Related Rates

This applet simulates the movement of two ships, one East/West and the other North/South. A separate graph keeps track of the distance between them as a function of time. Click the "start" button to see what happens.

Try different initial settings for the ships and then start the simulation. Note how the distance between ships changes (its rate of change is related to that of the ships) and is described by the graph. When you think you have a good feel for these, try filling in the "lab report" for related rates.
The code for the applet above is online. The distance units are 4 pixels per nautical mile while the time units (on the independent axis in the right hand graph) are 200 pixels per hour. Velocity is in knots (nautical miles per hour) and the applet simulates 1.5 hours of motion. The schematic ships are not drawn to scale.

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USNA Mathematics Department
Comments to: Professor Carol G. Crawford, at cgc@nadn.navy.mil or Professor Mark D. Meyerson, at mdm@nadn.navy.mil