SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT USING DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS

Sub Theme - Mathematical Modelling Objective - To get the maximum out of a given resource by improving the present day techniques rather than looking for new ones. Concept Used - Maxima Minima from Differential Calculus
Description -

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. Or in other words it aims at using the existing resources in the best possible way.

A large number of new techniques are coming up these days to use the resources more efficiently. Some of them are being put into use, a few are still under consideration for improvement while others lack in considering the practical aspects. Actually there have been a very few attempts to use the existing technique in a better way, and that is what we are aiming for. CUTTING OF TREES A large no of trees are being cut these days to meet our requirements and there has been a lot of debate on it. You cant stop the cutting of trees straight away, so you have to look for a better method. What we suggest is that the timber merchants should make sure that they get the maximum volume of beam out of a given tree trunk. You may assume the trunks to be a frustrum of given dimensions and then you can maximize the volume of a beam that can be obtained from it using the maxima-minima concept of differential calculus DEPLETING WATER SOURCES A large no of villages located on the banks of river have set up their own water pumps to get water for their needs from river. What we suggest is that a no of villages should set up a common water pump. The location of water pump can be decided again by using maxima minima concept such that the cost of piping is minimized. FUEL VAPORISATION A large amount of fuel gets evaporated from the fuel tanks of vehicles as they are directly under the sun most of the time. There exist a no of sophisticated methods are being used to reduce this. But what we suggest is very simple and involves no extra cost. The tanks should be designed in such a way that for a given volume the surface area is minimum, as a larger surface area results in more evaporation. The concept would be the same. SOLAR COOKER We feel that the technique of solar cooking can be improved by the same method as more is the surface area [of a given volume] more radiation it will absorb and hence it will take less time.Again the concept being used is differential calculus [maxima minima]

ADVANTAGES & UNIQUE FEATURE The main thing about these techniques is that nothing special to be done. No extra raw material or capital etc is required. All it demands is simple calculation. And you dont even need to go into the depth of Calculus. FUTURE SCOPE The fact that nothing extra is required justifies that it has got a pretty bright future ahead. Moreover there is no scope of any failure whatsoever as no extra experimentation is required.