Question: In Exercises consider a fuel distribution center located at the origin of the rectangular coordinate system (units in miles; see figures). The center supplies three

In Exercises consider a fuel distribution center located at the origin of the rectangular coordinate system (units in miles; see figures). The center supplies three factories with coordinates (4, 1), (5, 6), and (10, 3). A trunk line will run from the distribution center along the line y = mx, and feeder lines will run to the three factories. The objective is to find m such that the lengths of the feeder lines are minimized.

Minimize the sum of the absolute values of the lengths of the vertical feeder lines (see figure) given by 

S = 4m 1| + |5m - 6| + |10m - 31.

Find the equation of the trunk line by this method and then determine the sum of the lengths of the feeder lines.

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S = 4m 1| + |5m - 6| + |10m - 31. -

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