Unit #7 - Optimization, Optimal Marginal Rates

Some problems and solutions selected or adapted from Hughes-Hallett Calculus.

Optimization Introduction
1. Let f (x) = x2 − 10x + 13, and consider the interval
[0, 10].

(a) Find the critical point c of f (x) and compute f (c).

(b) Compute the value of f (x) at the endpoints of the

interval [0, 10].

(c) Determine the global min and max of f (x) on

[0, 10].

(d) Find the global min and max of f (x) on [0, 1].
(Note: not the same interval as before)

(a) Where does the function f have a local maximum?

2. Find the maximum and minimum values of the func-
ln(x) (b) Where does the function f have a local minimum?
tion f (x) = on the interval [1,3].
x (c) What is the global maximum of f ?
(d) What is the global minimum of f ?
√
3. √
Find the minimum and maximum values of y = 10θ−
8. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the
5 sec θ on the interval [0, π3 ].
following function on the given interval.
√
f (t) = 4t 4 − t2 , [−1, 2]
4. Find the maximum and minimum values of the func-
125x 9. An object with weight W is dragged along a horizontal
tion f (x) = x − on the interval [0,21].
x+5 plane by a force acting along a rope attached to the
object. If the rope makes an angle θ with the plane,
then the magnitude of the force is
5. The function f (x) = −2x3 +21x2 −36x+10 has one lo-
cal minimum and one local maximum. Find their (x, y) µW
locations. F =
µ sin(θ) + cos(θ)

where µ is a positive constant called the coefficient of

6. A Queen’s University student decided to depart from friction and where 0 ≤ θ ≤ π/2. Find the value for
Earth after his graduation to find work on Mars. Before tan θ which minimizes the force. Your answer may de-
building a shuttle, he conducted careful calculations. A pend on W and µ.
model for the velocity of the shuttle, from liftoff at t =
0 s until the solid rocket boosters were jettisoned at t 10. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the
= 80 s, is given by following function on the given interval.
3
−7x
3 2
f (x) = 7e7x , −1 ≤ x ≤ 0
v(t) = 0.001094333t − 0.08215t + 28.6t − 4.3
11. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the
(in feet per second). Using this model, estimate the following function on the given interval.
global maximum value and global minimum value of
the acceleration of the shuttle between liftoff and f (x) = 7x − 21 ln(x), [1, 4]
the jettisoning of the boosters.
12. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the
following function on the given interval.
7. Use the given graph of the function on the interval (0, 8]
to answer the following questions. f (x) = 4e−x − 4e−2x , [0, 1]

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13. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the (a) Find the time that the ball reaches its maximum
following function on the given interval. height.
f (x) = 7x − 14 cos(x), [−π, π] (b) Find the maximal height attained by the ball.

14. Find the global and local maximum and minimum val- 20. In a certain chemical reaction, substance A combines
ues of f (x) = 6x2 , 0 < x ≤ 6. with substance B to form substance Y . At the start of
15. Find the global maximum and minimum values of the the reaction, the quantity of A present is a grams, and
following function over the given interval. the quantity of B present is b grams. Assume a < b and
y ≤ a. At time t seconds after the start of the reaction,
3 cos x
f (x) = , 0 ≤ x ≤ 2π the quantity of Y present is y grams. For certain types
20 + 10 sin x of reactions, the rate of the reaction, in grams/sec, is
16. Find the global and local maximum and minimum val- given by
ues of f (t) = 10/t + 4, 0 < t ≤ 1. Rate = k(a − y)(b − y),
17. Find the global and local maximum and minimum val- where k is a positive constant.
ues of f (θ) = 3 tan θ, −π/4 ≤ θ < π/2.
18. Find the exact global maximum and minimum values (a) Sketch a graph of the rate against y.
3t
of the function f (t) = 8+t 2 if its domain is all real
(b) For what values of y is the rate non-negative?
numbers.
(c) Use your graph to find the value of y at which the
19. A ball is thrown up on the surface of a moon. Its height
rate of the reaction is fastest.
above the lunar surface (in feet) after t seconds is given
by the formula
7 21. At what value(s) of x on the curve y = 1 + 250x3 − 3x5
h = 217t − t2 . does the tangent line have the largest slope?
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Optimization Word Problems

22. Some airlines have restrictions on the size of items of 24. A printed poster is to have a total area of 799 square
luggage that passengers are allowed to take with them. inches with top and bottom margins of 6 inches and
Suppose that one has a rule that the sum of the length, side margins of 4 inches. What should be the dimen-
width and height of any piece of luggage must be less sions of the poster so that the printed area be as large
than or equal to 192 cm. A passenger wants to take a as possible? Let x denote the width of the poster and
box of the maximum allowable volume. let y denote the length.

(a) If the length and width are to be equal, what

should the dimensions be?
(b) In this case, what is the volume?
(c) If the length is be twice the width, what should the
dimensions be?
(d) In this case, what is the volume?

Include units in all your answers.

23. A wire 3 meters long is cut into two pieces. One piece
is bent into a square for a frame for a stained glass or-
nament, while the other piece is bent into a circle for a
TV antenna.
(a) Write the function of x and y that you need to
(a) To reduce storage space, where should the wire be maximize.
cut to minimize the total area of both figures?
(b) Express that function in terms of x alone.
(b) Where should the wire be cut to maximize the
total area? (c) Find the critical points of the function.

