G.18
The entrance of the Aquarium of Americas in New Orleans has a gigantic building-size
curve called a logarithmic spiral. Find out how to construct a logarithmic
spiral, and write a paper about what you learned. Why do you suppose it would
appear on the front of an aquarium?
G.19
If we assume that
the world population grows exponentially, then it is also reasonable to assume
that the use of some nonrenewable resource (such as petroleum) will also grow
exponentially. In calculus, it is shown that for some constant k, under
these assumptions, the formula for the amount of the resource, A, consumed
from time t = 0 to t = T is given by the formula
where r is the relative growth rate of annual consumption.
a. Solve this equation for T to find a formula for life expectancy
of a particular resource.
b. According to the Energy Information Administration, the annual world
production (in billions of barrels per day) of petroleum is shown in the
following table:
| Year: | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2003 |
| Quantity: | 52.42 | 62.39 | 52.97 | 60.90 | 61.85 | 66.03 | 67.00 |