List 3

List of Proposed Problems

Mathematical Analysis

1. Cooling of a cake. When a cake is removed from an oven, its temperature is mea-
sured at 300oF . Three minutes later its temperature is 200oF . How long will it take
for the cake to cool off to a room temperature of 70o F ?
2. Thermometer. A thermometer is removed from a room where the temperature is
70oF and is taken outside, where the air temperature is 10oF . After one-half minute
the thermometer reads 50oF . What is the reading of the thermometer at t = 1 min?.
How long will take for the thermometer to reach 15o F ?
3. Thermometer. A thermometer is taken from an inside room to the outside, where
the air temperature is 5o F . After one minute the thermometer reads 55o F , and after
5 minutes it reads 30oF . What is the initial temperature of the inside room?
4. A small metal bar. A small metal bar, whose initial temperature was 200C, is drop-
ped into a large container of boiling water. How long will it take the bar to reach
90oC if it is known that its temperature increases 2o C in one second?. How long
will it take the bar to reach 98o C ?.
5. Thermometer. A thermometer reading 70oF is placed in an oven preheated to a
constant temperature. Through a glass window in the oven door, an observer records
that the thermometer reads 110oF after 1/2 minute and 145oF after 1 minute. How
hot is the oven?
6. Body. The rate at which a body cools also depends on its exposed surface area S. If
S is a constant, then a modification is
dT
= kS(T − Tm) (1)
dt
where k < 0 and Tm is a constant. Suppose that two cups A and B are filled
with coffee at the same time. Initially, the temperature of the coffee is 150oF . The
exposed surface area of the coffee in cup B is twice the surface area of the coffee in
cup A. After 30 min the temperature of the coffee in cup A is 1000F . If Tm = 70oF ,
then what os the temperature of the coffee in cup B after 30 min?.
7. Analytic technique: Separation of variables. Newton’s law of cooling - warming
a) A thermometer is removed from a room where the temperature is 70o F and
is taken outside, where the air temperature is 10o F . After one-half minute

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 the thermometer reads 50o F . What is the reading of the thermometer at one
minute? How long will it take for the thermometer to reach 15o F
b) A thermometer is removed from a room where the temperature is 40o C and
is taken outside, where the air temperature is 5o C. After one-half minute
the thermometer reads 30o C. What is the reading of the thermometer at one
minute? How long will it take for the thermometer to reach 25o C.
c) A cup of hot chocolate is initially 170o F and is left in a room with an ambient
temperature of 70o F . Suppose that at time t = 20 minutes the temperature is
150o F . How long does it takes the hot chocolate to cool to a temperature of
110o F .
d) A thermometer is taken from an inside room to the outside, where the air
temperature is 5o F . After one minute the thermometer reads 55o F , and after
five minutes it reads 30o F What is the initial temperature of the inside room?.
8. Velocity. We saw that the differential equation
dv
m = mg − kv
dt
where k is a positive constant and g is the acceleration due to gravity, is a model
for the velocity v of a body of mass m that is falling under the influent of gravity.
Because the term −kv represents air resistance, the velocity of a body falling from
a great height does not increase without bound as time t increases.
Find the speed v(t), speed limit vlimite and speed v(t1)
a) m = 100 kg, g = 9.8 m/seg 2 , b = 5 kg/seg, v(0) = 50 m/seg, find v(3)
b) m = 40 kg, g = 9.8 m/seg 2 , b = 10 kg/seg, v(0) = 60 m/seg, find v(2)

Figura 1: Terminal velocity

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 9. Velocity. Suppose the model in the previous problem is modified so that air resis-
tance is proportional to v 2, that is,
dv
m = mg − kv 2
dt

Find the solution to v(t).

