Math 105--Calculus I: Project 2, Fall 1998

More caustic rain...

by Gavin LaRose (glarose@umich.edu), Nebraska Wesleyan University, August 1998

©1998 Gavin LaRose (glarose@umich.edu)
permission granted to use and distribute free in an academic setting.

PostScript version of project

The letter from the Lonlinc CPE...

Lonlinc CPE

The Lonlinc Building
South 9th Avenue
Lonlinc, SK 08685

28 September 1998

Independent Mathematical Contractors, Inc.
Suite 2, Strawmarket Business Plaza
Lonlinc, SK 04685

Dear IMC:

Our great thanks for your prompt and useful work on the matter of the acid rain that we are hoping not to suffer from in Lonlinc. We have forwarded your report to the various agencies of import to which we inevitably report, and have received numerous accolades therefrom as a result of its comprehensive assessment of the problem. As a result of this report, however, we have received a reply from the transportation division of the Lonlinc bureaucracy. It appears that they are in the process of installing some high-gain solar panels to power a number of traffic direction devices about the city, the surfaces of which will eventually become pitted and therefore less clear as they are exposed to the acidity of the precipitation. According to their estimates, it would take exposure to an amount of Nitric Acid (NO3) equal to 800 grams for this to have a significant impact on the solar panels' electrical yield.

We therefore need to know, based on the data for monthly precipitation and NO3 concentration reproduced in tables 1 and 2 below, at what point the total acidic exposure to which a solar panel will have been subjected will equal or exceed 800 g of NO3.

It is with great pleasure that we anticipate your final report of 3--6 pages on this matter, which we need to receive by the 2nd of November. Owing to the success of the secondary consulting arrangment implemented with your previous project work, we have again made our scientific expert, Dr. Gavin LaRose, available to answer any questions that you might have in the course of your investigation. Again, he will unfortunately be unavailable to assist on this project over the weekend of 31 October--1 November. You should with your project team also plan on meeting with him sometime in the week of the 19th of September.

Sincerely
Jack C. Ousteaux
Director, Lonlinc CPE

jco:glr

Table 1: Average monthly precipitation (mm)

month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
avg precipitation 173 206 600 705 1098 1140 999 987 1016 623 351 260
month 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
avg. precipitation 177 218 596 750 1109 1088 1004 1028 965 593 369 255
month 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
avg. precipitation 173 209 567 134 1089 1055 928 1033 983 609 539 251

Table 2: Average NO3 concentration in precipitation (g/ml)

month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
NO3 conc. 0.4003 0.4033 0.4060 0.4078 0.4100 0.4124 0.4136 0.4171 0.4184
month 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
NO3 conc. 0.4214 0.4248 0.4255 0.4282 0.4307 0.4331 0.4356 0.4380 0.4409
month 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
NO3 conc. 0.4440 0.4454 0.4490 0.4513 0.4532 0.4567 0.4587 0.4603 0.4638
month 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
NO3 conc. 0.4658 0.4700 0.4715 0.4743 0.4772 0.4805 0.4834 0.4852 0.4879


Gavin's Calc I Project 2, Fall 1998
Last Modified: Sun Aug 23 17:10:06 CDT 1998
Comments to glarose@umich.edu