Rates of change: inflated hot-air balloon

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a hot air balloon modeled as a sphere with a specified diameter, focusing on the rates of change of its volume and diameter as air escapes. Participants are tasked with determining the rate at which the diameter decreases after a set time and the total time for the balloon to collapse.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply the chain rule to relate the rate of volume change to the rate of diameter change, questioning whether to use diameter or radius in their calculations. Other participants inquire about the formulas for the volume of a sphere in terms of both radius and diameter.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring the relationships between volume, radius, and diameter. Some guidance has been provided regarding the volume formula, but no consensus has been reached on the best approach to relate the rates of change.

Contextual Notes

The problem is constrained by the assumption that the balloon maintains a spherical shape for a limited time before collapsing, and participants are considering how this affects their calculations.

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Homework Statement


An inflated hot air balloon can be considered as a perfect sphere woth diameter of 30m. When the hatch is opened, the hot air is lost at a rate of 118m^3/s. For the first 5 seconds, the balloon maintains its spherical shape, but then it begins to collapse. At what rate is the diameter decreasing after 3 seconds? How long does the balloon take to completely collapse?

I know this is a chain rule question where dV/dt=118m^3/s and I'm not sure how to relate that to the diameter? I know that, because dV/dt is part of the equation the equation is either dV/dt=dV/dD*dD/dt where D is the diameter or the equation dD/dt=dD/dV*dV/dt or am I going about this the completely wrong way and have to get everything in terms of the radius?
 
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do you know the formula for the volume of a sphere in terms of the radius?
 
4/3∏r^3
 
Then, what is the volume of a sphere in terms of its diameter?
 

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