4. The profile of the cables of a suspension bridge may be modeled by a parabola. The centr span of the Golden Gate Bridge is 1280 meters long and 152 meters high. The parabola \( y \) \( 0.00037 x^{2} \) gives a good fit to the shape of the cables, where \( |x| \leq 640 \), and \( x \) and \( y \) are measured in meters. Find the definite integral that gives the length of the cables that stretch between the tops of the two towers (set-up but do not solve).
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To find the length of the cables stretching between the tops of the two towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, we need to set up the definite integral for the arc length of the parabola described by the function \( y = 0.00037x^2 \). The formula for the arc length \( L \) of a curve from \( a \) to \( b \) is given by: \[ L = \int_{a}^{b} \sqrt{1 + \left( \frac{dy}{dx} \right)^2} \, dx \] First, we need to find \( \frac{dy}{dx} \) for our parabola: \[ \frac{dy}{dx} = 0.00074x \] Now substitute this into the arc length formula. If we are considering the length of the cables from the left tower at \( x = -640 \) meters to the right tower at \( x = 640 \) meters, our definite integral will be: \[ L = \int_{-640}^{640} \sqrt{1 + (0.00074x)^2} \, dx \] This integral represents the total length of the cables stretching between the tops of the two towers.