on a certain clock the minute hand is 4 in long and the hour hand is 3 in long. How fast is the distance between the tips of the hands changing at 4 PM? ...?
The correct answer is 70.95 inches/hour. To solve this, The minute hand is rotating at 2pi rad/hour The hour hand is rotating at 2pi/12 or pi/6 rad/hour then dα/dt = pi/6 - 2pi = -11pi/6 rad/hour, α = angle between the two arms
let x - distance between the arms x^2 = 4^2 + 3^2 - 2(3)(4)cosα x^2 = 25 - 24cosα