Question
A housing committee wants a rectangular swimming pool and surrounding deck with a total area of
. The
deck is 3 m wide at each end of the pool and 2 m wide on each side. Find the dimensions of the pool that has the
maximum area.
deck is 3 m wide at each end of the pool and 2 m wide on each side. Find the dimensions of the pool that has the
maximum area.
Ask by Pearson Morrison. in Canada
Mar 29,2025
Upstudy AI Solution
Tutor-Verified Answer
Answer
The pool should be 9 meters in length and 6 meters in width to maximize the area.
Solution
We start by letting the length and width of the pool be
and
, respectively. The deck surrounds the pool with a width of 3 m at each end (adding 6 m to the length) and 2 m on each side (adding 4 m to the width). This means the overall dimensions (pool plus deck) are:
The total area (pool plus deck) is given as 150 m
, so we have the constraint:
Our goal is to maximize the pool area
subject to the area constraint above.
Step 1. Express
in Terms of
From the constraint:
Subtract 4 from both sides to get:
Step 2. Write the Area of the Pool as a Function of
The pool area
becomes:
Simplify:
Step 3. Find the Critical Points by Differentiating
Differentiate
with respect to
. First, write the derivative of the first term using the quotient rule:
The derivative of the second term
is
.
Thus, the derivative of
is:
Set the derivative equal to zero for maximization:
Solve for
:
Taking the positive square root (since lengths must be positive):
Step 4. Compute
Using the Constraint
Substitute
into the expression for
:
Final Answer
The dimensions of the pool that give the maximum area are:
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Bonus Knowledge
To solve this problem, let’s define the dimensions of the pool. Let
be the length of the pool and
be the width of the pool. The total area of the pool plus the deck is given as
. The deck surrounds the pool, adding 3 meters to the length (2 meters on either side) and 3 meters to the width (3 meters on either end).
The total area can be expressed as:
This equation accounts for the deck’s width.
Expanding, we get:
Simplifying, we have:
To maximize the pool’s area
, we can express
in terms of
using the equation above:
Substituting this into the area formula results in a single-variable function for area, which can be maximized using calculus.
To find the dimensions of the pool, you’ll need to derive this function, set the derivative to zero, and solve for
and
.
This can get a bit tricky, but trust that it’s like rearranging a puzzle – one piece at a time to see how they fit together!
To ensure you don’t make common mistakes when maximizing area, remember that clearly define your variables, double-check your substitutions, and ensure you respect the total area constraint of
. Small algebraic errors can lead to big discrepancies in your final dimensions, so take a step back and verify each stage of your calculations!