Rates of Change

The (instantaneous) rate at which some quantity Q changes with respect to some other quantity P is given
dQ dQ
by e.g. population density i.e. if Q is measuring people and P is measuring an area then would
dP dP
give a rate in people/ m 2 .
Note if the discussion is just about the rate of change of Q, then it is describing the change with respect to
dQ
time i.e. (or Q& - this notation can only be used when time is involved).
dt

Examining the rate of change of ones change.

1. The number of bacteria, B, in a culture is given by the formula B = 2t4 t2 + 2000, where t is time
in hours. Find:
(a) the number of bacteria initially;
(b) the number of bacteria after 5 hours;
(c) the rate at which the number of bacteria will be changing after 5 hours.

2. Soil is being tipped onto a pile at a rate of R m3/min, where R = 100t 2t2, and t is the time in
minutes after the process begins.
(a) Find the value of R when t = 5.
(b) What is the largest value of t for which the process is reasonable?
(c) Find the maximum value of R.
(d) When the process began, the pile already contained 250 m3 of soil.
Find an equation for the volume of soil in the pile at time t.
(e) Calculate the total volume of soil that was added to the pile in the first 5 minutes.

3. A full tank of water develops a small hole, the rate of decrease of the volume is given by R,
t
where its magnitude is given by and t is in hours.
1 + 4t 2
Initially there are a 10 kL in the tank. How long will it take before the tank is empty?

100
4. The speed, s m/s, of a paddleboat is given by s = m/s when it travels from a buoy towards a
t +1
dx
wharf, in a line. Note that the speed s is given by where x metres is the distance, measured
dt
from the buoy, in t seconds. Initially, the boat is 10 metres from the buoy, going to the wharf.
Find the distance of the boat from the buoy after five minutes, to the nearest metre.
5. It is assumed that the number N(t) of termites in a certain mound at time t 0 is given by
A
N (t) = , where A is a constant and t is measured in months.
2 + et

(a) Initially, N(t) is estimated at 3 105 termites. What is the value of A?

(b) What is the value of N(t) after one month?
(c) How many termites would you expect to find in the mound when t is very large?
(d) Find an expression for the rate at which the number of termites increases at any time t.

6. The temperature T C in a testing room is given by the differential equation,

dT
= 20 ( cos t sin t ) , where t is in minutes and t 0.
dt
3
(a) The temperature in the room after minutes is 0 C.
4
5
Find the temperature after minutes, to the nearest degree.
4

(b) ( )
Now 20 sint + cost = 20 2 sin t + .
4
Find the times in the first 6 minutes when the temperature is 10 2 C,
giving your answers to the nearest second.

7. Water is flowing into a container which can be filled to a depth of 300 mm. When the water began
to flow, the container already held fruit juice to a depth of 75 mm. If the rate at which the depth of
the liquid is increasing, in millimetres per minute, is given by R = 6t + 2, find:
(a) the rate at which the depth is increasing after 3 minutes;
(b) the depth of the liquid in the container after 3 minutes;
(c) the time it takes to fill the container.

8. The rate of emission E, in tonnes per year of chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs) in Australia from
2
40
31 October 1989 is given by E = 100 + , where t is the time in years.
1+ t
(a) What is the rate of emission E on 31 October 1989?
(b) What is the rate of emission E on 31 October 1998?
(c) What value does E approach as the years pass by?
(d) Draw a sketch of E as a function of t.
(e) Calculate the total amount of CFCs emitted in Australia during the years 1989 to 1998.
The Challenging Problem
9. HSC 2U 2000 10b
The first snow of the season begins to fall during the night. The depth of the snow, increases at a
constant rate through the night and the following day.
At 6 am a snow plough begins to clear the road of snow. The speed, v km/h, of the snow plough is
inversely proportional to the depth of snow.
A
(This means v = where A is a constant.)
h

Let x km be the distance the snow plough has cleared and t be the time in hours from the
beginning of the snowfall. Let t = T correspond to 6 am.

dx k
(a) Explain carefully why, for t T, = , where k is a constant.
dt t

(b) In the period from 6 am to 8 am the snow plough clears 1 km of road, but then it takes a
further 3.5 hours to clear the next kilometre.

At what time did it begin snowing?