Related Rates HSC Questions

Question 2s
1. ’10 2d A radio transmitter M is situated 6 km from a straight road. The closest point on the road to
the transmitter is S .
A car is travelling away from S along the road at a speed of 100 km h −1 . The distance from
the car to S is x km and from the car to M is r km.

dr
Find an expression in terms of x for , where t is time in hours.
dt

Question 3s
2. ’08 3c A race car is travelling on the x -axis from P to Q at a constant velocity, v .
A spectator is at A which is directly opposite O , and OA = l metres. When the car is at C ,
π π
its displacement from O is x metres and ∠OAC = θ , with − < θ < .
2 2

dθ vl
(i) Show that = 2 .
dt l + x 2
dθ
(ii) Let m be the maximum value of
dt
Find the value of m in terms of v and l .
dθ m
(iii) There are two values of θ for which = . Find these two values of θ .
dt 4
3. ’04 3c A ferry wharf consists of a floating pontoon linked to a jetty by a 4 metre long walkway. Let
h metres be the difference in height between the top of the pontoon and the top of the jetty
and let x metres be the horizontal distance between the pontoon and the jetty.

(i) Find an expression for x in terms of h .

(ii) When the top of the pontoon is 1 metre lower than the top of the jetty, the tide is rising
at a rate of 0.3 metres per hour. At what rate is the pontoon moving away from the jetty?

4. ’91 3d The volume, V , of a sphere of radius r mm is increasing at a constant rate of 200 mm 3 per
second.
dr
(i) Find in terms of r .
dt
(ii) Determine the rate of increase of the surface area, S of the sphere when the radius is
50mm.

Question 4s

The left-hand diagram shows the lower half of the circle x 2 + ( y − 15 ) = 152 .
2
5. ’98 4a
The shaded area in this diagram is bounded by the semicircle, the line y = h , and the y axis.

(i) Show that the volume V formed when the shaded area is rotated around the y axis is
πh3
given by V = 15πh 2 − .
3

A semicircle is rotated around the y axis to form a hemispherical bowl of radius 15 cm, as
shown in the right-hand diagram.

(ii) The bowl is filled with water at a constant rate of 3 cm 3 s −1 . Find the rate at which the
water level is rising when the water level is 6 cm.
6. ’97 4c A searchlight on the ground at S detects and tracks a plane P that is due east of the
searchlight. The plane is flying due west at a constant velocity of 240 kilometres per hour and
maintains a constant height of 900 metres above ground level.

Let θ ( t ) radians be the angle of elevation of the plane at time t seconds and let x ( t )
kilometres be the distance from S to the point Q on the ground directly below P .
dx 0.9
(i) Show that =− 2 .
dθ sin θ
π
(ii) Show that the rate of change of the angle of elevation of the plane when θ = is equal
4
1
to radians per second.
27

7. ’96 4b Grain is poured at a constant rate of 0·5 cubic metres per second. It forms a conical pile, with
the angle at the apex of the cone equal to 60°. The height of the pile is h metres, and the
radius of the base is r metres.

h
(i) Show that r = .
3
πh3
(ii) Show that V , the volume of the pile, is given by V = .
9
(iii) Hence find the rate at which the height of the pile is increasing when the height of the
pile is 3 metres.

8. ’89 4a A circular plate of radius r is heated so that the area of the plate expands at a constant rate of
3.2 cm 2 min −1 . At what rate does r increase when r = 10 cm?

9. ’84 4i A spherical bubble is expanding so that its volume is increasing at the constant rate of 10
mm 3 per second. What is the rate of increase of the radius when the surface area is 500 mm 2 ?
Question 5s

10. ’09 5b The cross-section of a 10 metre long tank is an isosceles triangle, as shown in the diagram.
The top of the tank is horizontal.

When the tank is full, the depth of water is 3 m. The depth of water at time t days is h metres.

(i) Find the volume, V , of water in the tank when the depth of water is h metres.

