On the west coast of Canada, crows eat whelks (a shellfish). To open the whelks, the crows drop them from the air onto a rock. If the shell does not smash the first time, the whelk is dropped again. The average number of drops, n, needed when the whelk is dropped from a height of x meters is approximated by

(a) Give the total vertical distance the crow travels upward to open a whelk as a function of drop height, x.
(b) Crows are observed to drop whelks from the height that minimizes the total vertical upward distance traveled per whelk. What is this height?

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