Torricelli’s Law

On this assignment, you may use the textbook for this course and your notes as well as Maple and/or a
calculator, and you may work in a group of up to three students. No communication between groups
is permitted. To complete the Maple portions of this assignment in the Math Lab, start with the ”TorL”
Maple worksheet in the 332 class folder; if you aren’t working in the Math Lab, TorL is also posted at the
class website under “Resources” and on the L-Drive (AcadShared) in the “handouts” folder.

A standard 1/2 gallon plastic milk jug contains 6 inches of water. (The body of water in the jug
is essentially 3.75 inches by 3.75 inches by 6 inches.) At time t = 0, a plug in the bottom of the jug
is removed and water begins to drain from the jug. One second later, the depth of water in the jug
is 5.2 inches. Let y(t) represent the depth of water in the jug t seconds after the plug is removed
(so that, e.g., y(0) = 6 and y (1) = 5.2). According to Torricelli’s Law
dy √
(∗) = −β y,
dt
where β is a positive constant.
(1) Find, by hand, a general solution of the differential equation (*). (Your solution will contain
β and a parameter, say, C.)
(2) Using the milk-jug data, find β and C, obtaining a complete formula for y(t).
(3) How long does it take for all the water in the jug to drain out?
(4) Using Maple’s “dsolve” command (as illustrated in the “TorL” worksheet within the Math
332 folder on lab-machine desktops), find a general solution of the differential equation (∗),
with β replaced by the value you found for it in part (2). Then use Maple to solve the IVP
consisting of (∗) (again with β replaced with the value you found for it in part (2)) along
with the initial condition y(0) = 6. Follow all directions on the worksheet. Maple’s answer
may not be as pretty as your answer from problem 3.
(5) Using your solution to exercise (3), create a Maple animation illustrating how the water-
level drops in the tank after the plug is removed. The commands needed to create a Maple
animation are all illustrated in the TorL worksheet. The first frame of your animation,
F[0], should be a plot of a line segment joining (0,6) and (3.75, 6). The next frame, F[1],
should be a plot of a line segment joining (0, y(.1)) and (3.75, y(.1)); continue, generating
one frame every tenth of a second until all the water has drained from the tank.
What to turn in: sheet or sheets containing your work on problems 1, 2, and 3 above. You should
save your work on problems 4, 5 in your home directory. On Tuesday the 28th, I’ll check your work
on problems 4 and 5.