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 (d) Use the second derivative test to verify that f (x) 33. Centerville is the headquarters of Greedy Cablevision
has a maximum at this critical point Inc. The cable company is about to expand service to
(e) Find the optimal dimensions of the poster, and the two nearby towns, Springfield and Shelbyville. There
resulting area. Include units. needs to be cable connecting Centerville to both towns.
The idea is to save on the cost of cable by arranging
25. A box with an open top has vertical sides, a square the cable in a Y-shaped configuration. Centerville is lo-
bottom, and a volume of 32 cubic meters. If the box cated at (8, 0) in the xy-plane, Springfield is at (0, 5),
has the least possible surface area, find its dimensions. and Shelbyville is at (0, −5). The cable runs from Cen-
terville to some point (x, 0) on the x-axis where it splits
26. Find the dimensions of the rectangle of largest area into two branches going to Springfield and Shelbyville.
that can be inscribed in an equilateral triangle with Find the location (x, 0) that will minimize the amount
sides of length 2 if one side of the rectangle lies on the of cable between the 3 towns and compute the amount
base of the triangle. of cable needed. Justify your answer.
27. Find the minimum distance from the parabola
(a) What function of x needs to be minimized to solve
x − y2 = 0 this problem?

to the point (0,3). (b) Find the critical points of f (x).

(c) Use the second derivative test to verify that f (x)
28. I have enough pure silver to coat 2 square meters of
has a minimum at this critical point.
surface area. I plan to coat a sphere and a cube.
(d) Compute the minimum amount of wire needed.
(a) Allowing for the possibility of all the silver going
onto one of the solids, what dimensions should they
be if the total volume of the silvered solids is to be 34. A cylinder is inscribed in a right circular cone of height
a maximum? 4 and radius (at the base) equal to 3.5. What are the
dimensions of such a cylinder which has maximum vol-
(b) Now allowing for the possibility of all the silver go- ume?
ing onto one of the solids, what dimensions should
they be if the total volume of the silvered solids is
35. A small island is 3 miles from the nearest point P on
to be a minimum?
the straight shoreline of a large lake. If a woman on the
29. Suppose that 241 ft of fencing are used to enclose a cor- island can row a boat 2 miles per hour and can walk 3
ral in the shape of a rectangle with a semicircle whose miles per hour, where should the boat be landed in or-
diameter is a side of the rectangle as the following fig- der to arrive at a town 8 miles down the shore from P in
ure: the least time? Let x be the distance (in miles) between
point P and where the boat lands on the lakeshore.

(a) Enter a function T (x) that describes the total

amount of time the trip takes as a function of the
distance x.
(b) What is the distance x = c that minimizes the
Find the dimensions of the corral with maximum area. travel time?

30. Find the maximum area of a triangle formed in the first (c) What is the least travel time?
quadrant by the x-axis, y-axis and a tangent line to the
graph of f = (x + 2)−2 . 36. The illumination at a point is inversely proportional to
the square of the distance of the point from the light
31. A box is constructed out of two different types of metal. source and directly proportional to the intensity of the
The metal for the top and bottom, which are both light source. Suppose two light sources are s feet apart
square, costs $4 per square foot and the metal for the and their intensities are I and J, respectively. Let P
sides costs $6 per square foot. Find the dimensions be the point between them where the sum of their illu-
that minimize cost if the box has a volume of 35 cubic minations is a minimum: find the distance from P to
feet. I.
32. A rectangle is inscribed with its base on the x axis and (Your answer will depend on I, J, and s.)
its upper corners on the parabola y = 12 − x2 . What
are the dimensions of such a rectangle with the greatest 37. How far from A should the point P be chosen so as to
possible area? maximize the angle θ?

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 40. While waiting for their babies to mature, a bird par-
ent feeds the babies worms. To collect worms, the bird
flies to a site where worms are to be found, picks sev-
eral up, then flies back to its nest. The loading curve
below shows how the number of worms (the load) a
bird collects depends on the time it spends searching
for them.

38. Two vertical poles PQ and ST are secured by a rope

PRS going from the top of the first pole to a point R
on the ground between the poles and then to the top
of the second pole as in the figure. If R is chosen to
minimize the length of the rope, find the resulting rela-
tionship between θ1 and θ2 in terms of a and b, where The curve is concave down because the bird can pick up
a is the length of PQ and b is the length of ST. worms more efficiently when its beak is empty (initial
rate of collection); when its beak is partly full, the bird
becomes less efficient (slower rate of collection later).
The traveling time (from the nest to the site and back)
is represented by the distance P O in the diagram.
The bird wants to maximize the rate at which it brings
worms back to the nest, averaged over multiple trips,
so
Load/Trip
Rate worms arrive =
(Travel + Search Time)/Trip
39. The Nearsighted Cow Problem: A Calculus Classic.
A rectangular billboard 7 feet in height stands in a field (a) Draw a line in the figure whose slope is the desired
so that its bottom is 13 feet above the ground. A near- rate.
sighted cow with eye level at 4 feet above the ground (b) Using the graph, estimate the load which maxi-
stands x feet from the billboard. Express θ, the vertical mizes this rate.
angle subtended by the billboard at her eye, in terms
(c) If the traveling time is increased (i.e. P O length
of x. Then find the distance x0 the cow must stand
made longer), does the optimal load increase or de-
from the billboard to maximize θ(x).
crease? Why?