Heart Height
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:43 pm
So, I came up with another neat math problem (which I actually haven't found the solution to yet). You've got a heart represented by the equation y=2*(2x/3)^(2/3)+/-sqrt(9-(2x/3)^2), and you're trying to find it's height (bottom tip to top curve). Simple enough, right? What I did:
Simply differentiate the equation and solve for which x value made the derivative 0. Easy peasy! I got a cubic equation with coefficients reaching over 1000, and the original equation's approximate answer didn't match the simplified one. I'm betting that something may have gone awry in my calculus as well, so I don't think I can even trust my original equation. After having dealing with the problem for over an hour, I gave up and decided to post it on the TTG fora. Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!
Simply differentiate the equation and solve for which x value made the derivative 0. Easy peasy! I got a cubic equation with coefficients reaching over 1000, and the original equation's approximate answer didn't match the simplified one. I'm betting that something may have gone awry in my calculus as well, so I don't think I can even trust my original equation. After having dealing with the problem for over an hour, I gave up and decided to post it on the TTG fora. Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!