A helicopter starting on the ground is rising directly
into the air at a rate of 25 ft/sec. You are running on the
ground starting directly under the helicopter at a rate of 10
ft/sec. What is the rate at which the distance between you and the helicopter is changing when the helicopter has risen to a height of 60 ft in the air, assuming that, initially, it was 30 ft above you?
I want to understand how any why this is solved. So images/diagrams, detailed step by step breakdowns solutions are VERY much appreciated. Thanks!

Respuesta :

Paounn

Answer:

Oook, quick setup: pick a cartesian plane, be [tex](0;y(t))[/tex]the position of the helicopter as time passes, and [tex](x(t);0)[/tex] your position as you start running. In my horrible sketch, the green line is the distance when you start running, the red line is the distance you need,  in general what you want is to move one end of the segment up, the other right, and stretch it.

That distance is easily found with the formula for the distance between two points in the plane, or [tex]d=\sqrt{(\Delta x)^2+(\Delta y)^2}= \sqrt{x^2(t)+y^2(t)}[/tex] (playing a bit with the squares). At this point we need to write down expressions for both [tex]x(t), y(t)[/tex] and find at what value of t we need to evaluate our distance.

For the sake of semplicity, let's start measuring times the moment you start running. Since speed is constant, both expressions will be of the form [tex]s=vt+s_0[/tex]

The equation for the runner becomes simply [tex]x(t)=10t[/tex], since you haven't moved until the heli is high enough.

The equation of the helicopter is [tex]y=25t+30[/tex] since the heli is 30ft above ground when you start running.

Finally, we need to know how many seconds have passed when the heli is at 60 ft above ground. that happens when [tex]60=25t+30 \rightarrow t=\frac{30}{25} = 1.20s[/tex]. in this time, you are at  [tex]x(1.2)=10(1.2)=12ft[/tex] from the origin.

Plugging it in the distance formula you get: [tex]\sqrt{12^2+60^2}= \sqrt{144+3600}=4\sqrt {234}\approx 61.2ft[/tex]

Ver imagen Paounn