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Tony's Intertwingled Memex • Reference Manual

Hydroelectric Reservoir Net Change (Civil & Environmental Engineering)

Formulas & Definitions

Tracking net water volume changes in hydroelectric reservoirs requires integrating the net flow rate (inflow minus spillway discharge) over an operational time period.

Water discharges through a spillway of a reservoir at a time-varying rate of r(t)=18−t22r(t) = 18 - \frac{t^2}{2}r(t)=18−2t2​ cubic meters per minute for t≥0t \ge 0t≥0, where ttt is measured in minutes. Initially, the reservoir has 656565 cubic meters of active storage.

Determine the following:

  1. Write the definite integral representing the total volume of water discharged (lost) from the reservoir between t=0t = 0t=0 and t=3t = 3t=3 minutes.
  2. Evaluate this integral and determine how much water is remaining in the reservoir after 333 minutes.