Calculus: Early Transcendentals 8th Edition

Published by Cengage Learning
ISBN 10: 1285741552
ISBN 13: 978-1-28574-155-0

Chapter 9 - Section 9.1 - Modeling with Differential Equations - 9.1 Exercises - Page 591: 15

Answer

(a) P increases most quickly at the start when a person first begins to learn a new skill. As time goes by, the rate of improvement decreases as a person's ability gets closer to the maximum performance level. (b) This differential equation seems appropriate since the rate of improvement decreases as the value of $M-P$ decreases. That is, the rate of improvement decreases as the person's ability gets closer to the maximum performance level. (c) Please see the graph below.

Work Step by Step

(a) P increases most quickly at the start when a person first begins to learn a new skill. It is normally quite easy to learn the most basic skills quite quickly. As time goes by, the rate of improvement decreases as a person's ability gets closer to the maximum performance level. (b) Differential equation: $\frac{dP}{dt} = k(M-P)$ This differential equation seems appropriate since the rate of improvement decreases as the value of $M-P$ decreases. That is, the rate of improvement decreases as the person's ability gets closer to the maximum performance level. (c) Please see the graph below.
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