How to Solve Related Rates Problems Using Derivatives

Imagine there is a 20 foot ladder leaning against a wall and a man named Ronnie is standing at that base of the ladder 10 feet away from the wall. He begins walking away from the wall at 4 feet per second holding the bottom of the ladder while still allowing the other end to keep contact with the wall. At what rate is the top of the ladder moving down the wall? Without knowing the process to solve this problem, finding a correct answer would be quite difficult. The only tools necessary in solving such problems include a working mind, a pen or a pencil, and possibly a calculator. In order to answer this question correctly, the following steps must be taken: Draw a picture, identify the rates, find an appropriate equation, differentiate the equation, and plug in values and evaluate.

Step 1: Draw a picture and label it.

Step 2: Identify the rates that you know and the rate you want to find. Find d/dt.

Away from wall 4 ft/sec = dx/dt x = 10 ft c = 20 ft remains constant

Find dh/dt

Step 3: Find an equation relating what information you know from the problem with
what you want to find and solve for h.

a + b = c h + x = 20 h + 10 = 20 h + 100 = 400 h = 400 100 = 300 h = 300

Step 4: Differentiate both sides of the equation with respect to time.

h + x = 400 Begin by moving the exponents down in front of the variables. 2h + 2x = 0 the derivative of all real numbers is always zero.

Then, each variable must be multiplied to its derivative accordingly (dh/dt, dx/dt). 2h dh/dt + 2x dx/dt = 0

Step 5: Plug in appropriate values and solve for the derivative.

2(300)dh/dt + 2(10)(4) = 0

2(300)dh/dt + 80 = 0 2300 dh/dt = -80 dh/dt = -80 / (2300) dh/dt = -2.309 ft/sec

The value of dh/dt represents the speed at which the top of the ladder is moving down the wall. If the speed at which the top of the ladder was moving down the wall was given instead of the speed at which Ronnie was walking away from the wall, Ronnies speed would be found using the same steps. By knowing the step-by-step process, a problem like this wont be a problem at all but only an avenue to expand an individuals knowledge and understanding of position, velocity, and speed.