Rate/Relations Calc I Area of Rectangle

  • Thread starter Thread starter QuarkCharmer
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Area Rectangle
QuarkCharmer
Messages
1,049
Reaction score
3

Homework Statement


Stewart Calculus 6E, 3.8 #4
4.) The length of a rectangle is increasing at a rate of 8cm/s and its width is increasing at a rate of 3cm/s. When the length is 20cm and the width is 10cm, how fast is the area of the rectangle increasing?

Homework Equations


A = LW

The Attempt at a Solution


I am not entirely sure how to set this problem up. I think I would start with A=LW, and then implicitly differentiate to:

A' = L'W + W'L

Then perhaps, plug in my values for the change in length and width as so:
A' = 8W + 3L

But that doesn't seem right?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I think that is correct.
 
So, in that equation the W and L non prime can be put, so that:
A' = 8(10)+3(20)

So the rate of the area when the sides are width:10 length 20 is 140cm^2/s ??
 
That should be correct or how I would do the question.
 
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...
Back
Top