10. Velocity. An object of mass 5 kg is released from rest 1000 m above the ground
and allowed to fall under the influence of gravity. Assuming the force due to air
resistance is proportional to the velocity of the object with proportionality constant
b = 50 N − sec/m, determine the equation of motion of the object. When will the
object strike the ground?
11. Velocity. A 400 lb object is released from rest 500 f t above the ground and allowed
to fall under the influence of gravity. Assuming that the force in pounds due to air
resistance is −10v, where v is the velocity of the object in f t/sec, determine the
equation of motion of the object. When will the object hit the ground?
12. Velocity. If the object in Problem (3) has a mass of 500 kg instead of 5 kg, when
will it strike the ground ? [Hill: Here the exponential term is too large to ignore. Use
Newton’s method to approximate the time t when the object strikes the ground].
13. Velocity. An object of mass 5 kg is given an initial downward velocity of 50 m/sec
and then allowed to fall under the influence of gravity. Assume that the force in
Newton due to air resistance is −10v, where v is the velocity of the object in m/sec.
If the object is initially 500 m above the ground, determine when the object will
strike the ground.
14. Velocity. A parachutist whose mass is 75 kg drops from a helicopter hovering 2000
m above the ground and falls toward the ground under the influence of gravity.
Assume that the force due to air resistance is proportional to the velocity of the
parachutist, with the proportionality constant b1 = 30 N − sec/m when the chute is
closed and b2 = 90 N − sec/m when the chute is open. If the chute does not open
until the velocity of the parachutist reaches 20 m/sec, after how many seconds will
she reach the ground?.
15. Growth and Decay. The population of a town grows at a rate proportional to the
population present at time t. The initial population of 500 increases by 15 % in 10
years. What will be the population in 30 years?. How fast is the population growing
at t = 30 ?.
16. Growth and Decay. The population of bacteria in a culture grows at a rate propor-
tional to the number of bacteria present at time t. After 3 hours it is observed that

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 400 bacteria are present. After 10 hours 2000 bacteria are present. What was the
initial number of bacteria?.
17. Growth and Decay. The radioactive isotope of lead, P b − 209, decays at a rate
proportional to the amount present at time t and has a half-life of 3.3 hours. If 1
gram of this isotope is present initially, how long will it take for 90 % of the lead to
decay?
18. Growth and Decay. Initially 100 milligrams of a radioactive substance was present.
After 6 hours the mass had decreased by 3 %. If the rate of decay is proportional to
the amount of the substance present at time t, find the amount remaining after 24
hours.

Newtonian mechanics.
Unless otherwise stated, in the following problems we assume that the gravitational
force is constant with g = 9.81 m/sec2 or g = 32 f t/sec2.
19. An object of mass 5 kg is released from rest 1000 m above the ground and allowed
to fall under the influence of gravity. Assuming the force due to air resistance is
proportional to the velocity of the object with proportionality constant b = 50 N −
sec/m, determine the equation of motion of the object. When will the object strike
the ground?.
20. A 400 lb object is released from rest 500 f t above the ground and allowed to fall
under the influence of gravity. Assuming that the force in pounds due to air resistan-
ce is −10v, where v is the velocity of the object in f t/sec, determine the equation
of motion of the object. When will the object hit the ground?.
21. An object of mass 5 kg is given an initial downward velocity of 50 m/sec and then
allowed to fall under the influence of gravity. Assume that the force in Newton due
to air resistance is −10v, where v is the velocity of the object in m/sec. Determine
the equation of motion of the object. If the object is initially 500 m above the
ground, determine when the object will strike the ground.
22. An object of mass 8 kg is given an upward initial velocity of 20 m/sec and then
allowed to fall under the influence of gravity. Assume that the force in Newton due
to air resistance is −16v, where v is the velocity of the object in m/sec. Determine
the equation of motion of the object. If the object is initially 100 m above the
ground, determine when the object will strike the ground.
23. A parachutist whose mass is 75 kg drops from a helicopter hovering 2000 m above

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 the ground and falls toward the ground under the influence of gravity. Assume that
the force due to air resistance is proportional to the velocity of the parachutist, with
the proportionality constant b1 = 30 N − sec/m when the chute is closed and
b2 = 90 N − sec/m when the chute is open. If the chute does not open until the
velocity of the parachutist reaches 20 m/sec, after how many seconds will she reach
the ground?.
24. A parachutist whose mass is 100 kg drops from a helicopter hovering 3000 m above
the ground and falls under the influence of gravity. Assume that the force due to
air resistance is proportional to the velocity of parachutist, with the proportionality
constant b3 = 20N −sec/m when the chute is closed and b4 = 100N −sec/m when
the chute is open. If the chute does not open until 30 sec after the parachutist leaves
the helicopter, after how many seconds will he hit the ground?. If the chute does not
open until one minute after he leaves the helicopter, after how many seconds will
he hit the ground?.

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