(ii) Show that the area, A , of the top surface of the water is given by A = 20 3 h .
dV
(iii) The rate of evaporation of the water is given by = −kA , where k is a positive
dt
constant. Find the rate at which the depth of water is changing at time t .

(iv) It takes 100 days for the depth to fall from 3 m to 2 m.

Find the time taken for the depth to fall from 2 m to 1 m.

11. ’06 5c A hemispherical bowl of radius r cm is initially empty. Water is poured into it at a constant
rate of k cm 3 per minute. When the depth of water in the bowl is x cm, the volume, V cm3 ,
π
of water in the bowl is given by V = x 2 ( 3r − x ) . (Do NOT prove this.)
3

dx k
(i) Show that = .
dt πx ( 2r − x )
(ii) Hence, or otherwise, show that it takes 3.5 times as long to fill the bowl to the point
2 1
where x = r as it does to fill the bowl to the point where x = r .
3 3
12. ’02 5b The diagram shows a conical drinking cup of height 12 cm and radius 4 cm. The cup is being
filled with water at the rate of 3 cm3 per second. The height of water at time t seconds is
h cm and the radius of the water’s surface is r cm.

1
(i) Show that r = h .
3
(ii) Find the rate at which the height is increasing when the height of water is 9 cm.
1
(Volume of cone = πr 2 h .)
3

13. ’94 5bc (b) The part of the curve x 2 = 32 y between y = 0 and y = h is rotated about the y axis.
y
S

h
x 2 = 32 y

O x

Show that the volume enclosed is given by V = 16πh 2 .

(c) The diagram represents the water in a dam on a farm. The depth of the water is h
metres, the volume of water in the dam is V m 3 , and the area of the surface of the
dV
water is S m 2 . The water in the dam evaporates according to the rule = −kS , where
dt
k is a positive constant, and t is the time in hours.

(i) Describe in words what the rule says about the rate of evaporation.
dh
(ii) Show that = −k .
dt
(iii) Initially the dam contains 64π m 3 of water. Calculate how long it will take for the
dam to empty by evaporation when k = 0.001 .
Question 6s

14. ’95 Q6 (a) PT is a tangent to the circle PRQ , and QR is a secant intersecting the circle in Q and
R . The line QR intersects PT at T .

(i) Prove that the triangles PRT and QPT are similar.

(ii) Hence prove that PT 2 = QT × RT .

(b) A long cable is wrapped over a wheel of radius 3 metres and one end is attached to a
clip at T . The centre of the wheel is at O , and QR is a diameter. The point T lies on
the line OR at a distance x metres from O .

The cable is tangential to the wheel at P and Q as shown. Let ∠POR = θ (in radians).
The length of cable in contact with the wheel is l metres; that is, the length of the arc
between P and Q is l metres.

3
(i) Explain why cos θ = .
x

  3 
(ii) Show that l = 3  π − cos −1    .
  x 

dl −9 dl
(iii) Show that = . What is the significance of the fact that is
dx x x 2 − 9 dx
negative?

(iv) Let s = l + PT . Using part (a), or otherwise, express s in terms of x .

(v) The clip at T is moved away from O along the line OR at a constant speed of
2 metres per second. Find the rate at which s changes when x = 10 .
Question 7s
15. ’11 7a The diagram shows two identical circular cones with a common vertical axis. Each cone has
height h cm and semi-vertical angle 45°.

The lower cone is completely filled with water. The upper cone is lowered vertically into the
dl
water as shown in the diagram. The rate at which it is lowered is given by = 10 , where
dt
l cm is the distance the upper cone has descended into the water after t seconds.

As the upper cone is lowered, water spills from the lower cone. The volume of water
remaining in the lower cone at time t is V cm3 .

π 3 3
(i) Show that V =
3
(h − l ) .
(ii) Find the rate at which V is changing with respect to time when l = 2 .

