Comments on: Related Rates in Calculus

By: Related Rates: See ‘em in action! | Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:02:57 +0000

[...] leaving for the conference, I had just started related rates with my kids in calculus. I have had a problem with related rates — because the problems are so bad. It’s just one of those places where you feel: this [...]

By: Sue VanHattum

Sue VanHattum — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:26:08 +0000

Dang! I can’t get that pdf to download…

I’ve always liked related rates myself, but having some realistic problems to mention would be lovely.

By: samjshah

samjshah — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:01:56 +0000

Dave, thanks. This is exactly what I was looking to find out. I actually studied the history of science (and a bit of math) in grad school, so this has more interest to me than just of a math teacher. PERFECT-O!

By: Dave Richeson

Dave Richeson — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:46:20 +0000

You might be interested in this article:

The Lengthening Shadow: The Story of Related Rates
by Bill Austin, Don Barry Phillips, David Berman
Mathematics Magazine, February 2000, Volume 73, Number 1, pp. 3–12

http://www.maa.org/pubs/calc_articles/ma009.pdf

By: Matt E

Matt E — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:41:37 +0000

Wow, my very first thought was a radar gun–and then you go and mention it! Well I’m fresh out of ideas. :-)

By: Adam Glesser

Adam Glesser — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:00:59 +0000

I went through the same crisis this semester and I ended up choosing the exact same problem as the only one that seemed reasonable (I found it in Stewart 4ed., problem 31 in the section on related rates). I wish I had a really sage piece of advice for you, but all I can offer is empathy.