# Related Rates

Related rates problems often involve (context-wise) real-life applications of the chain rule/implicit differentiation. Here are some of the examples that are commonly seen in calculus textbooks.

Example. Car A is traveling west at 50mi/h and car B is traveling north at 60mi/h. Both are headed for the intersection of the two roads. At what rate are the cars approaching each other when car A is 0.3 mi and car B is 0.4 mi from the intersection?

Solution.

Denote by $x$ and $y$ the distances from the intersection to car A and to car B, respectively. Then we have $\frac{dx}{dt}=-50$mi/h and $\frac{dy}{dt}=-60$mi/h. Let us denote $z$ the distance between $A$ and $B$. Then by Pythagorean law we have $$z^2=x^2+y^2$$ Differentiating this with respect to $t$, we obtain $$z\frac{dz}{dt}=x\frac{dx}{dt}+y\frac{dy}{dt}$$ and thus \begin{align*}\frac{dz}{dt}&=\frac{1}{z}\left[x\frac{dx}{dt}+y\frac{dy}{dt}\right]\\&=\frac{1}{0.5}[0.3(-50)+0.4(-60)]=-78\mathrm{mi/h}\end{align*}

Example. Air is being pumped into a spherical balloon so that its volume increases at a rate of $100\mathrm{cm}^3/\mathrm{s}$. How fast is the radius of the balloon increasing when the diameter is 50 cm?

Solution. Let $V$ and $r$ denote the volume and the radius of the spherical balloon. Then $V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3$. Differentiating this with respect to $t$, we obtain $$\frac{dV}{dt}=4\pi r^2\frac{dr}{dt}$$ So, \begin{align*}\frac{dr}{dt}&=\frac{1}{4\pi r^2}\frac{dV}{dt}\\&=\frac{1}{4\pi(25)^2}100\\&=\frac{1}{25\pi}\mathrm{cm/s}\end{align*}

Example. Gravel is being dumped from a conveyor belt at a rate of $30 \mathrm{ft}^3/\mathrm{min}$ and its coarseness is such that it forms a pile in the shape of a cone whose base diameter and height are the same. How fast is the height of the pile increasing when the pile is 10 ft high?

Solution. The cross section of the gravel pile is shown in the figure below.

The amount of gravel dumped is the same as the volume of the cone. Let us denote the volume by $V$, its base radius by $r$, and its height by $h$. Then $V=\frac{1}{3}\pi r^2h$. Since $h=2r$, $V$ can be written as $$V=\frac{1}{12}\pi h^3$$ Differentiating this with respect to $t$, we obtain $$\frac{dV}{dt}=\frac{1}{4}\pi h^2\frac{dh}{dt}$$ So, we have \begin{align*}\frac{dh}{dt}&=\frac{4}{\pi h^2}\frac{dV}{dt}\\&=\frac{4}{\pi(10)^2}(30)=\frac{1.2}{\pi}\mathrm{ft/min}\approx 0.38\mathrm{ft/min}\end{align*}

Example. A ladder 10 ft long rests against a vertical wall. If the bottom of the ladder slides away from the wall at a rate of 1 ft/s, how fast is the top of the ladder sliding down the wall when the bottom of the ladder is 6 ft from the wall?

Solution.

Let us denote by $x$ and $y$ the distance from the wall to the bottom of the ladder and the distance from the top of the ladder to the floor, respectively. By Pythagorean law, we have $x^2+y^2=100$. Differentiating this with respect to $t$, we obtain $$x\frac{dx}{dt}+y\frac{dy}{dt}=0$$ Hence, we have \begin{align*}\frac{dy}{dt}&=-\frac{x}{y}\frac{dx}{dt}\\&=-\frac{6}{8}(1)=-\frac{3}{4}\mathrm{ft/s}\end{align*}

Example. A water tank has the shape of an inverted circular cone with base radius 2m and heigh 4 m. If water is being pumped into the tank at a rate of $2 \mathrm{m}^3/\mathrm{min}$, find the rate at which the water level is rising when the water is 3 m deep.

Solution. The cross section of the water tank is shown in the figure below.

The amount of water $V$ when the water level is $h$ and the surface radius is $r$ is $V=\frac{1}{3}\pi r^2h$. From the above figure we have the following ratio holds $$\frac{2}{4}=\frac{r}{h}$$ i.e. $r=\frac{h}{2}$. SO $V$ can be written as $$V=\frac{1}{12}\pi h^3$$ Differentiating this with respect to $t$, we obtain $$\frac{dV}{dt}=\frac{1}{4}\pi h^2\frac{dh}{dt}$$ Hence, \begin{align*}\frac{dh}{dt}&=\frac{4}{\pi h^2}\frac{dV}{dt}\\&=\frac{4}{\pi(3)^2}(2)\\&=\frac{8}{9\pi}\mathrm{m/min}\approx 0.28\mathrm{m/min}\end{align*}