What is the rate of change?
Question Part |
Submissions Used |
An air traffic controller spots two airplanes at the same altitude converging to a point as they fly at right angles to each other. One airplane is 120 miles from the point and has a speed of 360 miles per hour. The other is 160 miles from the point and has a speed of 480 miles per hour.
At what rate is the distance between the planes changing?

The distance s between the planes is given by the formula,
s =
[img src=”http://www.webassign.net/wastatic/wacache1ff8a7b5dc7a7d1f0ed65aaa29c04b1e/watex/img/sqrt2a.gif” > | x2 + y2 |
.
Thus,
s2 = x2 + y2.
One plane is 120 miles away and moving towards the point of convergence at 360 miles per hour so x = 120and
dx |
dt |
= − .
The other plane is 160 miles away and moving towards the point of convergence at 480 miles per hour, so y= 160 and
dy |
dt |
= − .
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