2. A coroner uses a formula, derived from Newton's Law ofCooling, to calculate the elapsed time since a person died. Theformula is t = -10 ln ((T-R)/ (37-R))
where t is the time in hours since the death, T is the body'stemperature measured in C and R is the constant room temperature inC.
An accountant stayed late at work one evening and was found deadin his office the next morning. The officece temperature wasconstant at 21C
(a) At 10 am the coroner measured the body temperature. Thetemperature of the body was found to be 29.7C. Determine theaccountant's estimated time of death, leave your answer
correct to the nearest minute.
(b) What would the temperature of the body be at 10am, if theaccountant had died at 2am?
(c) Sketch graphs of t versus T for R = 18; 21; 24 on the sameaxes, clearly showing the vertical asymptote for each graph.
(d) If the constant oce temperature had been less than 21C,would the time of death found in (a) be earlier or later. Givereasons for your answer.
