Now makea tablefor all measurementsto find the best,shortesttotal distance.
x (meters) Distanceto Water (m) Distancefrom Water to Tent (m)Total Distance(m)
0 100 301 401
25 103 276 379
50 112 251 363
100 141 202 343
125 160 177 337
150 180 152 332
175 202 127 329
200 224 103 327
225 246 79 325
250 269 56 325
275 293 35 328
300 316 25 341It lookslike the best placeto stop is between225 and 250 meters.Basedon othermethods(whichyou will
learnin calculusand someyou will learnlater in geometry),we can provethat the best distanceis when
she runs 240 metersdownstreamto pick up the bucketof water.
- Answerswill vary. One argumentfor why it is not best to minimizetotal distanceis that she may run slower
with the full bucketof water, so she shouldtake the distanceshe mustrun with a full bucketinto account.