
The Grand Canyon Skywalk opened to the public on March 28, 2007. This engineering marvel is a horseshoe-shaped observation platform suspended 4000 ft above the Colorado River on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. Its crystal-clear glass floor allows stunning views of the canyon below (see the following figure).
The Skywalk is a cantilever design, meaning that the observation platform extends over the rim of the canyon, with no visible means of support below it. Despite the lack of visible support posts or struts, cantilever structures are engineered to be very stable and the Skywalk is no exception. The observation platform is attached firmly to support posts that extend 46 ft down into bedrock. The structure was built to withstand 100-mph winds and an 8.0-magnitude earthquake within 50 mi, and is capable of supporting more than 70,000,000 lb.
One factor affecting the stability of the Skywalk is the center of gravity of the structure. We are going to calculate the center of gravity of the Skywalk, and examine how the center of gravity changes when tourists walk out onto the observation platform.
The observation platform is U-shaped. The legs of the U are 10 ft wide and begin on land, under the visitors' center, 48 ft from the edge of the canyon. The platform extends 70 ft over the edge of the canyon.
To calculate the center of mass of the structure, we treat it as a lamina and use a two-dimensional region in the xy-plane to represent the platform. We begin by dividing the region into three subregions so we can consider each subregion separately. The first region, denoted R1, consists of the curved part of the U. We model R1as a semicircular annulus, with inner radius 25 ft and outer radius 35 ft, centered at the origin (see the following figure).
The legs of the platform, extending 35 ft between R1and the canyon wall, comprise the second sub-region, R2, Last, the ends of the legs, which extend 48 ft under the visitor center, comprise the third sub-region, R3. Assume the density of the lamina is constant and assume the total weight of the platform is 1,200,000 lb (not including the weight of the visitor center; we will consider that later). Use g = 32 ft/sec2.
1.Compute the area of each of the three sub-regions. Note that the areas of regions R2and R3should include the areas of the legs only, not the open space between them. Round answers to the nearest square foot

Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Chapter 2 Solutions
Calculus Volume 2
Additional Math Textbook Solutions
A Problem Solving Approach To Mathematics For Elementary School Teachers (13th Edition)
A First Course in Probability (10th Edition)
Calculus: Early Transcendentals (2nd Edition)
Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World (7th Edition)
Elementary Statistics (13th Edition)
Precalculus
- what is the answer to this On St. Patrick's Day, a local bakery sells a special selection of cupcakes and cookies in honor St. Patrick's Day. At the close ofbusiness on the day before St. Patrick's Day, the manager counted orders for a total of 24 dozen shamrock-shaped cookies, horseshoe-shaped cookies, and mint chocolate chip cupcakes. They sold four times as many cupcakes as shamrock cookies and three times as many horseshoe cookies as shamrock cookies. How many mint chocolate chip cupcakes did they sell?arrow_forwardPlease solve for me this two questions, make the answer in clear steps.arrow_forwardPlease solve this question for me, make sure that the answer is in clear steps.arrow_forward
- 48. f(x) = { 4 x if x < 2 2x 2 if x 2arrow_forwardГ 49. -x+1 if x 1 Answer ->arrow_forwardA Content X MindTap - Cengage Learning x Function Evaluations x + /ui/evo/index.html?elSBN=9780357038406&id=339416021&snapshotld=877369& GE MINDTAP , Limits, and the Derivative ⭑ វា a ANSWEI 16. Refer to the graph of the function f in the following figure. कर्ट AA C 54 -3-2 7 7 Ay 6. S 5. y=f(x) 4 3. 2. 1 -3- 34567 8 00 9 10 a. Find the value of ƒ (7). b. Find the values of x corresponding to the point(s) on the graph of ƒ located at a height of 5 units from the x-axis. c. Find the point on the x-axis at which the graph of ƒ crosses it. What is the value of f (x) at this point? d. Find the domain and range of f. MacBook Pro G Search or type URL + > % Λ & 5 6 7 29 ( 8 9 0arrow_forward
- Morgan F. - C X A Courses MindTap - Cengage Learning Х Domain of Square Roots X + gage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?elSBN 9780357038406&id=339416021&snapshotld=877369& CENGAGE MINDTAP 2: Functions, Limits, and the Derivative 47. x if x < 0 f(x) = 2x+1 if x 0 Answerarrow_forwardA Content MindTap - Cengage Learning × Function Evaluations * + c/nb/ui/evo/index.html?elSBN 9780357038406&id=339416021&snapshotld=877369& GAGE MINDTAP ions, Limits, and the Derivative 15. Refer to the graph of the function f in the following figure. 6 y = f(x) 5 4+ 3- 2- 1 + 2 -1 3 4 5 6 a. Find the value of ƒ (0). Answer-> b. Find the value of x for which (i) f (x) = 3 and (ii) f (x) = 0. Answer ▾ c. Find the domain of f. Answer + d. Find the range of f. Answer+ MacBook Proarrow_forwardAnswer-> 12. Let g be the function defined by Find g(-2), g(0), g (2), and g (4). - +1 if x <2 g(x) = √√√x-2 if x 2arrow_forward
- 13. Let f be the function defined by Find f (-1), f (0), ƒ (1) and ƒ (2). Answer f(x) = .2 J-x² +3 if x <1 2x²+1 2x²+1 if x ≥ 1arrow_forwardΛ Content Mind Tap - Cengage Learning × Function Evaluations x + c/nb/ui/evo/index.html?elSBN 9780357038406&id=339416021&snapshotld=877369& GAGE MINDTAP ons, Limits, and the Derivative 14. Let f be the function defined by Find f (0), f (1), and f (2). 2+1 x if x 1 if x 1 f(x) = 1 1-xarrow_forwardA Content c/nb/ui/evo/index.html?elSBN 9780357038406&id=339416021&snapshotld=877369& GAGE MINDTAP ons, Limits, and the Derivative 11. Let f be the function defined by Find f (-2), f (0), and f (1). Answer f(x) = [ x² + 1 if x ≤ 0 if x > 0arrow_forward
- Holt Mcdougal Larson Pre-algebra: Student Edition...AlgebraISBN:9780547587776Author:HOLT MCDOUGALPublisher:HOLT MCDOUGALAlgebra and Trigonometry (MindTap Course List)AlgebraISBN:9781305071742Author:James Stewart, Lothar Redlin, Saleem WatsonPublisher:Cengage Learning
- College AlgebraAlgebraISBN:9781305115545Author:James Stewart, Lothar Redlin, Saleem WatsonPublisher:Cengage LearningTrigonometry (MindTap Course List)TrigonometryISBN:9781337278461Author:Ron LarsonPublisher:Cengage LearningElementary Geometry For College Students, 7eGeometryISBN:9781337614085Author:Alexander, Daniel C.; Koeberlein, Geralyn M.Publisher:Cengage,





