Help with a calculus problem about optimization
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Help with a calculus problem about optimization

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 11-11-29] [Hit: ]
in hoursWhat is the distance x=c that minimizes the travel time? in milesWhat is the least travel time? in hoursthank you so much !i dont even know where to begin ?-You are supposed to begin by drawing out the picture.Put down a fat point somewhere as the island.......
A small island is 2 miles from the nearest point P on the straight shoreline of a large lake. If a woman on the island can row a boat 3 miles per hour and can walk 4 miles per hour, where should the boat be landed in order to arrive at a town 6 miles down the shore from P in the least time? Let x be the distance (in miles) between point P and where the boat lands on the lake shore.

Enter a function T(x) that describes the total amount of time (in hours) the trip takes as a function of the distance x.
in hours

What is the distance x=c that minimizes the travel time?
in miles
What is the least travel time?
in hours

thank you so much !
i don't even know where to begin ?

-
You are supposed to begin by drawing out the picture. Put down a fat point somewhere as the island. Then go a short distance on the paper to the right and draw a vertical line there. Horizontally from the fat point, but on the vertical line, mark down point P right on the line itself. Then write down "2 miles" in the space between the fat point and P. Then go downward on the vertical line a little ways and mark the town itself. Then write "6 miles" alone the shoreline between P and the town. Now select any random spot in between P and the town and place a tic mark there. The distance from P to that tic mark should be highlighted somehow and said to be "x" per your instructions.

This sets up the picture. You need that picture to make sure you write down T(x), properly.

Now. Draw a line from the fat point (island) to the tic mark (it should be at a bit of an angle) with an arrow head at the end, let's say. That is the path of the boat to get to the tic mark by water. What is left then is the distance by land. I think you can see that the distance by land is 6 miles minus x, now. Also, the distance by boat uses Pythagorean's. Which makes it a little complicated. But not so bad. One side is 2 miles. The other side is x miles. So the distance by boat on water is √(2^2+x^2).
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