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Challenge Set #6 Due: Monday, Dec 6
Your solution should be neat with clear explanations/diagrams accompanying the math. If I cannot follow your
solution because your steps are not written out clearly, you will not receive credit. You are encouraged to work
together to solve the problems, but your final write up must be unique. Acknowledge any collaborators.
a. Imagine you have a piece of string that’s long enough to stretch all the way around a basketball (the
circumference of a basketball is 30 inches). Then you realize you have an extra 24 inches of string in your pocket,
which you want to add to the string. So, you cut the circle of string somewhere, add exactly 24 inches, and then
smooth it out until it makes a circle all around the ball.
24 in.
? in.
How high is the string off the basketball?
b. Now instead of the basketball imagine that you have a piece of string that’s long enough to stretch all the way
around the equator of the earth (so you’ll need to find the circumference of the earth, in inches). Again, you
realize you have an extra 24 inches of string in your pocket, and you want to add it to the string around the
earth. So, you cut the circle of string somewhere, add exactly 24 inches, and then smooth it out until it makes a
circle around the earth.
i. Take a guess: How high do you think the string will be off the earth? (Really, just guess. I don’t care
how off you are!)
ii. Now do the calculation: How high will the string actually be off the earth?
iii. Compare this with your answer to part (a). Are you surprised? Could this actually be correct? Write a
few sentences.
iv. What do you think would happen if you did the same thing except with a marble?
c. Now, let’s connect this to calculus. What you’ve really been figuring out is how the radius of a sphere changes if
Δr
you change the circumference; that’s just the change in radius with respect to circumference, or .
Δc
i. Write a formula for the radius of a sphere as a function of the circumference of a sphere: r (c) = …
dr
ii. Find .
dc
iii. How does this explain your findings above? (Think back to the circle and sphere problems we did in
class)