Question: Imagine a stack of hemispherical soap bubbles with decreasing radii r 1 = 1, r 2 , r 3 , . . . (see figure).

Imagine a stack of hemispherical soap bubbles with decreasing radii r1 = 1, r2, r3, . . . (see figure). Let hn be the distance between the diameters of bubble n and bubble n + 1, and let Hn be the total height of the stack with n bubbles.

a. Use the Pythagorean theorem to show that in a stack with n bubbles, h21 = r21 - r22 , h22 = r22 - r23, and so forth. Note that for the last bubble hn = rn.

b. Use part (a) to show that the height of a stack with n bubbles is H = r} r + V r} + Hn + -1 -

c. The height of a stack of bubbles depends on how the radii decrease. Suppose that r1 = 1, r2 = a, r3 = a2, . . ., rn = an-1, where 0 n of a stack with n bubbles.

d. Suppose the stack in part (c) is extended indefinitely (n ??). In terms of a, how high would the stack be??

H = r} r + V r} + Hn + -1 - T + n. n- n

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