light.

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