A highway patrol plane flies 3 miles above a level, straight road at a steady 120mph. The pilot sees an oncoming car and with radar determines that at the instant the line of sight distance from plane to car is 5 miles, the line of sight distance is decreasing at the rate of 160mph. Find the car's speed along the highway.
Highway Patrol Problem Using Related Rates
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calculus
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0What's confusing me is that they mention the rate of the plane. I know you would have to use the pythagorean theorem and incorporate the differentials, but it looks like you would have two different rates along the x axis. – 2012-12-16