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mrchauncey
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Homework Statement
First off, I am not a physics student. I am a math major taking a maple software course and there is a question that I can not figure out.
The question gives me a radial coordinates r
r:= [itex]\frac{a*t^{2}*e^{-b*t}}{1+t^{2}}[/itex]
And angular coordinates:
θ:=b+c*t[itex]^{2/3}[/itex]
Where a,b,c are real constants.
It then puts the radial and angular coordinates in the form
X:= r*cos(θ)
Y:=r*sin(θ) so it looks like this:
X:=[itex]\frac{a*t^2*e^{-b*t}*cos(b+c*t^{2/3}}{1+t^{2}}[/itex]
Y:=[itex]\frac{a*t^{2}*e^{-b*t}*sin(b+c*t^{2/3}}{1+t^{2}}[/itex]
Which I understand.
Homework Equations
Now the question is calculate speed V at an arbitrary time simplifying as much as possible. This is where I get confused. The question then says to find speed V at time t take
u=([itex]\frac{dX}{dt}[/itex])[itex]^{2}[/itex]+([itex]\frac{dY}{dt}[/itex])[itex]^{2}[/itex]
[itex]\sqrt{u}[/itex]
It does not explain why they use that formula to calculate the speed. Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this situation. This is an example in the book so I know this is how you do it or the way they want me to do it, so I am not looking for an answer, just an explanation.
The Attempt at a Solution
Thanks for looking.
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