(iii) Find the rate at which V is changing with respect to time when the lower cone has lost
1
of its water. Give your answer in terms of h .
8

16. ’05 7a An oil tanker at T is leaking oil which forms a circular oil slick. An observer is measuring the
oil slick from a position P , 450 metres above sea level and 2 kilometres horizontally from the
centre of the oil slick.

(i) At a certain time the observer measures the angle, α , subtended by the diameter of the
oil slick, to be 0.1 radians. What is the radius, r , at this time?

dα
(ii) At this time, = 0.02 radians per hour. Find the rate at which the radius of the oil
dt
slick is growing.
17. ’88 7a Water is poured into a conical vessel at a constant rate of 24 cm3 per second. The depth of
water is h cm at any time t seconds.

30 cm

S
30 cm
h cm

What is the rate of increase of the area of the surface S of the liquid when the depth is 16 cm?

New Format HSCs

18. ’12 14c A plane P takes off from a point B . It flies due north at a constant angle α to the horizontal.
An observer is located at A , 1 km from B , at a bearing 060° from B .

Let u km be the distance from B to the plane and let r km be the distance from the observer
to the plane. The point G is on the ground directly below the plane.

(i) Show that r = 1 + u 2 − u cos α .

(ii) The plane is travelling at a constant speed of 360 km/h.

At what rate, in terms of α , is the distance of the plane from the observer changing 5
minutes after take-off?
19. ’13 13a A spherical raindrop of radius r metres loses water through evaporation at a rate that depends
on its surface area. The rate of change of the volume V of the raindrop is given by
dV
= −10−4 A , where t is time in seconds and A is the surface area of the raindrop.
dt
4
The surface area and the volume of the raindrop are given by A = 4πr 2 and V = πr 3
3
respectively.
dr
(i) Show that is constant.
dt
(ii) How long does it take for a raindrop of volume 10−6 m3 to completely evaporate?

Extension 2s

20. ’02 7a The diagram represents a vertical cylindrical water cooler of constant cross-sectional area A .
Water drains through a hole at the bottom of the cooler.

From physical principles, it is known that the volume V of water decreases at a rate given by
dV
= −k y
dt
where k is a positive constant and y is the depth of water.
Initially the cooler is full and it takes T seconds to drain. Thus y = y0 when t = 0 , and y = 0
when t = T .

dy k
(i) Show that =− y.
dt A
2
dt  t 
(ii) By considering the equation for , or otherwise, show that y = y0 1 −  for
dy  T
0≤t ≤T .

(iii) Suppose it takes 10 seconds for half the water to drain out. How long does it take to
empty the full cooler?

21. ’70 Q2 The minute hand OP and hour hand OQ of a clock are four feet and three feet long
respectively. At the instant when the clock shows 9 o’clock find the rate (in feet per hour) at
which the length PQ is increasing.
Answers
dr 100 x
1. =
dt x 2 + 36

v π
2. (ii) m= (iii) x=±
l 3

3
3. (i) x = 16 − h 2 (ii) m/h
10 15

dr 50
4. (i) = (ii) 8 mm2 /s
dt πr 2

1
5. (ii) cm/s
48π

1
7. (iii) m/s
6π

4
8. cm/min
25π

1
9. mm/s
50

dh
10. (i) V = 10h 2 3 (iii) = −k (iv) 100 days
dt

1
12. cm/s
3π

13. (c) (i) Water evaporates at a rate proportional to the surface area (iii) 2000 hours

  3  91
14. (iii) l decreases as x increases (iv) s = 3  π − cos −1    + x2 − 9 (v) m/s
  x  5

dV dV
15. (ii) = −40π cm3 / s (iii) = −5πh cm3 / s
dt dt

16. (i) r = 2050 tan 0.05c = 102.6 m (ii) 20.55 m/h

17. 3 cm 3 / s

dr 180 ( 60 − cos α )
18. = km/h
dt 901 − 30 cos α

19. (ii) 62 seconds

10 2
20. (iii) seconds
2 −1

22π
21. feet/h
5