A cone-shaped cup is made of paper of negligible thickness to hold 20π cm320\pi\text{ cm}^3 of liquid. The open inverted cone has radius r cmr\ \text{cm} and height h cmh\ \text{cm} as shown in the diagram above. The external surface area of the cup is denoted by A cm2A\ \text{cm}^2. The manufacturer wants to reduce the cost of production by minimizing the value of AA.

  1. (a)

    Find hh in terms of rr.

  2. (b)

    By considering A2A^2 or otherwise, show that AdAdr=π2(2r3−3600r3).A\dfrac{dA}{dr} = \pi^2\left(2r^3 - \dfrac{3600}{r^3}\right).

  3. (c)

    Find the exact value of rr that gives the minimum value of AA, proving that AA is a minimum.

    Find also the ratio of the radius to the height, rh\dfrac{r}{h}, giving your answer in terms of k2k\sqrt{2}, where kk is a constant to be determined.

  4. (d)

    The manufacturer decides to make paper cups at minimum external surface area using the ratio rh\dfrac{r}{h} found in part (c).

    The cup is being filled completely with water. However, there is a small hole at the bottom of the cup that causes water to leak out at the rate of 3 cm33\ \text{cm}^3 per second. Find the rate of decrease of the depth of the water at the instant when the depth is 2 cm2\ \text{cm}.

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Worked solution

10(a)

1. Equate the formula for the volume of a cone to the given volume.

13πr2h=20π\frac{1}{3}\pi r^2 h = 20\pi

2. Make $h$ the subject of the equation.

13r2h=20  ⟹  r2h=60  ⟹  h=60r2\frac{1}{3} r^2 h = 20 \implies r^2 h = 60 \implies h = \frac{60}{r^2}

Answer

h=60r2h = \frac{60}{r^2}

10(b)

1. Express $A^2$ entirely in terms of $r$.

From part (a), the volume is V=13πr2h=20πV = \frac{1}{3}\pi r^2 h = 20\pi, which gives h=60r2h = \frac{60}{r^2}.
The external surface area is A=πrl=πrr2+h2A = \pi r l = \pi r \sqrt{r^2 + h^2}.
Squaring both sides:
A2=π2r2(r2+h2)A^2 = \pi^2 r^2 (r^2 + h^2)
Substituting h=60r2h = \frac{60}{r^2}:
A2=π2r2(r2+(60r2)2)A^2 = \pi^2 r^2 \left(r^2 + \left(\frac{60}{r^2}\right)^2\right)
A2=π2r2(r2+3600r4)A^2 = \pi^2 r^2 \left(r^2 + \frac{3600}{r^4}\right)
A2=π2(r4+3600r−2)A^2 = \pi^2 \left(r^4 + 3600r^{-2}\right)

2. Differentiate $A^2$ implicitly with respect to $r$.

Differentiating both sides with respect to rr:
ddr(A2)=ddr[π2(r4+3600r−2)]\frac{d}{dr}(A^2) = \frac{d}{dr}\left[\pi^2(r^4 + 3600r^{-2})\right]
2AdAdr=π2(4r3+3600(−2)r−3)2A \frac{dA}{dr} = \pi^2 \left(4r^3 + 3600(-2)r^{-3}\right)
2AdAdr=π2(4r3−7200r3)2A \frac{dA}{dr} = \pi^2 \left(4r^3 - \frac{7200}{r^3}\right)

3. Divide by 2 to obtain the final expression.

Dividing the entire equation by 2:
AdAdr=π2(2r3−3600r3)A \frac{dA}{dr} = \pi^2 \left(2r^3 - \frac{3600}{r^3}\right)

Answer

AdAdr=π2(2r3−3600r3)A \frac{dA}{dr} = \pi^2 \left(2r^3 - \frac{3600}{r^3}\right) (Shown)

10(c)

1. Set the given derivative to zero to find the stationary value of $r$.

For a stationary value, dAdr=0\frac{dA}{dr} = 0.
Since A>0A > 0 (external surface area), we have AdAdr=0A \frac{dA}{dr} = 0.
Using the result from part (b):
π2(2r3−3600r3)=0\pi^2\left(2r^3 - \frac{3600}{r^3}\right) = 0
2r3=3600r32r^3 = \frac{3600}{r^3}
r6=1800r^6 = 1800
r=18006r = \sqrt[6]{1800}

2. Use the first derivative test to prove that this value of $r$ gives a minimum area.

We test the sign of dAdr\frac{dA}{dr} around the exact value r=18006≈3.49r = \sqrt[6]{1800} \approx 3.49.
Since AA is positive, the sign of dAdr\frac{dA}{dr} is determined by the term (2r3−3600r3)\left(2r^3 - \frac{3600}{r^3}\right).

