 |
| ||
| |||
|
| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
|
Question from Tracy, a student: I need help trying to find the volume of a 9 ft long trough that has two equilateral triangles on the end. When the water of the trough is 2 feet deep and its depth keeps increasing by 1/2 ft/minute. I have to figure out at what rate the water is flowing into the trough. |
Hi Tracy,
The shape of the trough is a triangular prism, in fact a rectangular, triangular prism. The volume of a prism is the area of the base times the height. Thus the volume of the trough is the area of the triangular end times the length.
Penny
| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
 |
|
Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.