Related Rates Problem Set
(Revised Oct. 20, 2010)
1. If D # œ B# € C# ß .BÎ.> œ #ß and .CÎ.> œ $, find .DÎ.> when
B œ & and C œ "#Þ Assume that D !Þ
A particle moves along the curve C œ È" € B $ Þ As it reaches
the point a#ß $bß the y-coordinate is increasing at a rate of
#Þ
4 cm/sec. How fast is the x-coordinate of the point changing
at this instant?
.T
3. Suppose T Z œ 5 where 5 is a constant and œ # when T œ %
.t
.Z
and Z œ &Þ Find Þ
.>
4. Two cars start moving from the same point. One travels south at
60 m/hr and the other travels west at 25 m/hr. At what rate is
the distance between the cars increasing two hours later?
5. A plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1 mile and a speed
of 500 mph passes over a radar station. Find the rate at which
the distance from the plane to the station is increasing when it
is 2 miles away from the station.
6. A conical water tower has a height of 12 ft and a radius of 3 ft.
Water is pumped into the tank at a rate of 4 ft$ /min. How fast is
the water level rising when the water level is 6 ft?
See the diagram.
3 ft
12 ft
7. A light in a lighthouse 1 km offshore from a straight shoreline is
rotating at 2 revolutions per minute Ð. )Î.> œ # </@Î738Ñ. See
the drawing below. How fast is the beam moving along the
shoreline when it passes the point 1/2 km from the point opposite
the lighthouse?
Rotating Light
ht
l ig
of 1 km
am
Be
Shoreline
x
8. At noon, ship A is 100 km west of ship B. Ship A is sailing south
at 35 km/hr and ship B is sailing north at 25 km/hr. How fast is
the distance between the ships changing at 4:00 P.M.?
9. An 20 ft long ladder is leaning against a wall. The bottom of the
ladder is sliding away from the wall at a rate of 2.5 ft/sec.
See the diagram.
20 ft
y
x
a) How fast is the top of the ladder sliding down the wall when
B œ "# ft. Note that this rate is |.CÎ.>l Þ
b) How fast is the angle ) changing when B œ 12 ft?
c) How fast is the area of the triangle changing when B œ 12 ft?
Solutions
1. If D # œ B# € C# then
.D .B .C
#D œ #B € #C Ê
a&ba#b € a"#ba$b
.> .> .>
È&# € "##
B.BÎ.> € C.CÎ.> %'
Dw œ œ œ Þ
D "$
If C œ È" € B$ then
.C .C .B
2. œ † Ê
.> .B .>
œ ˆ" € B$ ‰ ˆ$B# ‰
.C " •"Î# .B
Ê
.> # .>
ˆ $ † ## ‰
" .B
#a" € #$ b"Î#
%œ Ê
.>
"# .B .B
%œ Ê œ # cm/sec .
' .> .>
.T Z .5
3. If T Z œ 5 then œ Ê
.> .>
œ ! Ê #a &b € %
.T .Z .Z
Z €T œ! Ê
.> .> .>
.Z "! &
œ • œ • Þ
.> % #
4. Look at the situation > hrs later, where > is an arbitrary time.
The 1st car has moved south (say a distance y) and the 2nd car
has moved west (say a distance x). We have the triangle below.
x
y
s
B# € C# œ =# o differentiate both sides with respect to >
w w w BBw € CCw
w
#BB € #CC œ #== Ê = œ
=
where Bw œ #& and Cw œ '! and =w is the unknown in the
and = œ È&!# € "#!# œ "$! m. Therefore
problem. Note that 2 hours later, B œ 50 mß C œ 120 m,
a&!ba#&b € a"#!ba'!b
=w œ œ '& m/hr.
"$!
5.
500 mph
s
1 mile
BBw a&!!bŠÈ% • "‹
# # # w w w
= œB €" Ê #== œ #BB Ê = œ œ
#&!È$ œ %$$ mph.
= #
6. Let h be the height of the water lever and let r be the
radius of the cone of water.
3 ft
3
12 ft
12
r
h
"# 2 2
Because of similar triangles, œ Ê 2 œ %< Ê < œ
$ < %
Z œ 1<# 2 œ 1Œ • 2 œ
#
" " 2 1 $
2
$ $ % %)
.Z .Z .2 " .2 .2 '% '%
1a'b#
œ † œ 12# œ% Ê œ œ œ
.> .2 .> "' .> .> 12#
'% "'
œ ft/min .
$'1 *1
.B "
7Þ Let B be the length shown below. We want when B œ Þ
.> #
Rotating Light
ht
lig
of
1 km
am
Be
Shoreline
x
.) # revolutions #a#1 <+.3+8=b %1 radians
We know œ œ œ .
.> min min min
B
From the drawing we see that >+8 ) œ œ B, or
"
better B œ >+8 )Þ Differentiate with respect to time.
.B .)
œ =/- # ) œ =/- # ) † %1 Þ
.> .>
€ " œ 2# Ê 2 œ Ê Þ
" &
% %
1/2 &Î%
œ &Î%
=/-# )œ
"
.B &
œ † %1 œ &1 œ "&.(" km/min .
.> %
8.
Start t hours later 4 hrs later
25 km/h 100 km 100 km
A B B
100 km
y 240 km
35 km/h s
A
=# œ C# € "!!#
CCw
#==w œ #CCw Ê =w œ Þ
=
4 hrs later C œ %a#&b € %a$&b œ "!! € "%! œ #%! 57
a#%!ba'!b
Cw œ #& € $& œ '! 57Î2<
È#%!# € "!!#
=w œ œ &&Þ$)& 57Î2<
9.
Triangle at arbitrary time Triangle when x= 12
20 20
y y
x 12 ft
a) B# € C# œ %!! Ê #BBw € #CCw œ ! Ê
• BBw
Cw œ Þ
When B œ "#, C# € "%% œ %!! Ê C œ È%!! • "%% œ "' Þ
C
• a"#ba#Þ&b
Cw œ œ • "Þ)(& ft/sec
"'
Therefore the top of the ladder is sliding down at a speed of
1.875 ft/sec.
b)
20
y
12 ft
C .C .)
=38 ) œ Ê C œ #! =38 ) Ê œ #! -9= )
#! .> .>
.) Cw • "Þ)(&
#!a"#Î#!b
Ê œ œ œ • !."&' radians/sec
.> #! -9= )
" .E " .B " .C
c) Eœ BC Ê œ C€ B œ
# .> # .> # .>
a#Þ&ba"'b € a"#ba • "Þ)(&b œ )Þ(& ft# /sec .
" "
# #