Technology Project 3.

2 An Optimization Problem
I. PREPARATION Often, the hardest part of applied max-min problems is setting them up. Once you nd the objective function, it is usually not too di cult to nd the optimum. Exercise 1 A 6-foot-wide hallway makes a right angle turn. What is the length of the longest thin rod that can be carried around the corner, assuming you cannot tilt the rod? The longest rod will just barely touch the inside corner of the turn and the two outside walls. Label the points A; B; C; D; and E as in Figure 1. Let t denote the measure of the angle 6 ABD: (a) Show that t is also the measure of 6 ACD: (b) Use some trigonometry to nd the lengths a and b:

Figure 1 II. USING TECHNOLOGY Exercise 2 The rod described in Exercise 1 has length L = a+b 6 6 = + cos t sin t = 6 sec t + 6 csc t Find the derivative dL=dt; set it equal to zero, and solve for t:

Exercise 3 To see whether we have found a minimum or a maximum, graph L as a function of t: You should also evaluate the second derivative of L at the optimum value of t: Does the t that you found yield the smallest rod or the longest rod that can be carried around the corner? Explain. Hint: If t is very close to zero, but still positive, will the rod be long or short? Will it t around the corner? What if t is close to, but just less than, =2 radians? Exercise 4 Now, let s change the dimensions of the hallway. Suppose that one corridor is 6.2 feet wide and the other is 8.6 feet wide. Find the length of the longest thin rod that just ts around the corner. Exercise 5 For this problem, let s suppose that the corridors do not meet at a right angle, but instead meet at an angle of 105 as shown in Figure 2. Both the corridors are 6 feet wide. Again, nd the length of the longest thin rod that just ts around the corner.

Figure 2 III. REFLECTION Exercise 6 Finally, suppose that the ceiling is 9.7 feet above the oor, the corridors meet at a right angle, and the widths of the corridors are 6.2 feet and 8.6 feet. Assuming that you can tilt the thin rod, what is the length of the longest rod you can carry around the corner? Hint: This is not a calculus problem; use your answer to Exercise 4.