Calculus 1 -- Math 1210

Project 2 - Pipeline Project

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In order to reach the refinery from the well, near Vernal, UT, with the lowest cost, there were several possible routes given. The first possible route  traveling  west from the well and travel around the private land in order to reach the refinery would cost $ 26,000,000. The next route which involved going through the mountain to the east in order to react the refinery, would cost $24,800,000. The third pathway, going directly from the well to the refinery through the private land, would cost $29,049,613. The fourth route going directly south through the private land and then heading directly east to the refinery would cost $26,200,000. The final route, which involved going directly from the well diagonally to the south border of the land for approximately 8.7 miles and then heading east to the refinery, would cost $24,248,636. Overall, the fifth would be the best choice out of all of the routes because it costs the least out of all of the different pathways. 

(Math with explanations included with the work document.)

Reflection

I thought that this class helped to learn how to look at problems in a variety of ways and learn certain techniques that could help me in a career choice. Often times, problems would force you to rewrite an equation in a form less obvious to most people. I often had to think out of the box to be able to find the solution to a problem. The skills learned a calculus class can be beneficial to a business degree in many ways. It showed how the cost function was related to the marginal cost through their differentiation. Like previously mentioned, the class also forces you to think in a variety of different ways that could be beneficial in making a business successful in the real world. Overall, I thought that this class was beneficial to me due to the thinking skills that I had to use.