Topic: Observer and the airplane

Question: An airplane is flying horizontally at 720 miles/hr, 3 miles above

Answer choices:

A About 400 miles/hr

B About 500 miles/hr

C About 600 miles/hr

D About 700 miles/hr

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Solution: A

To solve for the rate of change of the distance between an observer and
an airplane over time, we’ll consider the length between the observer on
the ground and the plane in the air to be the hypotenuse of a right
triangle. The Pythagorean theorem

a2 + b2 = c2

gives a as the distance between the observer and airplane when the
airplane is directly overhead, and b as the distance traveled by the airplane
parallel to the ground over the given time period, and c as the diagonal
distance from the observer to the airplane after the given period of time.

First you’ll need to take the derivative of the Pythagorean theorem with
respect to time. Since a is a constant that doesn’t change with time, it will
become 0 when we differentiate.

da db dc
2a + 2b = 2c
dt dt dt

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

We already know from the question that

db
= 720
dt

t = 10

We’re asked to solve for dc/dt, which means that we’ll need a few more
things first before we can plug into our equation. First we need to find the

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distance for b. We can do this using the speed 720 miles/hr and the time 10
seconds. Convert the time to hours which gives

1 minute 1 hour
x hours = 10 seconds × ×
60 seconds 60 minutes

x hours = 0.00278 hours

Next find the distance b.

720 miles
b miles = 0.00278 hours ×
hour

b miles ≈ 2 miles

Now find c using a 2 + b 2 = c 2, a = 3 and b = 60.

a2 + b2 = c2

(3)2 + (2)2 = c 2

9 + 4 = c2

13 = c 2

c ≈ 3.61

Finally, with db/dt = 720, b = 2 and c = 3.61, we can plug everything into the
formula.

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

dc
2(2)(720) = 2(3.61)
dt

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 dc
≈ 399
dt

The rate at which the distance between the person and the plane is
increasing is about 399 miles/hr.

566
Topic: Observer and the airplane

Question: An airplane is flying horizontally at 540 miles/hr, 4 miles above

Answer choices:

A About 424 miles/hr

B About 324 miles/hr

C About 224 miles/hr

D About 124 miles/hr

567
Solution: B

To solve for the rate of change of the distance between an observer and
an airplane over time, we’ll consider the length between the observer on
the ground and the plane in the air to be the hypotenuse of a right
triangle. The Pythagorean theorem

a2 + b2 = c2

gives a as the distance between the observer and airplane when the
airplane is directly overhead, and b as the distance traveled by the airplane
parallel to the ground over the given time period, and c as the diagonal
distance from the observer to the airplane after the given period of time.

First you’ll need to take the derivative of the Pythagorean theorem with
respect to time. Since a is a constant that doesn’t change with time, it will
become 0 when we differentiate.

da db dc
2a + 2b = 2c
dt dt dt

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

We already know from the question that

db
= 540
dt

t = 20

We’re asked to solve for dc/dt, which means that we’ll need a few more
things first before we can plug into our equation. First we need to find the

568
distance for b. We can do this using the speed 540 miles/hr and the time 20
seconds. Convert the time to hours which gives

1 minute 1 hour
x hours = 20 seconds × ×
60 seconds 60 minutes

x hours = 0.0056 hours

Next find the distance b.

540 miles
b miles = 0.0056 hours ×
hour

b miles ≈ 3 miles

Now find c using a 2 + b 2 = c 2, a = 4 and b = 3.

a2 + b2 = c2

(4)2 + (3)2 = c 2

16 + 9 = c 2

25 = c 2

c=5

Finally, with db/dt = 540, b = 3 and c = 5, we can plug everything into the
formula.

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

dc
2(3)(540) = 2(5)
dt

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 dc
= 324
dt

The rate at which the distance between the person and the plane is
increasing is about 324 miles/hr.

570
Topic: Observer and the airplane

Question: An airplane is flying horizontally at 360 miles/hr, 5 miles above

Answer choices:

A 125 miles/hr

B 225 miles/hr

C 325 miles/hr

D 425 miles/hr

571
Solution: B

To solve for the rate of change of the distance between an observer and
an airplane over time, we’ll consider the length between the observer on
the ground and the plane in the air to be the hypotenuse of a right
triangle. The Pythagorean theorem

a2 + b2 = c2

gives a as the distance between the observer and airplane when the
airplane is directly overhead, and b as the distance traveled by the airplane
parallel to the ground over the given time period, and c as the diagonal
distance from the observer to the airplane after the given period of time.

First you’ll need to take the derivative of the Pythagorean theorem with
respect to time. Since a is a constant that doesn’t change with time, it will
become 0 when we differentiate.

da db dc
2a + 2b = 2c
dt dt dt

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

We already know from the question that

db
= 360
dt

t = 40

We’re asked to solve for dc/dt, which means that we’ll need a few more
things first before we can plug into our equation. First we need to find the

572
distance for b. We can do this using the speed 360 miles/hr and the time 40
seconds. Convert the time to hours which gives

1 minute 1 hour
x hours = 40 seconds × ×
60 seconds 60 minutes

x hours = 0.0111 hours

Next find the distance b.

360 miles
b miles = 0.0111 hours ×
hour

b miles ≈ 4 miles

Now find c using a 2 + b 2 = c 2, a = 5 and b = 4.

a2 + b2 = c2

(5)2 + (4)2 = c 2

25 + 16 = c 2

41 = c 2

c ≈ 6.4

Finally, with db/dt = 360, b = 4 and c = 6.4, we can plug everything into the
formula.

db dc
2b = 2c
dt dt

dc
2(4)(360) = 2(6.4)
dt

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 dc
= 225
dt

The rate at which the distance between the person and the plane is
increasing is 225 miles/hr.

574