- #1
bjgawp
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Here's a problem that I just found in my book and to my dismay, I couldn't figure out how differentiation can be used to solve a particular problem (seeing how we've just finished this unit at school). So here's the problem:
Felicity and Jane start alking at the same time towards an intersection of two roads that meet at right angles.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/66/untitledfh4.png
Felicity starts at 9km from the intersection while Jane starts at 13km from the intersection. Their speeds are 4 km/h and 3 km/h respectively. What is the closest that Felicity and Jane will get?
I cannot figure out how to relate the two into one equation. Obviously, we need an equation for the distance between them and find the minimum for it (i.e. f'(x) = 0). Anyway, I thought I got differentiation down pat but ... guess not
Felicity and Jane start alking at the same time towards an intersection of two roads that meet at right angles.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/66/untitledfh4.png
Felicity starts at 9km from the intersection while Jane starts at 13km from the intersection. Their speeds are 4 km/h and 3 km/h respectively. What is the closest that Felicity and Jane will get?
I cannot figure out how to relate the two into one equation. Obviously, we need an equation for the distance between them and find the minimum for it (i.e. f'(x) = 0). Anyway, I thought I got differentiation down pat but ... guess not
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