Question

A man starts walking north at 2ft/s from a point P. Twenty-five seconds later a woman starts walking south at 3ft/s from a point 400ft due east of P. At what rate are the people moving apart 50 seconds after the woman starts walking? Do not include units in your answer.

Answer 1

Man starts north at t = 0 from origin
Woman starts south at t = 25 from (400,0)
where are they at t = 75?
man 2*75 = 150 so at (0,150)
woman 3*50 = 150 so at (400,-150)
distance apart is hypotenuse of triangle with legs 300 and 400 so 500 ft
How fast is this changing?
The north south difference is changing at 2+3 = 5 ft/s
The East west distance is not changing at all
start new t now at 0
N-S distance = 300 + 5 t
E-W distance = 400
h is hypotenuse, the distance
h^2 = 400^2 + (300+5t)^2
2 h dh = 0 + 2 (300+5t)(5)dt
h dh = 5(300+5t) dt
at h = 500 and t = 0 this is
500 dh = 5(300) dt
dh/dt = .01(300) = 3

Answer 2

let the times passed since the woman started walking be t seconds
make a diagram
distance covered by man = 50 + 2t
distance covered by woman = 3t
let the distance between them be D
I see a right-angled triangle with hypotenuse D,
the vertical line as (50+2t+3t)
and the horizontal as 400

D^2 = (5t+50)^2 + 400^2
2D dD/dt = 2(5t+50)(5) + 0
dD/dt = 5(5t+50)/D

when t = 50,
D^2 = 300^2+400^2
D = 500

dD/dt = 5(300)500 = 3

Answer 3

thank you very much