Emma K.

asked • 10/18/15

Calculus help please!!!!!

A lighthouse is stationed at a point P some distance away from the nearest point Q on a straight shoreline. It is found that the beam of light is moving alon the shore at a rate of 220pi m/s when it passes a point R on the shoreline 1km away from Q. How far away is the lighthouse from the shoreline?

Bruce Y.

I could be wrong about this, but I think we don't have enough information to solve this problem.
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10/18/15

Dom V.

Just to confirm what Bruce Y said, there is not enough information given. We have the length and rate of change of one side of a right triangle, and are being asked for the length of another side. To provide an answer, we need to use either (1) Pythagorean theorem, in which case some information about the triangle's hypotenuse must be provided, or (2) a trigonometric function, in which case information about one of the triangle's angles is necessary.
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10/18/15

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