You are here:

Calculus/related rates

Advertisement

Expert: - 10/18/2010


Question
A lighthouse is located on a small island 5 km away from the nearest point P on
a straight shoreline. Its light makes 2 revolutions per minute. How fast is the
beam of light moving along the shoreline when it is 1.8 kilometers from P?

Answer
This sound like a right triangle.
The distance out to the light house is 5 km.
The distance on the shore is 1.8 km.
What we are looking for is the length of the hypotenuse.
That is, a = 5 and b = 1.8 with c = length of the hypotenuse.
It is known that c = sqrt(a^2 + b^2).

Calculus

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Scotto

Expertise

Any kind of calculus question you want. I also have answered some questions in Physics (mass, momentum, falling bodies), Chemistry (charge, reactions, symbols, molecules), and Biology.

Experience

Experience in the area: I have tutored students in all areas of mathematics for over 25 years. Education/Credentials: BSand MS in Mathematics from Oregon State University, where I completed sophomore course in Physics and Chemistry. I received both degrees with high honors. Awards and Honors: I have passed Actuarial tests 100, 110, and 135.

Publications
Maybe not a publication, but I have respond to well oveer 7,500 questions on the PC. Well over 2,000 of them have been in calculus.

Education/Credentials
I aquired well over 40 hours of upper division courses. This was well over the number that were required. I graduated with honors in both my BS and MS degree from Oregon State University. I was allowed to jump into a few junior level courses my sophomore year.

Awards and Honors
I have been nominated as the expert of the month several times. All of my scores right now are at least a 9.8 average (out of 10).

Past/Present Clients
My past clients have been students at OSU, students at the college in South Seattle, referals from a company, friends and aquantenances, people from my church, and people like you from all over the world.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.