Calculus 1 : How to find rate of change

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #1972 : Functions

A circle of radius  is inscribed inside of a square with sides of length . If the radius of the circle is expanding at a rate of , what is the rate of change of the sides such that the amount of area inscribed between the square and circle does not change? 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The amount of area between the square and circle is given by the difference of the two individual areas, the larger and smaller:

It then holds that the rate of change of this difference in area can be found by taking the time derivative of each side of the equation:

We are told that the difference in area is not changing, which means that . Therefore:

Example Question #3004 : Calculus

A rectangle of length  and width  is changing shape. The length is shrinking at a rate of  and the width is growing at a rate of. At the moment the rectangle becomes a square, what will be the rate of change of its area?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of a rectangle is given in terms of its length and width by the formula:

We are asked to find the rate of change of the rectangle when it is a square, i.e at the time that , so we must find the unknown value of  and  at this moment. The width and length at any time can be found in terms of their starting values and rates of change:

When they're equal:

And at this time .

Now, going back to our original area equation

We can take the derivative of each side with respect to time to find the rate of change:

Example Question #1973 : Functions

Find  if .

Possible Answers:

The derivative does not exist at that point.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find , we must first find the derivative and then plug in  for .

To evaluate this derivative, we need the following formulae:

Then plug in  for  into :

Example Question #94 : How To Find Rate Of Change

The length of a rectangle is defined by the function  and the width is defined by the function 

What is the rate of change of the rectangle's area at time  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of a rectangle is given by the function:

For the definitions of the sides

 

The rate of change of the area can be found by taking the derivative of each side of the equation with respect to time:

Example Question #95 : How To Find Rate Of Change

The area of a circle is given by the function . What is the rate of change of the radius at time  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of a circle is given by the function:

This equation can be rewritten to define the radius:

For the area function

The radius is then

or

The rate of change of the radius can be found by taking the derivative of each side of this equation with respect to time:

Example Question #96 : How To Find Rate Of Change

The rate of change of the area of a square is given by the function .

What is the rate of change of its sides at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The sides of a square and its area are related via the function

Rewriting the equation in terms of its sides gives

For the area definition

The sides are then

or

The rate of change can be found by taking the derivative of the equation with respect to time:

Example Question #97 : How To Find Rate Of Change

The sides of a cube are defined by the function .

What is the rate of growth of the cube's volume at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A cube's volume is defined in terms of its sides as follows:

For sides defined as

The volume is

The rate of change can be found by taking the derivative of the function with respect to time

Example Question #91 : How To Find Rate Of Change

The radius of a sphere is defined in terms of time as follows:

.

What is the rate of change of the sphere's surface area at time ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The surface area of a sphere is given by the function

For a radius defined as

The surface area equation becomes

The rate of change of the surface area can then be found by taking the derivative of the equation with respect to time:

Example Question #99 : How To Find Rate Of Change

A circle's radius at any point in time is defined by the function . What is the rate of change of the area at time  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of a circle is defined by its radius as follows:

In the case of the given function for the radius 

The area is thus

The rate of change can be found by taking the derivative with respect to time:

Example Question #3011 : Calculus

The legs of a right triangle are given by the formulas  and . What is the maximum area of the triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of a right triangle can be written in terms of its legs (the two shorter sides):

For sides  and , the area expression for this problem becomes:

To find where this area has its local maxima/minima, take the derivative with respect to time and set the new equation equal to zero:

At an earlier time , the derivative is postive, and at a later time , the derivative is negative, indicating that  corresponds to a maximum.

 

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