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The chain rule question

A funnel has a circular top of diameter 20cm and a height of 30cm. When the depth of liquid in the funnel is 15cm, the liquid is dripping from the funnel at a rate of 0.2cm^3 s^-1. At which rate is the dept of the liquid in the funnel decreasing at this instant?

I have done:
dx/dt = 0.2 when x = 15cm
Original post by elvss567
A funnel has a circular top of diameter 20cm and a height of 30cm. When the depth of liquid in the funnel is 15cm, the liquid is dripping from the funnel at a rate of 0.2cm^3 s^-1. At which rate is the dept of the liquid in the funnel decreasing at this instant?

I have done:
dx/dt = 0.2 when x = 15cm


What is xx?? Define your variables first before using them.

Let hh be the depth of the liquid, and tt be the time in seconds. Then we want to find dhdt\frac{dh}{dt}.

Let xx denote the volume of liquid at a given time. Then we know at some point, we have dxdt=0.2\frac{dx}{dt}=0.2.

However, note that by the chain rule, we have dhdxdxdt=dhdt\frac{dh}{dx} \cdot \frac{dx}{dt}=\frac{dh}{dt}

So you want to find dhdx\frac{dh}{dx} which is the rate of change of the depth w.r.t the volume at the given time.
Original post by elvss567
A funnel has a circular top of diameter 20cm and a height of 30cm. When the depth of liquid in the funnel is 15cm, the liquid is dripping from the funnel at a rate of 0.2cm^3 s^-1. At which rate is the dept of the liquid in the funnel decreasing at this instant?

I have done:
dx/dt = 0.2 when x = 15cm

Check the sign of dxdt\frac{dx}{dt} - as above, it's really dVdt\frac{dV}{dt}, if you're using xx for the height of liquid.

It looks like they want you to assume a zero width at the bottom of the funnel. Not nice.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by RDKGames
What is xx?? Define your variables first before using them.

Let hh be the depth of the liquid, and tt be the time in seconds. Then we want to find dhdt\frac{dh}{dt}.

Let xx denote the volume of liquid at a given time. Then we know at some point, we have dxdt=0.2\frac{dx}{dt}=0.2.

However, note that by the chain rule, we have dhdxdxdt=dhdt\frac{dh}{dx} \cdot \frac{dx}{dt}=\frac{dh}{dt}

So you want to find dhdx\frac{dh}{dx} which is the rate of change of the depth w.r.t the volume at the given time.


Hi, i followed what you were saying up until the bit where i have to find dh/dt. How do i find dh/dt? Do i have to differentiate the volume or the surface area of the sphere to find this?
Original post by elvss567
Hi, i followed what you were saying up until the bit where i have to find dh/dt. How do i find dh/dt? Do i have to differentiate the volume or the surface area of the sphere to find this?


Sorry, ignore those last two lines, it doesn't go in the direction I thought it would. The expected approach would be to note that x=π3r2hx=\frac{\pi}{3} r^2 h which is the volume of a cone (and r is the radius)

Then determine what rr is in terms of hh at a given time, thus substitute it in to get x(h)x(h). Then differentiate both sides w.r.t tt, applying the chain rule for the RHS. This leaves you with an equation to rearrange for dhdt\frac{dh}{dt}
(edited 6 years ago)

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