SOLUTION: The sides of a nuclear power plant cooling tower form a hyperbola. The diameter of the bottom of the tower is 288 feet. The smallest diameter of the tower is 143 feet which is 393.

Algebra ->  Quadratic-relations-and-conic-sections -> SOLUTION: The sides of a nuclear power plant cooling tower form a hyperbola. The diameter of the bottom of the tower is 288 feet. The smallest diameter of the tower is 143 feet which is 393.      Log On


   



Question 1206901: The sides of a nuclear power plant cooling tower form a hyperbola. The diameter of the bottom of the tower is 288 feet. The smallest diameter of the tower is 143 feet which is 393.5 feet above the ground. The tower is 581 feet tall.
Find the width of the tower at a height of 38 feet.

Found 2 solutions by CPhill, ikleyn:
Answer by CPhill(1959) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
To solve this problem, we need to set up a coordinate system where the origin (0,0) is at the center of the bottom of the tower. The hyperbola will have a vertical transverse axis.
**Step 1: Determine the equation of the hyperbola.**
Given the dimensions of the tower, we can determine the values of a and b in the standard equation of a hyperbola with a vertical transverse axis:
```
(y^2/a^2) - (x^2/b^2) = 1
```
* **a:** Half the distance between the vertices (top and bottom of the tower) = (581 - 393.5) / 2 = 93.75
* **b:** Half the diameter of the smallest part of the tower = 143 / 2 = 71.5
So, the equation of the hyperbola is:
```
(y^2/93.75^2) - (x^2/71.5^2) = 1
```
**Step 2: Find the width at a height of 38 feet.**
At a height of 38 feet, y = 38. We need to solve for x:
```
(38^2/93.75^2) - (x^2/71.5^2) = 1
```
Solving for x, we get:
```
x ≈ ± 53.8
```
The width at a height of 38 feet is 2 * 53.8 = **107.6 feet**.

Answer by ikleyn(52788) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
The sides of a nuclear power plant cooling tower form a hyperbola.
The diameter of the bottom of the tower is 288 feet.
The smallest diameter of the tower is 143 feet which is 393.5 feet above the ground.
The tower is 581 feet tall.
Find the width of the tower at a height of 38 feet.
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The solution in the post by  @CPhill is  TOTALLY  and  FATALLY  WRONG.

The expected hyperbola in this problem is horizontal,  with horizontal transverse axis.

In the post by  @CPhill,  the hyperbola is vertical,  with vertical transverse axis.

His initial hypothesis about the form of the hyperbola for this problem is  highlight%28highlight%28WRONG%29%29  and  highlight%28highlight%28ABSURDIST%29%29.


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                Regarding the post by @CPhill . . .


Keep in mind that @CPhill is a pseudonym for the Google artificial intelligence.

The artificial intelligence is like a baby now. It is in the experimental stage
of development and can make mistakes and produce nonsense without any embarrassment.


                It has no feeling of shame - it is shameless.


This time, again,  it made an error.


Although the @CPhill' solution are copy-paste  Google  AI solutions,  there is one essential difference.

Every time,  Google  AI  makes a note at the end of its solutions that  Google  AI  is experimental
and can make errors/mistakes.

All @CPhill' solutions are copy-paste of  Google  AI  solutions, with one difference:
@PChill never makes this notice and never says that his solutions are copy-past that of Google.
So, he NEVER SAYS TRUTH.

Every time,  @CPhill embarrassed to tell the truth.
But I am not embarrassing to tell the truth,  as it is my duty at this forum.


And the last my comment.

When you obtain such posts from @CPhill,  remember,  that  NOBODY  is responsible for their correctness,
until the specialists and experts will check and confirm their correctness.

Without it,  their reliability is  ZERO and their creadability is  ZERO,  too.