Related Rates Writeup

Leandro Asunan
November 4, 2024

1. A circular oil spill in the Laguna Lake spreads in such a way that its radius is increasing at the
rate of 20 ft/hr. How fast is the area of the oil spill changing when the diameter is 400 feet?

Sol’n. It is given that the radius is increasing at the rate of 20 ft/hr, or mathematically,

dr
= 20 ft/hr.
dt
When we are asked on “how fast,” we are asked about speed. Speed is a change in position with
respect to time, or mathematically, speed is a derivative of position with respect to time. Thus, when
we are asked to find how fast the area changes, we are asked to find its derivative with respect to time,
or dA
dt , which we know by chain rule can be expressed as

dA dA dr
= ·
dt dr dt
.
The area of a circle (the shape of the oil spill) can be expressed as a function of the radius as

A = πr2 ,

so we get
dA
= 2πr.
dr
Thus, to find dA
dt when the diameter is 400 feet, we need to plug in the value for the radius at that point
in time, which we find to be
d = 2r = 400 ft ⇒ r = 200 ft,
and we get

dA dA dr
= ·
dt dr dt
= 2π(200 ft) · 20 ft/hr
= 8000π ft2 /hr

2. The supply manager of Mcbee, a prestigious restaurant chain, is willing to supply s hundred pieces
of chicken, given by the equation
5p2 − 2s2 = 3000,
where each piece is worth p pesos. How fast is the supply changing when the price is 40 pesos per
unit and is increasing at the rate of 50 cents per month?

Sol’n. It is given that

dp
p = 40 pesos/unit, = 0.50 pesos/month, and 5p2 − 2s2 = 3000
dt
ds
and we are asked for dt .

1
 r
2 2 ds d 5 2 ds 200 · 0.5
5p − 2s = 3000 = p − 1500 = q
dp dp 2 dt 2 52 (1600) − 1500
5p 100
5p2 − 3000 = 2s2 = q = √
5 2
2 2 p − 1500 2 4000 − 1500

5 2 ds ds dp 100
p − 1500 = s2 = · , where p = 40 = √
2 dt dp dt 2 2500
r
5 2 5(40) 100
p − 1500 = s = q · 0.50 = = 1
2 5
2 2 (40)2 − 1500 2(50)

We can see that the supply changes by a rate of 100 pieces of chicken per month.

3. To improve the blood flow to the heart of a patient, a balloon is used to open a blockage in a heart
artery. If a tiny spherical balloon is inserted into his clogged artery ad is inflated at the rate of
0.006π mm3 /min, how fast is the radius of the balloon changing when the radius is 0.1 mm?

Sol’n. We are given that the solid is a sphere,

dV
= 0.006π mm3 /min, and r = 0.1 mm,
dt
dr
and asked for dt .

dV dV dr dr 0.006π mm3 /min

= · =
dt dr dt dt 4π(0.1 mm)2
dV
dr dt 0.006π mm3 /min
= dV
, where r = 0.1 mm =
dt dr
4π(0.01 mm2 )
4 3 0.006π mm3 /min
V = πr =
mm2

3   0.04
π

dV d 4 3 0.006
= πr = 4πr2 = mm/min = 0.15 mm/min
dr dr 3 0.04

4. A cylindrical water tank has inner radius of 3 meters and height of 4 meters. Water drips from the
tank at an unknown rate but it has been observed that the height of the water inside decreases at
a rate of 0.1 m/minute. At what rate is water leaking from the tank?

Sol’n. We know that the solid is a cylinder with dimensions r = 3 m and h = 4 m and that
dh
= 0.1 m/min,
dt
and are tasked to find dV
dt .
First, let us imagine the water tank. As it loses water, the height of the water inside obviously
changes, but the radius stays the same. Thus, we are only interested with its height and we can plug
r = 3 m directly into the formula for the volume of a cylinder, since we know that the radius is constant.

dV dV dh
V = π(3 m)2 h = ·
dt dh dt
= h · 9π m2 = 9π m2 · 0.1 m/min
dV
= 9π m2 = 0.9π m3 /min
dh

2
 5. Camille is flying a kite and plays out a string at 2 cm per second. The kite moves horizontally at
an altitude of 5 m. If there is no sag in the string, at what rate is the kite moving when 13 m of
string has been played out?

Sol’n. To visualize the problem, see the rudimentary figure below.

We can see a right triangle, with ℓ as the length of the played out string and are asked for dDdt : the
rate of the kite’s movement, which measured as its displacement (measured strictly horizontally as it
maintains an altitude of 5 m) with respect to time. This can be observed but is also given in the problem
statement.
It is given that the string doesn’t sag, and would hence appear as a straight line. We can then use
the Pythagorean theorem to express the displacement of the kite as
p
D = ℓ2 − 25 m2 .

Taking its derivative with respect to ℓ, we get

dD dp 2 ℓ
= ℓ − 25 m2 = √ .
dℓ dℓ ℓ − 25 m2
2

dD
To find dt , we have to use the chain rule.

dD dD dℓ
= · , where ℓ = 13 m
dt dℓ dt
ℓ
=√ · 0.02 m/s
ℓ − 25 m2
2

0.02(13 m)
=p m/s
(13 m)2 − 25 m2
0.26 m
=√ m/s
169 m2 − 25 m2
0.26 m
=√ m/s
144 m2
0.26 m
 13 13
= m/s = m/s = cm/s
12 m
 600 6