SOLUTION: I have a tanker that is sitting 450 ft from shore, is leaking oil that is advancing in a circle at 2.2 ft per hour. If it takes 204.55 hrs for the oil to reach the shoreline, how l

Question 321286: I have a tanker that is sitting 450 ft from shore, is leaking oil that is advancing in a circle at 2.2 ft per hour. If it takes 204.55 hrs for the oil to reach the shoreline, how long will it take to contaminate 6 miles of shoreline? I don't know if I start with the calculating the circumfrence or what?
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I have a tanker that is sitting 450 ft from shore, is leaking oil that is
advancing in a circle at 2.2 ft per hour.
If it takes 204.55 hrs for the oil to reach the shoreline, how long will it take to contaminate 6 miles of shoreline?
:
As you probably noticed, 204.55 * 2.2 = 450 ft, which would be the radius of
spill when it just touched the shoreline after 204.55 hrs.
:
Visualize a larger circle that has a 6 mi chord which is 450 ft from the center.
(The source of the spill)
The center 450' distance to the 6 mi chord bisects the chord, so we can find the radius by solving a right triangle, with 1 leg 450' and the other leg 3 mi
:
Convert 3 mi to ft: 3*5280 = 15,840 ft
:
radius would be the hypotenuse, so we have
r =
r = 15846.4 ft
:
How long would it take the oil to travel 15,846.4 ft at 2.2 ft/hr?
= 7,203 hrs (about 300 days)
:
Did this make sense to you? Let me know please (in the comment section).

RELATED QUESTIONS
Oil Leak A tractor has an oil leak. The amount of oil, L(t), in milliliters per hour... (answered by TimothyLamb)

I put quotes to ask question for the parts I didn't understand. Problem: At 9 P.M. an (answered by jim_thompson5910,mananth)

Hello Tutors, I am having trouble answering two questions: 1. An oil tanker can be (answered by addingup)

Sai's car is leaking engine oil at a rate of 2.5 milliliters per hour. If his car's... (answered by ikleyn)

Stopping an Oil Tanker: It has been shown that if an oil tanker stops its engines, then... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

I have no idea what I'm doing, please help! 1. Assume you have a fire truck that has... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

An oil tanker with engine trouble radios the mainland for a seagoing tugboat. At the time (answered by Fombitz)

At 9 P.M. an oil tanker traveling west in the ocean at 18 kilometers per hour passes the... (answered by Theo)

An island is 2 miles from point P (land) on a straight shore line. a town is 12 miles... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)