Excel Companion Chapter 5 section 3

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One variation on the surface area problem of a box is the case where the cost of the materials to build the box is not the same for all six faces. From the figure below, we see that the fixed volume of the closed box is 250 cubic units, the cost of the top and bottom faces is $2.00 per square unit, and the cost of the sides is $1.00 per square unit.

Clsscmin.xls - min cost (box)

Questions

8. a)	Given the cost function with parameters a, b, n, and V, explain the roles of the new constants, a and b.
b)	Determine the first derivative of C(x)
c)	Determine the second derivative of C(x)
d)	Find the value of x that minimizes C(x) in terms of the four parameters.
e)	Apply Solver to min cost (box) in ClsscMin.xls using different values of the parameters and compare these results to the optimal solutions predicted by calculus. Describe what you find.

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Copyright © Joseph F. Aieta, Babson College 1997