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Mathematics 16 Online
OpenStudy (anonymous):

How could I go about solving this problem: If x^2+y^2=25 and dy/dt=6, find dx/dt when y=4 and x=3.

OpenStudy (astrophysics):

\[2x \frac{ dx }{ dt } + 2y \frac{ dy }{ dt } = 0\] differentiate both sides wrt to t. Now find dx/dt and plug in the values.

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Ohhh okay! Thanks so much! :)

OpenStudy (astrophysics):

It's implicit differentiation :)

OpenStudy (astrophysics):

No problem!

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Right! I always get confused about the "with respect to..." part xD but I got what you did here! :D

OpenStudy (astrophysics):

You may have got confused because you may not be used to differentiating with respect to t, which just means x and y are functions of t :)

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Ahhh that's true! That makes total sense haha XD

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Many thanks! :D

OpenStudy (astrophysics):

Np :)

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