University of Central Punjab

Calculus and Analytical Geometry

Assignment 3/ Mini-Project

Instructions: This is a group Assignment, a group of 2 or 3. You and your partners should work together
to produce one set of solutions to turn in. Use the plain A4 answers sheets to submit your solutions.
Organize your solutions carefully and in the correct sequence so it is clear to me how to find what I want
in the work you turn in.
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Motivation:
On Sunday 22 May 2022, the K-P government declared a state of emergency due to the raging forest fire
at Koh-e-Suleman mountain range located in the Sherani district, northwest of Balochistan Province. The
fire was observed a week ago and expanded over the weekend, destroying an estimated 30% of the
UNESCO-heritage pine-nut forest. Three people died and four others were injured so far, while an
estimated 4,000 individuals are displaced and living with families.

Introduction:
This mini-project studies a fire management technique called firebreaks, which reduces the damage
done by forest fires. A firebreak is a strip of the forest where all the trees are removed, along with
anything else that will burn in a fire. This divides the forest into sections (called stands), separated by
firebreaks. The idea is that, if a fire starts in one stand, the firebreaks will prevent it from spreading to
other stands, which lessens the amount of forest destroyed by the fire. See the diagram illustrated.
How many firebreaks?
When using firebreaks, an important question is, “How many firebreaks should be created?” If you don’t
have enough firebreaks, then the stands will be very large, and a fire in one stand will still destroy a great
deal of trees. On the other hand, if you have too many firebreaks, then you still lose lots of trees (the ones
that are cleared to make the firebreaks). We would like to choose the number of firebreaks(Optimal
number) so as to minimize the total damage (i.e. trees lost) in the event of a fire. Here, total damage
means all the trees that burn, and also the trees that are removed to form the firebreaks.
Problem 1
Let’s begin with a simplified situation. Our job is to design firebreaks for a 50 km by 50 km square of a
forest. The firefighters tell us that the firebreaks should be 0.01 km wide, which makes them wide enough
that most fires cannot cross them. So, the firebreaks will be rectangular strips 50 km by 0.01 km. All
firebreaks will be parallel to each other and to one edge of the forest, with the first firebreak at the edge of
the forest. (In other words, the firebreaks will be laid out as in the Figure above, which shows what things
would look like if there were four firebreaks.) The firebreaks are evenly-spaced throughout the forest.
Here is our goal:
Goal: Determine the number of firebreaks that will minimize the total area lost in the case of a fire.
We will now formulate this as a calculus optimization problem.
First, some variables. Let 𝒏 = the number of firebreaks (independent variable)
𝑨(𝒏) = the total area lost in the event of a fire, when there are 𝒏 firebreaks (dependent variable)
We need a formula for 𝑨(𝒏).
We know that 𝑨(𝒏) = (area of one stand) + (total area of all n firebreaks),
since this accurately reflects the total forested area lost when a fire burns one stand.
So, we want to solve the following optimization problem: Minimize 𝐴(𝑛) over the interval 𝟎 < 𝒏 < ∞.

Exercise 1. Suppose there are 𝑛 firebreaks.

a. Compute the area of one firebreak.
b. Compute the total area of all 𝑛 firebreaks.
c. Compute the total area of all 𝑛 stands.
d. Compute the area of one stand.
Exercise 2. Using the results of Exercise 1, write a formula for 𝐴(𝑛) in terms of 𝑛.
Exercise 3. Using your formula from Exercise 2, use the methods we learned in class to solve the calculus
problem: Minimize A(n) over the interval 0 < 𝑛 < ∞.
Exercise 4. Using GeoGebra/Desmos, graph the curve 𝐴(𝑛), and verify the answer you got in Exercise 3.

Problem 2
A Rectangular Forest Now, instead of a 50 km by 50 km forest, assume that we have a 100 km by 50 km
forest. We now have a choice of placing our firebreaks parallel to the long side of the forest, or parallel to
the short side of the forest:

Which is the better choice?

Exercise 1. Consider first the case where the firebreaks are parallel to the long side of the forest.
a. As in Problem 1, derive a formula for 𝐴(𝑛) in terms of n.
b. Solve the calculus problem: Minimize 𝐴(𝑛) over the interval 0 < 𝑛 < ∞
c. Graph the curve of 𝐴(𝑛).
Exercise 2. Repeat Exercise 1 in the case where the firebreaks are parallel to the short side of the forest.
Exercise 3. Is it better to place the firebreaks parallel to the long side of the forest, or the short side?
Justify your answer.

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