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A tank contains 3 kilograms of salt dissolved in 75 liters of water. A salt solution of 0.4 kg salt/L is pumped into the tank at a rate of 6 L/min and is drained at the same rate. Solve for the salt concentration at time t . Assume the tank is well mixed at all times.

Initial value problem:

d u d t = 2.4 2 u 25 , u ( 0 ) = 3

Solution: u ( t ) = 30 27 e t / 50

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Newton’s law of cooling

Newton’s law of cooling states that the rate of change of an object’s temperature is proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the ambient temperature (i.e., the temperature of its surroundings). If we let T ( t ) represent the temperature of an object as a function of time, then d T d t represents the rate at which that temperature changes. The temperature of the object’s surroundings can be represented by T s . Then Newton’s law of cooling can be written in the form

d T d t = k ( T ( t ) T s )

or simply

d T d t = k ( T T s ) .

The temperature of the object at the beginning of any experiment is the initial value for the initial-value problem. We call this temperature T 0 . Therefore the initial-value problem that needs to be solved takes the form

d T d t = k ( T T s ) , T ( 0 ) = T 0 ,

where k is a constant that needs to be either given or determined in the context of the problem. We use these equations in [link] .

Waiting for a pizza to cool

A pizza is removed from the oven after baking thoroughly, and the temperature of the oven is 350 ° F . The temperature of the kitchen is 75 ° F , and after 5 minutes the temperature of the pizza is 340 ° F . We would like to wait until the temperature of the pizza reaches 300 ° F before cutting and serving it ( [link] ). How much longer will we have to wait?

A diagram of a pizza pie. The room temperature is 75 degrees, and the pizza temperature is 350 degrees.
From Newton’s law of cooling, if the pizza cools 10 ° F in 5 minutes, how long before it cools to 300 ° F?

The ambient temperature (surrounding temperature) is 75 ° F , so T s = 75 . The temperature of the pizza when it comes out of the oven is 350 ° F , which is the initial temperature (i.e., initial value), so T 0 = 350 . Therefore [link] becomes

d T d t = k ( T 75 ) , T ( 0 ) = 350 .

To solve the differential equation, we use the five-step technique for solving separable equations.

  1. Setting the right-hand side equal to zero gives T = 75 as a constant solution. Since the pizza starts at 350 ° F , this is not the solution we are seeking.
  2. Rewrite the differential equation by multiplying both sides by d t and dividing both sides by T 75 :
    d T T 75 = k d t .
  3. Integrate both sides:
    d T T 75 = k d t ln | T 75 | = k t + C .
  4. Solve for T by first exponentiating both sides:
    e ln | T 75 | = e k t + C | T 75 | = C 1 e k t T 75 = C 1 e k t T ( t ) = 75 + C 1 e k t .
  5. Solve for C 1 by using the initial condition T ( 0 ) = 350 :
    T ( t ) = 75 + C 1 e k t T ( 0 ) = 75 + C 1 e k ( 0 ) 350 = 75 + C 1 C 1 = 275 .

    Therefore the solution to the initial-value problem is
    T ( t ) = 75 + 275 e k t .

    To determine the value of k , we need to use the fact that after 5 minutes the temperature of the pizza is 340 ° F . Therefore T ( 5 ) = 340 . Substituting this information into the solution to the initial-value problem, we have
    T ( t ) = 75 + 275 e k t T ( 5 ) = 340 = 75 + 275 e 5 k 265 = 275 e 5 k e 5 k = 53 55 ln e 5 k = ln ( 53 55 ) 5 k = ln ( 53 55 ) k = 1 5 ln ( 53 55 ) 0.007408.

    So now we have T ( t ) = 75 + 275 e −0.007048 t . When is the temperature 300 ° F? Solving for t , we find
    T ( t ) = 75 + 275 e −0.007048 t 300 = 75 + 275 e −0.007048 t 225 = 275 e −0.007048 t e −0.007048 t = 9 11 ln e −0.007048 t = ln 9 11 −0.007048 t = ln 9 11 t = 1 0.007048 ln 9 11 28.5.

    Therefore we need to wait an additional 23.5 minutes (after the temperature of the pizza reached 340 ° F ) . That should be just enough time to finish this calculation.
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Practice Key Terms 3

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Source:  OpenStax, Calculus volume 2. OpenStax CNX. Feb 05, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11965/1.2
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