Recent content by turdferguson

I found out today that we were supposed to use Newtons Method with a scientific calculator

Type "help subplot". This tells you how to plot multiple graphs in the same figure for convenient pictures

Homework Statement Find the absolute extrema of f(x) = e^-x * ln(lnx) The Attempt at a Solution Ive successfully taken the first derivative and set it to zero. The problem is checking the sign of 1/(xlnx) - ln(lnx) No matter how I try to manipulate this, I can't seem to isolate x. Its...

Thats a good one (with nice geometer's sketchpad potential), but someone else is already doing it. So far, I've found this: Two poles, one 6 meters tall and one 15 meters tall, are 20 meters apart. A length of wire is attached to the top of each pole and it is also staked to the ground...

That is more of a related rates question. I could solve for the minimum/maximm speed of the shadow, but we've dealt with that basic setup already

For a calc project, I am supposed to solve an interesting calculus word problem dealing with maximum and minimum values. The catch is that I cannot use my own book. Can anyone suggest a challenging optimization problem? So far, we've covered the problem with a person who must find the least time...

conservation of momentum

Im in pretty much the same situation, and it seems like the answer is electrical engineering. There are opportunities to specialize in signal processing, for example, at the grad level

If its a perfect parabola, then what's the x coordinate of the maximum height?

Horizontal plane. For anyone interested, I looked up the solutions, and they were able to simplify it greatly with the small angle approximations sin(theta)=theta and cos(theta)=1 Then the torque is -kL2theta, the acceleration is k/[2m]. Then they solved it in one magic step to get...

Homework Statement A stick of length 2L and negligible mass has a point mass m affixed to each end. The stick is arranged so that it pivots in a horizontal plane about a frictionless vertical axis through its center. A spring of force constant k is connected to one of the masses. The system...

You can calculate the product of the masses with the given force and distance. Then because you know the sum, you have a system of 2 equations with 2 unknowns

Homework Statement A freight elevator weighing 3000 pounds is supported by a 12 foot long cable that weighs 14 pounds per linear foot. Approximate the work required to lift the elevator 9 feet by winding the cable onto a winchHomework Equations W = int(f)dyThe Attempt at a Solution The work...

The problem deals with conservation of energy. Etop=Ebottom. Without friction, PEtop=KEbottom, but that's not what you have here.

Potential energy only deals with vertical displacement. You need the length of the slide for the second part of the question