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Service Tower Problem - Solutions: Adapted From Module 2: Worksheet 6 in Precalculus: Pathways To Calculus

- The document describes a problem determining if a house will have good cell phone reception from a nearby cell phone tower. - It provides a diagram showing the locations of the house, cell phone tower, and neighboring streets. The document defines the quantities needed to calculate the distance from the house to the tower and develops a formula using variables to represent the distance in general cases. - A second problem applies the distance formula to determine the value of x for a point that lies on the boundary of the cell tower's service range. The formula is then altered to represent the distance of any house from the tower.

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893 views5 pages

Service Tower Problem - Solutions: Adapted From Module 2: Worksheet 6 in Precalculus: Pathways To Calculus

- The document describes a problem determining if a house will have good cell phone reception from a nearby cell phone tower. - It provides a diagram showing the locations of the house, cell phone tower, and neighboring streets. The document defines the quantities needed to calculate the distance from the house to the tower and develops a formula using variables to represent the distance in general cases. - A second problem applies the distance formula to determine the value of x for a point that lies on the boundary of the cell tower's service range. The formula is then altered to represent the distance of any house from the tower.

Uploaded by

api-287216602
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Name:__________________________

Date:______________________

Service Tower Problem - Solutions


Adapted from Module 2: Worksheet 6 in Precalculus: Pathways to Calculus
1. You are considering buying a house that is located at the intersection
of D street and 23rd Avenue. Your cell phone provider is building a cell
phone tower at the intersection of B street and 20th Avenue. Each
street is located one mile apart. If you are farther that 3.5 miles away
from the cell phone tower, you will not have good reception.
a. What quantities do you need to find to determine if you will have
good reception at the house? Illustrate these quantities on the
figure below.
Solution 1

Solution 2

Quantities
needed:
Solution 1:
Distance
from
house to
tower
- Distance
from house to
B street
- Distance
from tower to
23rd street
OR
Solution 2:
-

Distance from house to tower


- Distance of house to 20th avenue
- Distance of cell phone tower to D street

b. Use the figure above to measure the quantities that are needed
to determine the distance of the cell tower from the house to
decide if the house will have good cell coverage. Label these
quantities on the illustration above.
The blue segments in both solutions are 3 miles.
The green segments in both solutions are 2 miles.

Name:__________________________
Date:______________________
In order to find the distance from the house to the cell phone tower I will use
the Pythagorean theorem.
2
2
2
( ) +( ) = ( )
d

( 2 )2+ ( 3 )2=
13= ( ) 2
= 13 3.61 miles>3.5 miles
Thus, the house is out of range of the cell phone tower so you will not get
good phone coverage.
c. Define two variables (that represent the values of two quantities)
that can be used to determine the distance of any house from
the tower.
Solution 1:
Variable a will represent the distance from the house to 20th avenue. Variable
b will represent the distance from the house to B Street. This is a general
case that will allow the house to be at any position. You will always measure
the distance from those two streets because they are where the tower is
located.
Solution 2 (more general solution):
Variable a will represent the distance from the house to the horizontal street
that the tower is located on. Variable b will represent the distance from the
house to the vertical street that the tower is located on.
d. Use the variables defined in (c) above to determine a formula for
finding the distance of any house from the tower.
distance

2
a2 +b 2=( house tower )
OR
a +b =distance house tower
2

e. If a house is located at (x 1 , y 1) and a cell tower is located at


( x 2 , y 2) modify the formula in part (d) above to determine the
distance d of the house from the cell tower. Explain how you
would calculate the variables indicated in part d.
In order to calculate a, you would have to subtract the y values of the point
where the cell phone tower is and the house is.
a= y 2 y 1

Name:__________________________
Date:______________________
In order to calculate b, you would subtract the x values from the point where
the cell phone tower is and the house is.
b=x2 x1
Thus, to rewrite the formula from part d, (where d is the distance from the
house to the tower):
2
2
( y 2 y 1 ) + ( x 2x 1 ) =d

Name:__________________________
Date:______________________
2. Consider a cell phone tower whose location is represented by the point
(-2, 4) on the coordinate plane and whose radius of cell coverage is 3
miles. What does the circle represent in the figure below? What does it
mean for a point that is within the circle? What about if the point is out
side of the circle?

The circle represents the


cellphone service range
provided by the tower at the
point (-2, 4). Any house that is
on the circle or lies anywhere
within the circle will receive
cellphone service from the
tower.

a. A point (x, 2), southeast of the tower is on the service boundary


of this cell tower. What is the value of x?
Using the equation derived in question 1e, I can plug in what I know. Since
the service provided by the tower is 3 miles, then we know d=3.
( x 2 , y 2 )=(2, 4)
( x 1 , y 1 )=(x ,2)

( 42 ) +(2x ) =3
2

4+ (2x )(2x )=3

4+ 4+ 2 x +2 x+ x 2=3

x 2+ 4 x +8=9 x 2+ 4 x1=0
4 144 ( 1 )(1 ) 4 18
x=
=
2
2
x .12 AND x 4.12
There are two points (.12, 2) and (-4.12, 2). The one that is south east of the
tower is (.12, 2).
b. Let (x, y) be any point on the boundary of the cell tower. Alter the
formula you created in part 1e to write a formula that represents
the distance of any house from the cell tower located at (-2, 4).

( 4 y ) +(2x ) =3
2

Name:__________________________
Date:______________________
OR
2

( 4 y ) + (2x ) =9

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