Ornithologists have determined that some species of birds tend to avoid flights over large bodies of water
Question:
(a) In general, if it takes 1.4 times as much energy to fly over water as land, to what point C should the bird fly in order to minimize the total energy expended in returning to its nesting area?
(b) Let W and L denote the energy (in joules) per kilometer flown over water and land, respectively. What would a large value of the ratio W/L mean in terms of the birds flight? What would a small value mean? Determine the ratio W/L corresponding to the minimum expenditure of energy.
(c) What should the value of W/L be in order for the bird to fly directly to its nesting area D? What should the value of W/L be for the bird to fly to and then along the shore to D?
(d) If the ornithologists observe that birds of a certain species reach the shore at a point 4 km from B, how many times more energy does it take a bird to fly over water than land?
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College Mathematics for Business Economics Life Sciences and Social Sciences
ISBN: 978-0321614001
12th edition
Authors: Raymond A. Barnett, Michael R. Ziegler, Karl E. Byleen
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