Fancier animation: Stewart Calculus problem with limits

Consider a fixed circle [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_56.gif]with equation [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_57.gif] and a shrinking circle [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_58.gif] with radius r and center at the origin.  P is the point [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_59.gif], Q is the upper point of intersection of the two circles, and R is the point of intersection of the line PQ and the x-axis.  What happens to R as [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_60.gif] shrinks, that is as [Graphics:../Images/index_gr_61.gif]?  (Stewart, James - Calculus Concepts and Contexts, Section 2.3, problem 44, pg. 119)

[Graphics:../Images/index_gr_62.gif]

(See How I made the diagram below to see how this figure was generated.  It was a bit of a pain, but does make for a nice illustration.)

Solution

How I made the diagram


Converted by Mathematica      April 26, 2002