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calc help!!!!!!!!!!!?

Wire of length 28 m is divided into two pieces and the pieces are bent into a square and a circle. How many meters of wire should be allotted to the circle so that the sum of the areas is minimized?

I have working on this for awhile and can not figure out how to solve it.

1 Answer

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  • Puggy
    Lv 7
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Wire: 28 m

    Therefore,

    Piece #1 = w

    Piece #2 = 28 - w

    Minimize area of circle + area of square.

    If square uses piece #1, then

    A = (w/4)^2 = w^2/16 = (1/16)w^2

    If circle uses piece #2, then

    A = pi r^2

    But 28 - w = pi*diameter

    28 - w = pi * 2r

    28 - w = 2pi r

    (28 - w)/(2pi) = r

    Therefore,

    A = pi ( (28 - w)/(2pi) )^2

    A = pi (28 - w)^2 / (4pi^2)

    A = (28 - w)^2 / (4pi)

    A = (1/4)(1/pi) (28 - w)^2

    Since we want to minimize the area of both pieces, the formula to calculate the sum of their areas is

    A = (1/16)w^2 + (1/4)(1/pi) (28 - w)^2

    So this is our area function, A(w).

    A(w)=(1/16)w^2 + (1/4)(1/pi) (28 - w)^2

    Minimize the area of this by solving for the first derivative.

    A'(w) = (1/8)w + (1/4)(1/pi)(2)(28 - w)(-1)

    A'(w) = (1/8)w - (1/2)(1/pi)(28 - w)

    Make A'(w) = 0, to get

    0 = (1/8)w - (1/2)(1/pi)(28 - w)

    Multiply both sides by 8pi to cancel all denominators.

    0 = pi(w) - (4)(28 - w)

    0 = pi(w) - 112 + 4w

    112 = pi(w) + 4w

    112 = w(pi + 4)

    112/(pi + 4) = w

    So w = 112/(pi + 4).

    w represents what should be allocated to the square, so

    28 - w represents what should be allocated to the circle.

    28 - w = 28 - 112/(pi + 4)

    = [ 28(pi + 4) - 112 ] / (pi + 4)

    = [ 28pi + 112 - 112 ] / (pi + 4)

    = 28pi/(pi + 4)

    28pi/(pi + 4) meters of wire should be allocated to the circle.

    This is approximately equal to 12.317223701676393474506598486384.

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