Question

Matt and Lisa are driving together to a shopping mall, looking forward to buying some clothes. Matt wants to stop by Sports Authority to buy the new jersey of his favorite hockey team, whereas Lisa wants to go to Banana Republic to buy a new outfit. Both find the idea of going together to both stores a little boring, so they agreed beforehand to split and go individually to their desired store. After shopping individually, they decide to meet at Applebee’s to grab some food before leaving. The Banana republic, the Sports Authority shops and the Applebee’s are located at (2, 3), (5, 5) and (1, 4), respectively. Suppose that the parking lot is located in a straight line given by the function y = 1/3x − 1. That is, customers can park in the mall as long as they do it on top of the line. 3-1. Assuming rectilinear distances, where should they park the car in order to minimize the total distance they must walk? Explain your results. 3-2. Suppose Matt is recovering from a leg injury, so they decided that Matt’s walking distance is twice as valuable as Lisa’s walking distance. Find the new optimal parking spot.

Answer 1