II.

The Cone Problem:

Shown at the right is a cone with a slant height of 10 cm.
Let's explore the relationship between the volume θ
of the cone ( V=(1/3)πr2h) and the angle θ at the h 10
top of the cone.
r
What would the cone look like if angle θ was a very small angle?
(Remember, the slant height does not change!) Draw it to the right.
Do you think the volume would be small or large? _________

What would the cone look like if angle θ was a very large angle?
Draw it to the right. Do you think the volume would be small or
large? _________

Let's take a sample angle for θ , for example 15 degrees. Since the volume of the cone is
dependent on the radius and the height of the cone, we need to calculate the radius and the height
if the angle is 15 ο . Write a trig equation you could use to determine the radius of the cone.
______________ Solve the equation to find the radius. r= ___________. Write a trig
equation you could use to find the height of the cone. ______________ Solve the equation to
find the height. h= ___________ Use these values to find the volume.

V= ___________________

We want to determine the value of θ that maximizes the volume of the cone. Let's write a
function for the volume in terms of the angle θ . Use trig to write the radius of the cone in terms
of θ . r= _______________ Use trig to write the height of the cone in terms of θ .
h= _____________ Using these two equations write an equation for the volume of the cone in
terms of θ .
V= _________________________________________

Put this equation into your calculator (with θ replaced by x) and graph the volume function.

Now use your grapher to complete the following:

1. The maximum volume for a cone with slant height of 10 cm is _____________ and it
occurs when the angle is ________.

2. If the volume of the cone is 300 cm3, what would the angle θ be? _________________

3. If the slant height was 40 cm instead of 10 cm, how would this affect the volume of the cone?
How would it affect the angle θ ? Let the slant height be 40 cm. The radius in terms of θ would
be r= _______________, the height would be h= ____________ and the volume would be V=
__________________________________.
Put this equation into your calculator, set an appropriate window, and graph the volume function.

The maximum volume for a cone with slant height of 40 cm is ___________ and it occurs
when the angle is ________. What is the relationship between the maximum volume when the
slant height is 40 cm and the maximum volume when the height is 10 cm? (Don't just say it is
larger! You are to find a relationship between the two volumes.)
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

How do the angles compare? _____________________________________________________

Modeling With Right Triangle Trigonometry

I. The Steel Pipe Problem: A steel pipe is being carried north up a north/south hallway that is 8
feet wide. At the end of the hall there is a right-angled turn into a wider hallway 12 feet wide.
What is the length of the largest pipe that can be carried around the corner? Assume the pipe must
remain horizontal and that it can not be tilted.

If the steel pipe measures a total of L feet, the figure shows it

divided into two parts. Label theses two parts of the pipe L1
and L2.

When we solved this problem earlier, we used the

Pythagorean Theorem and similar triangles to write our
function for the length of the pipe. Let's solve this problem
again.

Now let's use our right riangle trigonometry to solve the problem.

Label the angle in the bottom left corner of the your figure θ . Another angle in your figure can
also be labelled θ . Find it and label it.
Using your right triangle trigonometry relationships, write a trigonometric equation for the
relationship between L1 and θ , and an equation between L2 and θ . Solve the equations for L1
and L2 and write your equations below.

L1 = _______________________ L2 = ________________________

Again, the total length of the pipe is the sum of L1 and L2. This time, however, the length L is a
function of the angle θ . Complete the equation below.

L( θ ) = L1 + L2 = _______________________________________________

On your calculator, graph L , and use your graph to find the minimum value of the length of the
pipe. (Remember why it was a minimum?)

The length of the largest pipe should be ______________ units.