5.6.3 Related Rates and Inverse Trigonometric Functions - Analytic Geometry and Calculus I

In this video, we work through a modified version of problem 97, from section 5.6, of the Larson Calculus text, 10th edition. It is a traditional related rates problem, involving the rate of change of an angle between the ground level and the line of sight of an observer watching a plane fly above him, at a height of 5 miles. While we could have taken a traditional related rates approach, we used inverse trigonometric functions instead. We selected the arccotangent function, as opposed to the arctangent function, because its range more accurately reflected the physical situation.
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