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Question

A man, 2m tall, walks ar the rate of 123m/s towards a street light which is 513m above the ground. At what rates is the tip of his shadow moving ? At what is the length of the shadow changing when he is 313m from the base of the light?

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Solution


Let AB be the lamp-post. Let at any time t, the man CD be at a distance x meters from the lamp-post, and y meters be the length of his shadow DE. It is given that
dxdt=123m/s

From figure it is clear ABE and CDE are similar
ABCD=BEDE=AECE ----- ( 1 )
AB=513m and CD=2m [ Given ]

Let BD=x and DE=y
AE=x+y
Now, substituting the values we get,
5132=x+yy

166=x+yy
16y=6x+6y
10y=6x ------ ( 2 )

Differentiating w.r.t we get,
10dydt=6dxdt, but dxdt=123=53
dydx=610×53

dydx=1
Hence, the shadow increases at the rate of 1m/s.
AB=513m and CD=2m
To find the rate at which the tip of the shadow E moves,
we have to find the rate at which BE=x+y moves.
Let BE=x+y=p
From ( 1 ),
ABCD=BEDE

83=x+yy=py
83y=p

Differentiating w.r.t t bothe sides we get,
83dydt=dpdt
But dydt=1
dpdt=83
The rate at which the tip of the shadow moves is 83m/s

1339523_1048626_ans_03b42aa7fe2c4a2fb829f9fc6b4f568d.png

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