Q. 59
Question
A steam pipe must be buried underground to reach from one corner of a rectangular parking lot to the diagonally opposite corner. The dimensions of the parking lot are 500 feet by 800 feet. It costs 5 dollars per foot to lay steam
pipe under the pavement but only 3 dollars per foot to lay the pipe along one of the long edges of the parking
lot. Because of nearby sidewalks, the pipe cannot be laid along the 500-foot sides of the parking lot. How should
the steam pipe be buried so as to cost as little as possible?
Step-by-Step Solution
VerifiedThe steam pipe is buried along the 800ft rectangular park is 425ft.
Given rectangular park with 800ft and 500ft
Assume the length has to be taken has x on the edge of the 800ft
So then
Using Pythagorean theorem
The cost buried steam pipe is
Derivative of C(x) on both sides
Substitute
Squaring on both sides
The values of
the value of rectangular park is 800ft so above is not considered.
So the value of x=425 is the critical point of cost function.
Differentiating on both sides
Substitute x=425 in
The maximum value of x=425
The steam pipe is buried along the 800ft rectangular park is 425ft.