Related Rates Problem Set

(Revised March 8, 2011)

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 ship is 40 miles west of a lighthouse. The ship is heading
north at a rate such that the angle ), shown in the diagram below,
is changing at a constant rate of !Þ( radians per hour. At what
rate is the distance B between the ship and the lighthouse
changing when ) œ !Þ% radians?

ship

40 miles lighthouse

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 We want when œ !Þ( radians/hr Þ
.> .>

ship

40 miles lighthouse

Look at the drawing and find an equation involving B and ).

 %!
One equation is -9= ) œ Ê B-9= ) œ %! Ê
B
%!
Bœ Ê B œ %!=/- ) Þ
-9= )

Now differentiate both sides wrt >Þ

. .
B œ Ð%! =/- )Ñ Ê Bw œ %! =/- ) >+8 ) † )w Ê
.> .>

œ %! =/- a!Þ%b>+8a!Þ%b † a!Þ(b œ "#Þ)& mph Þ

.B
.>

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# € "!!#
w w w CCw
#== œ #CC Ê = 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 .
" "
# #