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240 CHAPTER 3 DIFFERENTIATION RULES

We solve this equation for t by taking the natural logarithm of both sides:

150 ln 2
⫺ t 苷 ln 0.3
1590
m=100e_(ln 2)t/1590 ln 0.3
Thus t 苷 ⫺1590 ⬇ 2762 years
ln 2

m=30
4000 As a check on our work in Example 2, we use a graphing device to draw the graph of
0
m共t兲 in Figure 2 together with the horizontal line m 苷 30. These curves intersect when
FIGURE 2 t ⬇ 2800, and this agrees with the answer to part (c).

Newton’s Law of Cooling

Newton’s Law of Cooling states that the rate of cooling of an object is proportional to
the temperature difference between the object and its surroundings, provided that this dif-
ference is not too large. (This law also applies to warming.) If we let T共t兲 be the temper-
ature of the object at time t and Ts be the temperature of the surroundings, then we can
formulate Newton’s Law of Cooling as a differential equation:

dT
苷 k共T ⫺ Ts 兲
dt

where k is a constant. This equation is not quite the same as Equation 1, so we make the
change of variable y共t兲 苷 T共t兲 ⫺ Ts. Because Ts is constant, we have y⬘共t兲 苷 T ⬘共t兲 and so
the equation becomes
dy
苷 ky
dt

We can then use 2 to find an expression for y, from which we can find T.

EXAMPLE 3 A bottle of soda pop at room temperature (72⬚ F) is placed in a refrigerator

where the temperature is 44⬚ F. After half an hour the soda pop has cooled to 61⬚ F.
(a) What is the temperature of the soda pop after another half hour?
(b) How long does it take for the soda pop to cool to 50⬚ F?
SOLUTION
(a) Let T共t兲 be the temperature of the soda after t minutes. The surrounding temperature
is Ts 苷 44⬚F, so Newton’s Law of Cooling states that

dT
苷 k共T ⫺ 44)
dt

If we let y 苷 T ⫺ 44, then y共0兲 苷 T共0兲 ⫺ 44 苷 72 ⫺ 44 苷 28, so y satisfies

dy
苷 ky y共0兲 苷 28
dt
and by 2 we have
y共t兲 苷 y共0兲e kt 苷 28e kt

We are given that T共30兲 苷 61, so y共30兲 苷 61 ⫺ 44 苷 17 and

28e 30k 苷 17 e 30k 苷 17

28

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97909_03_ch03_p232-241.qk:97909_03_ch03_p232-241 9/21/10 10:23 AM Page 241

SECTION 3.8 EXPONENTIAL GROWTH AND DECAY 241

Taking logarithms, we have

ln ( 17
28 )
k苷 ⬇ ⫺0.01663
30
Thus
y共t兲 苷 28e ⫺0.01663t

T共t兲 苷 44 ⫹ 28e ⫺0.01663t

T共60兲 苷 44 ⫹ 28e ⫺0.01663共60兲 ⬇ 54.3

So after another half hour the pop has cooled to about 54⬚ F.
(b) We have T共t兲 苷 50 when

44 ⫹ 28e ⫺0.01663t 苷 50

e ⫺0.01663t 苷 286
T
72 ln ( 286 )
t苷 ⬇ 92.6
⫺0.01663
44
The pop cools to 50⬚ F after about 1 hour 33 minutes.

Notice that in Example 3, we have

0 30 60 90 t lim T共t兲 苷 lim 共44 ⫹ 28e ⫺0.01663t 兲 苷 44 ⫹ 28 ⴢ 0 苷 44

tl⬁ tl⬁

FIGURE 3 which is to be expected. The graph of the temperature function is shown in Figure 3.

Continuously Compounded Interest

EXAMPLE 4 If $1000 is invested at 6% interest, compounded annually, then after
1 year the investment is worth $1000共1.06兲 苷 $1060, after 2 years it’s worth
$关1000共1.06兲兴1.06 苷 $1123.60, and after t years it’s worth $1000共1.06兲t. In general,
if an amount A0 is invested at an interest rate r 共r 苷 0.06 in this example), then after
t years it’s worth A0 共1 ⫹ r兲 t. Usually, however, interest is compounded more frequently,
say, n times a year. Then in each compounding period the interest rate is r兾n and there are
nt compounding periods in t years, so the value of the investment is

冉 冊
A0 1 ⫹
r
n
nt

For instance, after 3 years at 6% interest a $1000 investment will be worth

$1000共1.06兲3 苷 $1191.02 with annual compounding

$1000共1.03兲6 苷 $1194.05 with semiannual compounding

$1000共1.015兲12 苷 $1195.62 with quarterly compounding

$1000共1.005兲36 苷 $1196.68 with monthly compounding

$1000 1 ⫹ 冉 0.06
365
冊 365 ⴢ 3
苷 $1197.20 with daily compounding

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.