The intensity of illumination at any point from a light source is proportional to the square of the reciprocal of the distance between the point and the light source. Two lights, one having an intensity eight times that of the other, are 6 m apart. How far from the stronger light is the total illumination least?
5. Graphical Applications of Derivatives
Applied Optimization
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- Textbook Question
The range R of a projectile fired from the origin over horizontal ground is the distance from the origin to the point of impact. If the projectile is fired with an initial velocity at an angle with the horizontal, then in Chapter 13 we find that R-v_0^2/g(sin 2α) where g is the downward acceleration due to gravity. Find the angle α for which the range R is the largest possible.
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41. Among all triangles in the first quadrant formed by the x-axis, the y-axis, and tangent lines to the graph of y=3x-x^2, what is the smallest possible area?
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51. Frictionless cart A small frictionless cart, attached to the wall by a spring, is pulled 10 cm from its rest position and released at time t = 0 to roll back and forth for 4 sec. Its position at time t is s = 10 cos πt.
a. What is the cart's maximum speed? When is the cart moving that fast? Where is it then? What is the magnitude of the acceleration then?
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52. Two masses hanging side by side from springs have positions s_1 = 2 sin t and s_2 = sin 2t,
respectively.
a. At what times in the interval 0 < t do the masses pass each other? (Hint: sin 2t = 2 sint cost.)
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53. Distance between two ships At noon, ship A was 12 nautical miles due north of ship B. Ship A was sailing south at 12 knots (nautical miles per hour; a nautical mile is 2000 yd) and continued to do so all day. Ship B was sailing east at 8 knots and continued to do so all day.
a. Start counting time with t=0 at noon and express the distance s between the ships as a function of t.
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Business and Economics
60. Production level Prove that the production level (if any) at which average cost is smallest is a level at which the average cost equals marginal cost.
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Theory and Examples
67. An inequality for positive integers Show that if a, b, c, and d are positive integers, then
[(a^2+1)(b^2+1)(c^2+1)(d^2+1)]/abcd ≥ 16
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56. Airplane landing path An airplane is flying at altitude H when it begins its descent to an airport runway that is at horizontal ground distance L from the airplane, as shown in the accompanying figure. Assume that the landing path of the airplane is the graph of a cubic polynomial function y = ax^3+bx^2+cx+d, where y(-L)= H and y(0)=0.
a. What is dy/dx at x = 0?
b. What is dy/dx at x = -L?
c. Use the values for dy/dx at x = 0 and x =- L together with y(0) = 0 and y(-L) = H to show that y(x)=H[2(x/L)^3+3(x/L)^2]
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54. Fermat’s principle in optics Light from a source A is reflected by a plane mirror to a receiver at point B, as shown in the accompanying figure. Show that for the light to obey Fermat’s principle, the angle of incidence must equal the angle of reflection, both measured from the line normal to the reflecting surface. (This result can also be derived without calculus. There is a purely geometric argument, which you may prefer.)