Related Rates

Formulas You May Need To Know

V a3 V lwh
V r h2

4 r 3
r h
2
V
bh
V V 3
3 3
Related rate problems are differentiated with
respect to time. So, every variable, except t is
differentiated implicitly.

Ex. Two rates that are related.

Given y = x2 + 3, find dy/dt when x = 1, given

that dx/dt = 2.

y = x2 + 3
dy dx Now, when x = 1 and dx/dt = 2, we
= 2x have
dt dt
dy
= 2(1)(2) = 4
dt
 Procedure For Solving
Related Rate Problems

1. Assign symbols to all given quantities and

quantities to be determined. Make a sketch
and label the quantities if feasible.
2. Write an equation involving the variables
whose rates of change either are given or are
to be determined.
3. Using the Chain Rule, implicitly differentiate
both sides of the equation with respect to t.
4. Substitute into the resulting equation all known
values for the variables and their rates of change.
Solve for the required rate of change.
First, a review problem:

Consider a sphere of radius 10cm.

If the radius changes 0.1cm (a very small amount) how
much does the volume change?

4
V r3
3

dV 4 r 2 dr

dV 4 10cm 0.1cm
2

dV 40 cm3

The volume would change by approximately 40 cm3 .

 Now, suppose that the radius is changing at an
instantaneous rate of 0.1 cm/sec.
(Possible if the sphere is a soap bubble or a balloon.)
4
V r3
3
dV dr
4 r 2
dt dt
dV 2 cm
4 10cm 0.1
dt sec
dV cm 3
40
dt sec
The sphere is growing at a rate of 40 cm3 / sec .
Note: This is an exact answer, not an approximation like
we got with the differential problems.

 Water is draining from a cylindrical
tank at 3 liters/second. How fast is
the surface dropping?
3
dV L cm
3 3000
dt sec sec
dh (We need a formula to
Find
dt relate V and h. )
V r 2h
dV 2 dh
r (r is a constant.)
dt dt
cm3
3000
cm3 2 dh dh sec
3000 r
sec dt dt r2

 Steps for Related Rates Problems:

1. Draw a picture (sketch).

2. Write down known information.

3. Write down what you are looking for.

4. Write an equation to relate the variables.

5. Differentiate both sides with respect to t.

6. Evaluate.

 Truck Problem:
Truck A travels east at 40 mi/hr.
Truck B travels north at 30 mi/hr.
How fast is the distance between the
trucks changing 6 minutes later? B

r t d y 3
z 5
1 1
40 4 30 3
10 10 A
3 4 z
2 2 2
x4
9 16 z 2

25 z 2

5 z

 Truck Problem:
Truck A travels east at 40 mi/hr.
Truck B travels north at 30 mi/hr.
How fast is the distance between the
trucks changing 6 minutes later? B

r t x d y z
2 2 2
y 3
z 5
1
dx dy 1 dz
2 x 10 42 y 30 10
40 2z 3 dy
30
dt dt dt dt A
3 4 z
2 2 2
dz x 4 dx 40
4 40 3 230 5 dt
9 16 z dt
2 dz
250 z 5
25 50
miles
dt dz
5 z 50 hour
dt
Ex. A pebble is dropped into a calm pond, causing
ripples in the form of concentric circles. The radius
r of the outer ripple is increasing at a constant rate
of 1 foot per second. When this radius is 4 ft., what
rate is the total area A of the disturbed water
increasing.

Givens: dr dA
= 1 when r = 4 =?
dt dt
Given equation: A = pr 2

Differentiate: dA dr dA
= 2pr = 2p (1)(4)
dt dt dt
= 8p
An inflating balloon
Air is being pumped into a spherical balloon at the
rate of 4.5 in3 per second. Find the rate of change
of the radius when the radius is 2 inches.

Given: dV dr
= 4.5in / sec
3
r = 2 in. Find : =?
dt dt
4 3
Equation: V = pr
3
Diff. dV 2 dr
dr
& Solve: = 4pr 4.5 = 4p 2 2

dt dt dt
dr
.09in /sec =
dt
 The velocity of an airplane tracked by radar
An airplane is flying at an elevation of 6 miles on a flight
path that will take it directly over a radar tracking station.
Let s represent the distance (in miles)between the radar
station and the plane. If s is decreasing at a rate of 400
miles per hour when s is 10 miles, what is the velocity of
the plane.

s
6

x
 ds
Given: = -400 s = 10
dt
Find: dx
=?
dt
Equation:
x2 + 62 = s2
Solve:
To find dx/dt, we
dx ds
2 x = 2s must first find x
dt dt when s = 10

x = s 2 - 36 = 100 - 36 = 8
dx
2(8) = 2(10 )(- 400 ) dx
dt = -500mph
Day 1
dt
A fish is reeled in at a rate of 1 foot per second
from a bridge 15 ft. above the water. At what
rate is the angle between the line and the water
changing when there is 25 ft. of line out?

x
15 ft.

q
 dx
Given: = -1 x = 25 ft. h = 15 ft.
dt
Find: dq
=?
dt
Equation:
15
sin q = sin q = 15 x -1

x
Solve:

dq - 2 dx dq - 15
(cosq ) = -15 x = (- 1)
dt dt dt 2 20
25
25
dq - 15 dx
= 2
dt x cos q dt dq 3
= rad / sec
dt 100
Ex. A pebble is dropped into a calm pond, causing
ripples in the form of concentric circles. The radius
r of the outer ripple in increasing at a constant rate
of 1 foot per second. When this radius is 4 ft., what
rate is the total area A of the disturbed water
increasing.

