Heather Mortimore

Math 1210-351

Related Rates Signature Assignment

Problem given:

“Two small planes are flying together in formation. At a certain point, they split

up with one plane proceeding at a rate of 130 mph at a bearing of 22◦. The second plane

proceeds at speed of 96 mph at a bearing of 87◦. Find the rate of change of the distance

between the two planes 15 minutes after they break formation.

Recall that generally in air navigation, bearing is given as a nonnegative angle

less than 360 degrees measured in a clockwise direction from a ray pointing due north”

Plane 1 Plane 2

130 mi/hr 96 mi/hr

22° 87°

We want to find the rate of change of distance after 15 minutes from when the planes break

formation and split up.

1
 Let
leg a be Plane 1
and leg b be Plane 2

Taking the difference of 87° and 22° gives

us the known constant inner angle of 65°

𝑑𝑎
= 130 𝑚𝑝ℎ
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑏
= 96 𝑚𝑝ℎ
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑐
=?
𝑑𝑡

With some simple dimensional analysis, we can easily find out the individual distances traveled
by each plane in the 15 minute time period to find out the length of legs a and b
1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
15 min (60 𝑚𝑖𝑛) = 0.25 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
𝑎 = 0.25 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 (96 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 ) = 24 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠
1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
𝑏 = 0.25 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 (130 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠) = 32.5 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠

Recognizing that we know the values of a side, angle, and another side, we must use the law of
𝑑𝑐
cosines formula as our base for deriving .
𝑑𝑡

𝑐 2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 − 2𝑎𝑏 cos 𝜃

As stated before, we know that the inner angle of 65° is constant, so that can be plugged into the
formula before taking the derivative to eliminate that extra variable

𝑑
(𝑐 2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 − 2𝑎𝑏 cos 65 (𝑎𝑏 ′ + 𝑏𝑎′ ))
𝑑𝑡

2
 2𝑐𝑐 ′ = 2𝑎𝑎′ + 2𝑏𝑏 ′ − 2𝑎𝑏 cos 65° (𝑎𝑏 ′ + 𝑏𝑎′ )

Isolate 𝑐 ′

𝑎𝑎′ +𝑏𝑏′ −2 cos 65°(𝑎𝑏′ +𝑏𝑎′ )

𝑐′ =
2𝑐

Plug the known values into the derivative

24𝑎′ +65𝑏′ −2 cos 65°(24𝑏′ +32.5𝑎′ )

𝑐′ =
2(31.19)

48(96)+65(130)−2 cos 65°((24∗130)+(32.5∗96))

𝑐′ =
62.38

𝑐 ′ = 124.77916

Rate of change of distance after 15 minutes is ≈ 124.8 miles/hour