Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!news.nk.ca!rocksolid2!i2pn2.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: HenHanna Newsgroups: rec.puzzles,sci.lang,sci.math Subject: Re: Maximize Cistern Volume -- (cut out 4 squares (at Corners) and discard them) Date: Tue, 6 May 2025 19:35:47 +0000 Organization: novaBBS Message-ID: <14b4afbbf6091c2c839beec0c3c41f21@www.novabbs.com> References: <016b2820b7160c571e97a7f320260176@www.novabbs.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Info: i2pn2.org; logging-data="3419509"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@i2pn2.org"; posting-account="4L8HabKtc1alsSAOmk7EUGDHKRhgGhC+6gJMfTsJB0A"; User-Agent: Rocksolid Light X-Rslight-Posting-User: abae1fed5a82111a8790dc84735f550edb4392db X-Rslight-Site: $2y$10$FWMmrqMUcfBfxJ2s9xyxNuDPdzfOgN0hLczqaynLxUGjnNEYxFDnq X-Face: P#KeQ)CUdd!==@fw~Ms1=,Hb`IWtb6:Mw)x3B=H1BfNC\lz?Nb&)M9}$>?'X7l;CuB}utlJ=PHsRBSG6X>dYZ$[>P]$~+`>@V6$t}hTLoQ7XC~W\>:`B3ALU]SH;d(\MEc}znW8m}-ma&yPFkJ2@KSQrz=!Y;><;6a>z6N+mt`ClCt.PAE In article <016b2820b7160c571e97a7f320260176@www.novabbs.com>, > HenHanna wrote: > >>I let the derivative be 0 and solve it , and i get x = 1/2, 1/6 >> >> at x=0 the slope is 1 >> whereas at x=1/2, the slope is Zero!!! >> >>_______________ >> >> at x=1/2, the slope is Zero!!! >> >> It's not obvious why, Can someone explain this? > > When x is 1/2 the side of the cistern has shrunk to zero, the height > is 1/2, and the volume is zero. Physically, x can't exceed 1/2, but > the formula just produces a negative length for the side of the > cistern (along with a height greater then 1/2). That gives a positive > volume (the negative length is squared), so x=1/2 is a minimum for the > volume. > > -- Richard ______________________________________ Thank you... When i saw that this curve looks like the typical curve for y= x^3 + bx^2 + cx + d it made more sense that this "car" starts (at x=0) at the Top speed (of 1) but gradually slows down to a halt (at x=1/2) What's not at all obvious (intuitive) for me is.... why or how the max Volume is achieved at x=1/6 Could a little child guess that correctly ?