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Consider two interconnected tanks as shown in the figure above. Tank 1 initial c

ID: 3032385 • Letter: C

Question

Consider two interconnected tanks as shown in the figure above. Tank 1 initial contains 20 L (liters) of water and 485 g of salt, while tank 2 initially contains 70 L of water and 440 g of salt. Water containing 10 g/L of salt is poured into tank1 at a rate of 1.5 L/min while the mixture flowing into tank 2 contains a salt concentration of 45 g/L of salt and is flowing at the rate of 4 L/min. The two connecting tubes have a flow rate of 3 L/min from tank 1 to tank 2; and of 1.5 L/min from tank 2 back to tank 1. Tank 2 is drained at the rate of 5.5 L/min.

You may assume that the solutions in each tank are thoroughly mixed so that the concentration of the mixture leaving any tank along any of the tubes has the same concentration of salt as the tank as a whole. (This is not completely realistic, but as in real physics, we are going to work with the approximate, rather than exact description. The 'real' equations of physics are often too complicated to even write down precisely, much less solve.)

How does the water in each tank change over time?

Let p(t)p(t) and q(t)q(t) be the amount of salt in g at time t in tanks 1 and 2 respectively. Write differential equations for pp and qq. (As usual, use the symbols pp and qqrather than p(t)p(t) and q(t)q(t).)

Explanation / Answer

Given :

Inital Volume of Tank 1 = 20L

Initial Volume of Tank 2 = 70L

First, we have to note the inflow and outflow of water for each tank:

Tank 1: In= 3 L/min Out= 3 L/min

Tank 2: In= 7 L/minOut= 7 L/min =>(1.5L/min + 5.5L/min)

Now let p(t) = amount of salt, in grams, in Tank 1 as function of time per min

andq(t) = amount of salt, in grams, in Tank 2 as function of time per min

where at time = 0 => p(0) = 485 grams of salt

q(0) = 440 grams of salt

Thus the derivative is:

p'(t) = the rate of change with respect to time of the amount of salt in Tank 1

q'(t) = the rate of change with respect to time of the amount of salt in Tank 2

p'(t) = (Incoming flow in Tank 1)(concentration fo salt in flow) + (Incoming flow from Tank 2)(Concentration of salt in

Tank 2) - (Outgoing flow from Tank 1)(concentration in Tank 1)

p'(t) = (Incoming flow)(concentration of salt in flow) + (Incoming flow from Tank2)[p(t)/(Volume of water in Tank 2)] -

[(Outgoing flow from Tank 1)[q(t)/(Volume of water in Tank 1)]

p'(t) = (10g/L)(1.5L/min) + (1.5L/min)[p(t)/70L] - (3L/min)[q(t)/20L]

p'(t) = 15 + (1.5/70)p(t) - (3/20)q(t) g/min

p'(t) = 15 + (3/140)p(t) - (3/20)q(t) g/min

q'(t) = (Incoming flow)(Concentration of salt in flow) + (incoming flow from Tank 1)[p(t)/(Volume of water in Tank

1)] - (Outgoing flow from Tank2)[q(t)/(Volume of water in Tank 2)]

q'(t) = (45L)(4L/min) + (3L/min)[p(t)/20L] - (7L/min)[q(t)/70L]

q'(t) = 180 + (3/20)p(t) - (1/70)q(t) g/min

Therefore p' and q' is:

p' = 15 + (3/140)p - (3/20)q g/min for Tank 1

q' = 180 + (3/20)p - (1/70)q g/min for Tank 2