Final answer:
The rate of change of the volume of the cylinder at that instant is -19,200π cubic kilometers per second.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the rate of change of the volume of the cylinder, we need to use the formula for the volume of a cylinder, which is V = πr²h. We know that the radius of the base is decreasing at a rate of 12 kilometers per second. The height of the cylinder is fixed at 2.5 kilometers. At a certain instant, the radius is 40 kilometers. We can plug these values into the formula to find the rate of change of the volume.
V = π(40)²(2.5)
V = 50,275π
To find the rate of change of the volume, we can take the derivative of the equation with respect to time:
rac{dV}{dt} = rac{d}{dt}(50,275π)
Since the height is fixed, its derivative is zero. The derivative of the radius is -12 kilometers per second. Therefore, the rate of change of the volume of the cylinder at that instant is -12(40)²π = -19,200π cubic kilometers per second.