So we finally get to the practical application of calculus. I find that the optimization process involving fencing around a rectangular perimeter is relatively simple, however I’m currently having a more difficult time with a box equation and, as the professor predicted, the last equation on our homework, where we have to solve an even more complicated equation involving a triangular diagram.

I find myself stumped on the equations we got for homework, yet I sailed through the ones we did as a group in class.

Luckily, I have some useful links that should help me figure it out, so please check out these links if you, too, are struggling. Once we turn in the homework, I will explain how I solved these equations *hopefully* in a video of some sort.

This helped me solve the Box equation: http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/Optimization.aspx

And when I couldn’t figure out why my next equation wouldn’t factor right, I freshened up on the quadratic equation…

http://www.purplemath.com/modules/quadform.htm

And finally for the dog problem:

http://www.maa.org/features/elvisdog.pdf

hope these help!