Part (i)(a)
6 marksLet be the temperature of the water, in , minutes after it is placed in the room. Since the rate of decrease of is proportional to the difference between and the room temperature ,
where is a positive constant.
Since the water is cooling towards from above, throughout, so . Separating variables,
So
where .
Using the initial condition when ,
So . Using the given condition when ,
as an exact function of .
Part (i)(b)
1 markthe temperature of the water after minutes is .
Part (ii)
6 marksApproach
“Rate of change of thickness inversely proportional to thickness” gives . This is separable, and at pins down the constant of integration exactly (no logarithm is involved, since the variable being integrated is itself, not ).
Let cm be the thickness of the ice minutes after freezing commences. Since the rate of change of is inversely proportional to ,
where is a positive constant. Separating variables,
Using when ,
So . Using the given condition when ,
So
and since ,
The ice is safe to skate on once :
| To check your answer: , matching the given data point, and . ✓ |
the ice is first safe to skate on minutes (i.e. hours) after freezing commences.