When you cough, you are using a high-speed stream of air to clear your trachea (windpipe).  During a cough, your trachea contracts, forcing the air to move faster, but also increasing the friction.  If a trachea contracts from a normal radius of 3 centimeters to a radius of r centimeters, the velocity of the airstream is V(r) = c(3-r)r2 where c is a positive constant depending on the length and the elasticity of the trachea.  Find the radius r that maximizes this velocity.  (X-ray pictures verify that the trachea does indeed contract to this radius.)

College Algebra
10th Edition
ISBN:9781337282291
Author:Ron Larson
Publisher:Ron Larson
Chapter3: Polynomial Functions
Section3.5: Mathematical Modeling And Variation
Problem 7ECP: The kinetic energy E of an object varies jointly with the object’s mass m and the square of the...
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When you cough, you are using a high-speed stream of air to clear your trachea (windpipe).  During a cough, your trachea contracts, forcing the air to move faster, but also increasing the friction.  If a trachea contracts from a normal radius of 3 centimeters to a radius of r centimeters, the velocity of the airstream is V(r) = c(3-r)r2 where c is a positive constant depending on the length and the elasticity of the trachea.  Find the radius r that maximizes this velocity.  (X-ray pictures verify that the trachea does indeed contract to this radius.)

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