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Roy again needs to travel from A to C! This time they are diametrically opposite on a circular lake of diameter 120m.

(You can move the point B to help visualise the problem.)

Roy is going to run at 5ms−1 until he reaches the point B and then row his boat at 3ms−1 the rest of the way.

What is the longest amount of time it could take Roy?

(You are given that the stationary value for total time gives a maximum.)


Express the length of arc AB and the length of line BC in terms of θ.

Use this to express the total time required in terms of θ and use differentiation find the choice of θ which gives the maximum/minimum amount of time.


The graph of time against theta looks like this:

As you can see, the longest time uses a combination of running and rowing, but the quickest time does not!


Give your answer to 3 significant figures