STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

LESSON 8 – Optimization and Related Rates Problems

INTRODUCTION

Suppose that you love to travel. Let us say that during summer, your family is preparing an
outing like swimming or go to some historical places around the country. As a traveler, you
always want to minimize the transportation time. Another example, you want to operate a
business in the future. As a business person, you want to minimize the cost and maximize
the profit. These examples are somehow related to what we call optimization problems.

If we pump air into a balloon, both the volume and the radius of the balloon increase and
their rates of increase are related to each other. We will notice that it is easier to measure
directly the rate of increase of the volume than the rate of increase of the radius. This
concept is related to the description and calculation of related rates problems.

In this lesson, we will use derivative to solve a variety of optimization problems, as well as
the application of implicit differentiation to study some applications of derivative in solving
related rates problems.

TARGET COMPETENCY
 Solve optimization problems
 Solve situational problems involving related rates

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

a. Apply the concept of global minimum and global maximum to real-world problems;
b. Appreciate the use of optimization problems in real-life situations;
c. Solve problems involving optimization;
d. Determine an equation that relates two quantities;
e. Relate problems involving related rates in real-life situations; and
f. Apply the steps in solving related rates problems.

SUBJECT MATTER

Optimization Problems

Some of the most practical applications of calculus involve solving optimization problems.
This involves determining extreme values that have practical applications in many areas of
life. In this section, we will solve such problems as maximizing areas, volumes, profit and
minimizing distances, times, and costs.
STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Steps in Solving Optimization Problems

1. Read and analyze the problem. Identify quantities that can vary. Determine a function
that represents the quantity to be optimized. Be sure that this function depends on one
variable only.
2. Whenever possible, draw a diagram and identify the given and required quantities on the
diagram.
3. Determine the domain of the function to be optimized using the information given in the
problem.
4. Construct a mathematical model of the form. Maximize (or minimize) for the
domain (from Step 3).
5. Use the steps for finding the extreme values to find the absolute maximum or minimum
function value on the domain.
6. Use the results of step 5 to answer the original problem.

Examples:

1. The sum of one number and four times the second number is 24. We want their product to be
as large as possible. Find the numbers.

Solution:
Let x be the first number, y be the second number, and P be their product.
So, we will have

Based on the condition in the problem,

Substituting x, we will have

Differentiating our working function and equating it to zero, we will have

Then, solve for the value of y.

Substituting y, we will get

STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Solving for their product, we will get

Therefore, the numbers are 12 and 3 whose product is 36.

2. The farmer has 2400 feet of fencing and wants to fence off a rectangular field that borders a
straight river. He needs no fence along the river. What are the dimensions of the field that has
the largest area?

Solution:

Let x be the width of the field, y be the length of the field, and A be the area of the field.
So, we will have

Based on the condition in the problem,

Substituting y, we will have

Differentiating our working function and equating it to zero, we will have

Then, solve for the value of x.

Substituting x, we will get

STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Solving for the area, we will get

Therefore, the field must be 1200 feet long and 600 feet wide to have the largest of
720,000 square feet.

3. A cardboard box manufacturer wishes to make open boxes from rectangular pieces of
cardboard with dimensions 10 inches by 17 inches by cutting equal squares from the four
corners and turning up the sides. We wish to find the length of the side of the cut-off square
so that the box has the largest possible volume.

Solution:

Let x be the length of the side of the cut-off square and V be the volume of the box.
So, we will have

Express the length, width, and height of the box in terms of x.

Substituting those variables, we will have

Differentiating our working function and equating it to zero, we will have

Then, solve for the values of x using the quadratic formula.

STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Solving for the volume, we will get

Therefore, the side of the cut-off square should be approximately 2.03 inches to obtain
the largest volume of approximately 156.03 cubic inches.

Related Rates Problems

In a related rates problem, the procedure is to determine an equation that relates the two
quantities. Using the given rate of change of one quantity, we can compute the rate of change of
the other quantity with the help of Chain Rule to differentiate both sides with respect to time.

Steps in Solving Related Rates Problems

1. Read and understand the problem carefully. If necessary, draw a diagram to organize the
information.
2. Identify all relevant variables, including those whose rates are given and those whose
rates are to be found.
3. Express the given information and the required rate in terms of derivatives.
4. Write an equation that relates all variables involved in the problem.
5. Differentiate implicitly the equation and use the chain rule to differentiate both sides of
the equation with respect to time t.
6. Substitute the given information into the resulting information and solve for the
derivative that will give the unknown rate.

Examples:

1. A ladder is 25 feet long and leaning against a vertical wall. The bottom of the ladder is pulled
horizontally away from the wall at 3 ft/sec. Suppose we wish to determine how fast the top of
the ladder is sliding down the wall when the bottom is 15 feet from the wall.
STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Solution:

Let t be the number of seconds in the time that has elapsed since the ladder started to
slide down the wall.
Let x be the number of feet in the distance from the bottom of the ladder to the wall at t
seconds.
Let y be the number of feet in the distance from the ground to the top of the ladder at t
seconds.

Because the bottom of the ladder is pulled horizontally away from the wall at 3 ft/sec,

We wish to find when .

From Pythagorean Theorem,

To find our working function, we use the Pythagorean Theorem again.

Differentiate implicitly the equation with respect to t.

Substituting the known values, we will get

STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

The negative sign indicates that y decreases as t increases. Therefore, the top of the ladder
is sliding down the wall at the rate of 2.25 ft/sec when the bottom is 15 feet from the wall.

2. A water tank has the shape of an inverted circular cone with a base radius 2 meters and a
height of 4 meters. If water is being pumped into the tank at a rate of 2 cubic meters per
minute, find the rate at which the water level is rising when the water is already 3 meters
deep.

Solution:

Let t be the number of minutes in the time that has elapsed since water started to pump
into the tank.
Let V be the volume of the water at t minutes.
Let r be the radius of the surface of the water at t minutes.
Let h be the height of the water at t minutes.

Because water is being pumped into the tank at a rate of 2 cubic meters per minute,

We wish to find when .

Use the formula for the volume of a cone.

Express V as a function of h alone. To eliminate r, we use the similar triangles in the

figure.

Substituting r to the equation, we will have

STEM 2018-2019 BASIC CALCULUS FEU Senior High School

Differentiate implicitly the equation with respect to t.

Therefore, the water level is rising at a rate of approximately 0.28 meter per minute when
the water is already 3 meters deep.