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Determining a rider’s height on a ferris wheel

The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel with a diameter of 135 meters (443 feet). It completes one rotation every 30 minutes. Riders board from a platform 2 meters above the ground. Express a rider’s height above ground as a function of time in minutes.

With a diameter of 135 m, the wheel has a radius of 67.5 m. The height will oscillate with amplitude 67.5 m above and below the center.

Passengers board 2 m above ground level, so the center of the wheel must be located 67.5 + 2 = 69.5 m above ground level. The midline of the oscillation will be at 69.5 m.

The wheel takes 30 minutes to complete 1 revolution, so the height will oscillate with a period of 30 minutes.

Lastly, because the rider boards at the lowest point, the height will start at the smallest value and increase, following the shape of a vertically reflected cosine curve.

  • Amplitude: 67 .5, so A = 67.5
  • Midline: 69 .5, so D = 69.5
  • Period: 30, so B = 2 π 30 = π 15
  • Shape: −cos ( t )

An equation for the rider’s height would be

y = 67.5 cos ( π 15 t ) + 69.5

where t is in minutes and y is measured in meters.

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Access these online resources for additional instruction and practice with graphs of sine and cosine functions.

Key equations

Sinusoidal functions f ( x ) = A sin ( B x C ) + D f ( x ) = A cos ( B x C ) + D

Key concepts

  • Periodic functions repeat after a given value. The smallest such value is the period. The basic sine and cosine functions have a period of 2 π .
  • The function sin x is odd, so its graph is symmetric about the origin. The function cos x is even, so its graph is symmetric about the y -axis.
  • The graph of a sinusoidal function has the same general shape as a sine or cosine function.
  • In the general formula for a sinusoidal function, the period is P = 2 π | B | . See [link] .
  • In the general formula for a sinusoidal function, | A | represents amplitude. If | A | > 1 , the function is stretched, whereas if | A | < 1 , the function is compressed. See [link] .
  • The value C B in the general formula for a sinusoidal function indicates the phase shift. See [link] .
  • The value D in the general formula for a sinusoidal function indicates the vertical shift from the midline. See [link] .
  • Combinations of variations of sinusoidal functions can be detected from an equation. See [link] .
  • The equation for a sinusoidal function can be determined from a graph. See [link] and [link] .
  • A function can be graphed by identifying its amplitude and period. See [link] and [link] .
  • A function can also be graphed by identifying its amplitude, period, phase shift, and horizontal shift. See [link] .
  • Sinusoidal functions can be used to solve real-world problems. See [link] , [link] , and [link] .

Section exercises

Verbal

Why are the sine and cosine functions called periodic functions?

The sine and cosine functions have the property that f ( x + P ) = f ( x ) for a certain P . This means that the function values repeat for every P units on the x -axis.

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How does the graph of y = sin x compare with the graph of y = cos x ? Explain how you could horizontally translate the graph of y = sin x to obtain y = cos x .

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Questions & Answers

for the "hiking" mix, there are 1,000 pieces in the mix, containing 390.8 g of fat, and 165 g of protein. if there is the same amount of almonds as cashews, how many of each item is in the trail mix?
ADNAN Reply
linear speed of an object
Melissa Reply
an object is traveling around a circle with a radius of 13 meters .if in 20 seconds a central angle of 1/7 Radian is swept out what are the linear and angular speed of the object
Melissa
test
Matrix
how to find domain
Mohamed Reply
like this: (2)/(2-x) the aim is to see what will not be compatible with this rational expression. If x= 0 then the fraction is undefined since we cannot divide by zero. Therefore, the domain consist of all real numbers except 2.
Dan
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Moha
if a>0 then the graph is concave
Angel Reply
if a<0 then the graph is concave blank
Angel
what's a domain
Kamogelo Reply
The set of all values you can use as input into a function su h that the output each time will be defined, meaningful and real.
Spiro
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Joe Reply
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Nathaniel
functions can be understood without a lot of difficulty. Observe the following: f(2) 2x - x 2(2)-2= 2 now observe this: (2,f(2)) ( 2, -2) 2(-x)+2 = -2 -4+2=-2
Dan
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Kelvin Reply
a colony of bacteria is growing exponentially doubling in size every 100 minutes. how much minutes will it take for the colony of bacteria to triple in size
Divya Reply
I got 300 minutes. is it right?
Patience
no. should be about 150 minutes.
Jason
It should be 158.5 minutes.
Mr
ok, thanks
Patience
100•3=300 300=50•2^x 6=2^x x=log_2(6) =2.5849625 so, 300=50•2^2.5849625 and, so, the # of bacteria will double every (100•2.5849625) = 258.49625 minutes
Thomas
158.5 This number can be developed by using algebra and logarithms. Begin by moving log(2) to the right hand side of the equation like this: t/100 log(2)= log(3) step 1: divide each side by log(2) t/100=1.58496250072 step 2: multiply each side by 100 to isolate t. t=158.49
Dan
what is the importance knowing the graph of circular functions?
Arabella Reply
can get some help basic precalculus
ismail Reply
What do you need help with?
Andrew
how to convert general to standard form with not perfect trinomial
Camalia Reply
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ismail
Rectangle coordinate
Asma Reply
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Jhon Reply
it depends on the equation
Robert
yeah, it does. why do we attempt to gain all of them one side or the other?
Melissa
how to find x: 12x = 144 notice how 12 is being multiplied by x. Therefore division is needed to isolate x and whatever we do to one side of the equation we must do to the other. That develops this: x= 144/12 divide 144 by 12 to get x. addition: 12+x= 14 subtract 12 by each side. x =2
Dan
whats a domain
mike Reply
The domain of a function is the set of all input on which the function is defined. For example all real numbers are the Domain of any Polynomial function.
Spiro
Spiro; thanks for putting it out there like that, 😁
Melissa
foci (–7,–17) and (–7,17), the absolute value of the differenceof the distances of any point from the foci is 24.
Churlene Reply
Practice Key Terms 5

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Source:  OpenStax, Precalculus. OpenStax CNX. Jan 19, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11667/1.6
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