McDonald's Hot
Coffee Lawsuit
Calculus I
(from Instructor's Resource Manual for Calculus from
Graphical, Numerical and Symbolic Points of View
by Ostebee and Zorn)
Statement
of the
Problem
Mrs. X was a passenger in an automobile that stopped at a drive
thru window early one morning for coffee. She received a cup of coffee
from the attendant, placed it in the cupholder for several minutes, held the
coffee in her hands for a short time, and then spilled the coffee in her
lap. She maintains that the coffee was much too hot when spilled and is
suing the fast food restaurant for $200,000 for personal injury, emotional
distress, and dry cleaning bills. Given certain specifics about her story
(times and temperatures), model the cooling coffee with a mathematical
expression (function) and then argue for or against Mrs. X's lawsuit.
Student Solution (mathematical references are not included)
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