Question

A power station is on one side of a river that is 1 mile wide, and a factory is 6 miles downstream on the other side. It costs $6 per foot to run power lines overland and $8 per foot to run them underwater. Find the most economical path for the transmission line from the power station to the factory.

Answer 1

The most economical path for the transmission line from the power station to the factory is to run the power lines overland for a cost of $6,000.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the most economical path for the transmission line from the power station to the factory, we need to compare the costs of running power lines overland and underwater. Since the factory is downstream on the other side of the river, we can assume that the most direct path is underwater. Let's calculate the cost of running the power lines overland and underwater:

Overland path: 1 mile * $6 per foot = $6,000

Underwater path: 6 miles * $8 per foot = $48,000

Based on the calculations, the most economical path for the transmission line would be the overland path, which costs $6,000.