Implicit Function: Box Dimensions & Rates of Change

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Homework Statement


The length ℓ, width w, and height h of a box change with time. At a certain instant the dimensions are ℓ = 4 m and
w = h = 9 m, and ℓ and w are increasing at a rate of 1 m/s while his decreasing at a rate of 6 m/s. At that instant find the rates at which the following quantities are changing.

(A) The Volume
(B) The Surface Area
(C) the length of a diagonal (round two decimals places)

Homework Equations


The Chain rule, Partial Derivative

The Attempt at a Solution


I already found A (ans: -99 m^3/s) and B (ans: -94 m^2/s)
for C:
1. i differentiated the formula L^2= ℓ^2+w^2+h^2 to 2L(dL/dt) = 2ℓ(dℓ/dt) + 2w(dw/dt) + 2h (dh/dt)
2. let dℓ/dt = dw/dt = 1 m/s and dh/dt = -6 m/s
3. my answer came as 2L(dL/dt) = 82 but I'm completely lost after this part
 
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Physicsnoob90 said:

Homework Statement


The length ℓ, width w, and height h of a box change with time. At a certain instant the dimensions are ℓ = 4 m and
w = h = 9 m, and ℓ and w are increasing at a rate of 1 m/s while his decreasing at a rate of 6 m/s. At that instant find the rates at which the following quantities are changing.

(A) The Volume
(B) The Surface Area
(C) the length of a diagonal (round two decimals places)

Homework Equations


The Chain rule, Partial Derivative

The Attempt at a Solution


I already found A (ans: -99 m^3/s) and B (ans: -94 m^2/s)
for C:
1. i differentiated the formula L^2= ℓ^2+w^2+h^2 to 2L(dL/dt) = 2ℓ(dℓ/dt) + 2w(dw/dt) + 2h (dh/dt)
2. let dℓ/dt = dw/dt = 1 m/s and dh/dt = -6 m/s
3. my answer came as 2L(dL/dt) = 82 but I'm completely lost after this part
At time t, you know what the values of w, h, and l are. You want to solve 2L (dL/dt) = 82 for dL/dt.
 
SteamKing said:
At time t, you know what the values of w, h, and l are. You want to solve 2L (dL/dt) = 82 for dL/dt.
would i be able to find L by square rooting (w,h,ℓ) and then multiplying it with the 2?

update: i manage to figure out the equation by doing just that. Thanks for your help!
 
Last edited:
You could but if you implicit differentiation you shouldn't! The length of the diagonal is given by L= (ℓ^2+ w^2+ h^2)^{1/2}.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...

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