The surface area of a melting snowball decreases at a rate of

3.4cm^2/min. Find the rate at which its diameter decreases when the diameter is 24cm . (Round your answer to three decimal places if required)

cm/min

SA = 4π r^2

dSA/dt = 8π r dr/dt

when diameter = 24, r = 12
so just plug in your values.

Could you explain more? Your answer is very confusing to me.

SA = 4π r^2 <---------- You must know that formula for the surface area

dSA/dt = 8π r dr/dt <----- I assumed you take Calculus

when diameter = 24, r = 12 <---- The question gave us that

so just plug in your values. <----- You should at least do some of the work.

at the end, double dr/dt, since the diameter d = 2r

or, start with A = πd^2
dA/dt = 2πd dd/dt

To find the rate at which the diameter of the snowball decreases, we first need to relate the surface area and the diameter.

The surface area of a sphere can be expressed as:

A = 4πr^2

where A is the surface area and r is the radius.

Since the diameter (d) of the snowball is twice the radius, we can express the surface area in terms of the diameter:

A = 4π (d/2)^2
A = πd^2/4

Now, we differentiate both sides of this equation with respect to time (t) to find the rate of change of the surface area with respect to time:

dA/dt = (π/4) * 2d * dd/dt
dA/dt = (π/2) * d * dd/dt

We know that the rate at which the surface area is decreasing is given as 3.4 cm^2/min. So, we can substitute this value into the above expression:

3.4 = (π/2) * 24 * dd/dt

Now, we can solve this equation for dd/dt, the rate at which the diameter is decreasing when the diameter is 24 cm:

dd/dt = (3.4 * 2) / (π * 24)
dd/dt = 0.283 (rounded to three decimal places)

Therefore, the rate at which the diameter is decreasing when the diameter is 24 cm is approximately 0.283 cm/min.