Question
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  1. A rectangular box open at the top is to have a volume of . What must be the
    dimensions so that the total surface area is a minimum. Use the second derivative
    test.
  2. Suppose that the coordinate of the corner of a rectangular parallelepiped in the
    first octant is . Show that the largest rectangular parallelepiped that can be
    inscribed in the sphere has a volume of . Use the Lagrange
    multiplier method.

Ask by Harper Cruz. in South Africa
Mar 23,2025

Upstudy AI Solution

Tutor-Verified Answer

Answer

Problem 5:
To minimize the total surface area of an open-top box with a volume of 32 cubic feet, the dimensions should be 4 feet in length, 4 feet in width, and 2 feet in height.
Problem 6:
The largest rectangular parallelepiped that fits inside the sphere has a volume of cubic units.

Solution

Problem 5
Let the dimensions of the open-top box be:
  • Length:
  • Width:
  • Height:
Since the box is open at the top, its total surface area is the area of the base plus the area of the four sides:
The volume constraint is:
Step 1. Express in terms of and :
Step 2. Substitute into the surface area formula:
Simplify the side terms:
Thus,
Step 3. Use symmetry.
The expression for is symmetric in and . It is reasonable to assume the optimal solution occurs when . Then
and the surface area becomes:
Step 4. Find the critical point for .
Differentiate with respect to :
Set :
Solve for :
Step 5. Determine :
Step 6. Verify the minimum via the second derivative test:
Differentiate to get :
Evaluate at :
Since , the critical point corresponds to a minimum.
Answer for Problem 5:
The dimensions that minimize the total surface area are ft, ft, and ft.

Problem 6
We wish to find the largest rectangular parallelepiped (box) that can be inscribed in the sphere
Assume the box is centered at the origin with its faces parallel to the coordinate planes. Then one vertex in the first octant is at with . The full box extends from to , to , and to . Hence, the dimensions of the box are:
The volume of the box is:
We wish to maximize under the constraint:
Step 1. Set up the Lagrange multiplier formulation.
Let
We introduce a Lagrange multiplier and set:
Step 2. Compute the gradients.
The gradient of is:
The gradient of is:
Setting , we have:
Step 3. Solve the system by symmetry.
Assuming , notice that the equations are symmetric, suggesting that the maximum occurs when:
Substitute into the constraint:
Step 4. Find the maximum volume.
Substitute into the volume expression:
Since
we have:
Answer for Problem 6:
The largest rectangular parallelepiped that can be inscribed in the sphere has a volume of .

Answered by UpStudy AI and reviewed by a Professional Tutor

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Explain
Simplify this solution

Mind Expander

To minimize the surface area of an open rectangular box, you can start by letting the dimensions of the box be , , and (the height). The volume constraint gives you the equation . Rearranging for gives . The total surface area can be expressed as . Substituting for and finding critical points will lead you to minimizing values. Don’t forget to apply the second derivative test to confirm your minimum!
In the case of inscribing a rectangular parallelepiped within a sphere with the equation , the Lagrange multiplier method is your best buddy. You create a function (the volume) constrained by the sphere’s equation. Setting up the Lagrange function and taking partial derivatives will lead you to critical points. Solving this will provide the dimensions that maximize the volume, which ultimately results in the conclusion that the largest possible volume is . Happy optimizing!

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