2. Let y = (3x)1/2 for x
³ 0. What is the x-coordinate of the point on the graph of y that is closest to the point (5,0)?|
A. 2/7 |
B. 1 |
C. 5/2 |
|
D. 7/2 |
E. 13/2 |
Solution: The answer is D
Find the function D, that describes the distance between any point (x,y) on the given curve and the point (5,0), in terms of x. That is, apply the distance formula to the points (x,y) and (5,0) where y is defined as (3x)1/2.
Locating the x-coordinate of the point on the graph of y that is closest to the point (5,0) implies that we calculate D’(x), set it’s value equal to zero and solve for x. As follows,
