Q.A hollow cone with base radius cm and height cm is placed on a table. Show that the volume of the largest cylinder that can be hidden underneath is times volume of the cone.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Use similar triangles to relate the cylinder's radius and height under the cone, reduce the cylinder's volume to one variable, maximize it, and compare to the cone's own volume.
Step 1. Relate cylinder radius and height via similar cones.
The cone has base radius , height . A cylinder of radius inscribed with its top touching the cone's slanted side, at height from the table, satisfies (by similar triangles, since the cone's radius shrinks linearly from at the base to at the apex):
Step 2. Write the cylinder's volume in terms of alone.
Step 3. Differentiate and solve .
The nonzero critical number is (the maximizing radius, confirmed by checking rises then falls, or via there).
Step 4. Find the corresponding height and maximum cylinder volume. …
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