Section 4.

6 Problem 22

A woman at a point A on the shore of a circular lake with a radius 2 mi. wants to arrive
at the point C diametrically opposite the other side of the lake in the shortest time
possible. She can walk at the rate of 4 mph and row a boat at 2 mph. At what angle
θ to the diameter should she row?
B

dw
α
dr

β
θ α

C
A
2 2

Note: α = 90° - θ , so β = 2θ. For any circle, the angle subtended (in radians) is
equal to the arc length (dw ) divided by the radius (2), so then d w = 4θ . The time
4θ
required to walk this distance is given by: t w = =θ .
4

dr
The distance rowed is given by: cosθ = ⇒ d r = 4 cosθ . The time needed to do
4
4 cosθ
this is given by: t r = = 2 cosθ .
2
π
The total time, T(θ) = t r + t w = θ + 2 cosθ , 0 ≤θ ≤ .
2
 Now we need the critical numbers: T ' (θ ) = 1 − 2 sin θ = 0

1 π
or sin θ = ⇒ θ = . So we need to evaluate:
2 6

T(0) = 2 , here we would row the entire trip,

π  π
T   = ≈ 1.57 , meaning we would walk the entire trip,
2 2

π 
T   ≈ 2.6 ,
6

So the minimun time results from walking the entire way around the lake.

Notice that the second derivative is: T ' ' (θ ) = − 2 cosθ < 0 and in this
instance gives us a maximum, just the opposite of what we need.