  • For r=3<18006r = 3 < \sqrt[6]{1800}: 2(3)3−360033=54−133.33<02(3)^3 - \frac{3600}{3^3} = 54 - 133.33 < 0, so dAdr<0\frac{dA}{dr} < 0.
  • For r=4>18006r = 4 > \sqrt[6]{1800}: 2(4)3−360043=128−56.25>02(4)^3 - \frac{3600}{4^3} = 128 - 56.25 > 0, so dAdr>0\frac{dA}{dr} > 0.

Since the gradient of AA changes from negative to positive at r=18006r = \sqrt[6]{1800}, AA is a minimum.

3. Express the ratio $\frac{r}{h}$ in terms of $r$ using the volume formula.

From the volume of the cone given in the question stem, V=20πV = 20\pi:
13πr2h=20π\frac{1}{3}\pi r^2 h = 20\pi
r2h=60  ⟹  h=60r2r^2 h = 60 \implies h = \frac{60}{r^2}

The ratio is therefore:
rh=r60r2=r360\frac{r}{h} = \frac{r}{\frac{60}{r^2}} = \frac{r^3}{60}

4. Evaluate the exact ratio using the stationary value found.

Since r6=1800r^6 = 1800 at the minimum, we can find r3r^3 by taking the square root:
r3=1800=900×2=302r^3 = \sqrt{1800} = \sqrt{900 \times 2} = 30\sqrt{2}

Substitute this into our expression for the ratio:
rh=30260=122\frac{r}{h} = \frac{30\sqrt{2}}{60} = \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{2}

(This matches the required form k2k\sqrt{2} with k=12k = \frac{1}{2}.)

Answer

r=18006r = \sqrt[6]{1800}

rh=122\frac{r}{h} = \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{2}

10(d)

1. Find the minimum ratio $\frac{r}{h}$ using the result from part (c).

From part (a), h=60r2h = \frac{60}{r^2}.
For minimum AA, AdAdr=0  ⟹  2r3−3600r3=0  ⟹  r6=1800  ⟹  r3=302A\frac{dA}{dr} = 0 \implies 2r^3 - \frac{3600}{r^3} = 0 \implies r^6 = 1800 \implies r^3 = 30\sqrt{2}.
Thus, the required ratio is rh=r60/r2=r360=30260=22\frac{r}{h} = \frac{r}{60/r^2} = \frac{r^3}{60} = \frac{30\sqrt{2}}{60} = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}.

2. Formulate the volume of water $V$ in terms of its depth $x$.

Let the depth of water be xx and the radius of the water's surface be RR.
By similar triangles, the ratio of radius to depth is constant:
Rx=rh=22  ⟹  R=22x\frac{R}{x} = \frac{r}{h} = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2} \implies R = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}x
The volume of water VV is:
V=13πR2x=13π(22x)2x=π6x3V = \frac{1}{3}\pi R^2 x = \frac{1}{3}\pi \left(\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}x\right)^2 x = \frac{\pi}{6}x^3

3. Apply the chain rule to relate the rates of change of volume and depth.

Differentiating VV with respect to time tt:
dVdt=dVdx×dxdt=π2x2dxdt\frac{dV}{dt} = \frac{dV}{dx} \times \frac{dx}{dt} = \frac{\pi}{2}x^2 \frac{dx}{dt}

4. Substitute the given values to find the rate of decrease of the depth.

The water leaks out at 3 cm3/s3\text{ cm}^3\text{/s}, so dVdt=−3\frac{dV}{dt} = -3.
At the instant when x=2x = 2:
−3=π2(2)2dxdt-3 = \frac{\pi}{2}(2)^2 \frac{dx}{dt}
−3=2πdxdt  ⟹  dxdt=−32π-3 = 2\pi \frac{dx}{dt} \implies \frac{dx}{dt} = -\frac{3}{2\pi}
Since dxdt\frac{dx}{dt} is negative, the rate of decrease of the depth is 32π cm/s\frac{3}{2\pi}\text{ cm/s}.

Answer

32π cm/s\frac{3}{2\pi}\text{ cm/s}

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