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Lakes
Book Description:
There
are three lakes: L. Audrey, L. Bob, and L. Cecil. Inflow
pattern for the three lakes is best described by an accompanying
picture: Scientists estimate that there are currently 12000
kg of pollutants in L. Audrey, 5000 kg in L. Bob, and 20000
kg in L. Cecil. The percentage of water replaced each year
in the three lakes is respectively 30%, 25%, and 16%. Under
an agreement with environmentalists, it is agreed that no
new pollutants will be dumped into the lakes. The task is
given to engineers to figure out how many years it will
talke top completely clean L. Cecil. The Army Corps of Engineers
comes up with an idea. The inflow into L. Bob is diverted
into L. Audrey. The total outflow from Lake Audrey is then
routed to Lake Bob through a canal that Army Corps of Engineers
construct. Lake Bob then empties into Lake Cecil. As a result
of this rerouting 62.5% of Lake Audrey and 50% of Lake Bob
is replaced every year. Rate of discharge from Lake cecil
remains the same 16%. This Microworld constructs an interactive
model where the amounts of pollutants and the rates at which
the water is replaced can be changed. Obviously, such an
interactive model will be quite useful for solving a variety
of similar problems.
