Question

A 6 ft tall person walks away from a 10 ft lamppost at a constant rate of 3 ft/s. What is the rate (in ft/s) that the tip of the shadow moves away from the pole when the person is 15 ft away from the pole

Answer 1

Answer:

12.5 ft/s

Explanation:

Height of person = 6 ft

height of lamp post = 10 ft

According to the question,

dx / dt = 5 ft/s

Let the rate of tip of the shadow moves away is dy/dt.

According to the diagram

10 / y = 6 / (y - x)

10 y - 10 x = 6 y

y = 2.5 x

Differentiate both sides with respect to t.

dy / dt = 2.5 dx / dt

dy / dt = 2.5 (5) = 12.5 ft /s