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Tony's Intertwingled Memex • Reference Manual

Aerospace Engineering (Structural Integrity under Thermal Expansion)

Formulas & Definitions

A structural aerospace engineer is inspecting a circular optical sensor viewing port integrated into the titanium forward bulkhead of a crew exploration vehicle. Due to aerodynamic friction during atmospheric re-entry, uneven thermal expansion deforms the window mounting bezel along an implicit circle:

x2+y2=25x^2 + y^2 = 25x2+y2=25
where xxx and yyy are coordinate displacements in centimeters. A stress concentration sensor focuses on the perimeter point (x,y)=(3,4)(x, y) = (3, 4)(x,y)=(3,4).

  1. Compute the first derivative dydx\frac{dy}{dx}dxdy​ using implicit differentiation.
  2. Differentiate dydx\frac{dy}{dx}dxdy​ a second time with respect to xxx using the Quotient Rule to establish an expression for the second derivative d2ydx2\frac{d^2y}{dx^2}dx2d2y​.
  3. Back-substitute dydx\frac{dy}{dx}dxdy​ and simplify the numerator using the original circle constraint equation (x2+y2=25x^2 + y^2 = 25x2+y2=25).
  4. Evaluate d2ydx2\frac{d^2y}{dx^2}dx2d2y​ at the physical inspection point (3,4)(3, 4)(3,4), and determine whether the window bezel is concave up or concave down.