An inflating balloon
Air is being pumped into a spherical balloon at the
rate of 4.5 in3 per minute. Find the rate of change
of the radius when the radius is 2 inches.
 Example
dx
x y 25
2 2
4
Given dt
dy
Find dt when x = 3

Note: we must differentiate implicitly

with respect to t
dx dy
2x 2 y 0
dt dt 18
 Example
Now substitute in the things we know
dx
4
dt x=3

Find other values we need dx dy

when x = 3, 2x 2 y 0
32 + y2 = 25 and dt dt
y=4
19
 Example

dx dy
2x 2 y 0
dt dt
Result dy
244 24 0
dt
dy 32
4
dt 8
20
Guidelines for Related-Rate Problems
1. Identify given quantities, quantities to be
determined
Make a sketch, label quantities
2. Write equation involving variables
3. Using Chain Rule, implicitly differentiate
both sides of equation with respect to t
4. After step 3, substitute known values, solve
for required rate of change
21
 R1

Electricity
R2
The combined electrical 1 1 1
resistance R of R1 and R2
connected in parallel is R R1 R2
given by
R1 and R2 are increasing at rates of 1
and 1.5 ohms per second respectively.
At what rate is R changing when R1 =
50 and R2 = 75?
22
 Draining Water Tank
Radius = 20, Height = 40

1 2
Volume r h
3

dV
The flow rate = 80 gallons/min 80
dt
dr
What is the rate of change of ??
the radius when the height = 12? dt
23
 Draining Water Tank
At this point in time 1 2
Volume r 12
the height is fixed 3

Differentiate implicitlydV 1
dr
with respect to t, 2 r 12
dt 3 dt
Substitute in known
values
Solve for dr/dt
24
 Example #1
A ladder 10 feet long is resting against a wall. If
the bottom of the ladder is sliding away from the
wall at a rate of 1 foot per second, how fast is the
top of the ladder moving down when the bottom
of the ladder is 8 feet from the wall?
First, draw the picture:
 We have dx/dt is one foot per second. We
want to find dy/dt.
X and y are related by the Pythagorean
Thereom
Differentiate both sides of this equation
with respect to t to get

When x = 8 ft, we have

Therefore

The top of the ladder is sliding down

(because of the negative sign in the result)
at a rate of 4/3 feet per second.
 Example #2
A man 6 ft tall walks with a speed of 8 ft per
second away from a street light atop an 8 foot
pole. How fast is the tip of his shadow moving
along the ground when he is 100 feet from the
light pole.

6 ft 18
ft

z-x x
z
 Let x be the mans distance from the pole and z be
the distance of the tip of his shadow from the base
of the pole.
Even though x and z are functions of t, we do not
attempt to obtain implicit formulas for either.
We are given that dx/dt = 8 (ft/sec), and we want
to find dz/dt when x = 100 (ft).
We equate ratios of corresponding sides of the two
similar triangles and find that z/18 = (z-x)/6
Thus 2z = 3x
 Implicit differentiation now gives 2 dz/dt = 3
dx/dt

We substitute dx/dt = 8 and find that

(dz/dt = 3/2) * (dx/dt = 3/2) * (8) = 12

So the tip of the mans shadow is moving at 12 ft

per second.
 Try Me!
A ladder 25 ft long is leaning against a vertical
wall. If the bottom of the ladder is pulled
horizontally away from the wall at 3 ft/sec,
how fast is the top of the ladder sliding down
the wall, when the bottom is 15 ft from the
wall?
 Solution
t = the number of seconds in time that has
elapsed since the ladder started to slide
down the wall.
y = the number of feet in distance from the
ground to the top of the ladder at t seconds.
x = the number of feet in the distance from
the bottom of the ladder to the wall at t
seconds.
 Because the bottom of the ladder is pulled
horizontally away from the wall at 3 ft/sec,
dx/dt = 3. We wish to find dy/dt when x = 15.
From the Pythagorean Thereom, we have y^2
= 625 x^2
Because x and y are functions of t, we
differentiate both sides of equation one with
respect to t and obtain 2y dy/dt = -2x dx/dt
giving us dy/dt = -x/y dx/dt
 When x = 15, it follows from equation one that
y = 20.
Because dx/dt = 3, we get from equation two:
dy/dt = (-15/20) * 3 = -9/4
Therefore, the top of the ladder is sliding down
the wall at the rate of 2 ft/sec when the
bottom is 15 ft from the wall.
The significance of the minus sign is that y is
decreasing as t is increasing.