An offshore oil well is 4 kilometers off the coast. The refinery is 5 kilometers down the coast (see figure). Laying pipe in the ocean is twice as expensive as on land. What path should the pipe follow in order to minimize the cost?

3 answers

I'm sorry!

It's a 30-60-90 triangle with 4 on the sqr of 3 side, x on the 1 side and 5-x extending past the triangle
so, you seem to have the diagram down. Now just define the cost function and minimize it.

What do you get? Is your 30-60-90 triangle you final answer, or some intermediate stage?
What’s the answer