Lesson: Modeling with Periodic Functions

The height, , of a piston can be modeled by the equation , where represents the crank angle and is measured in inches . Find, to 2 decimal places, the height of the piston when the crank angle is .

London is in the northern hemisphere and the number of hours of daylight varies throughout the year. On December 21st they have around 7 hours and 49 minutes of daylight, while on June 21st they have 16 hours and 38 minutes. Which of the following models would best approximate the number of hours of daylight in London on a given day, where is the number of hours of daylight and is the number of days since the first of January?

A mass attached to the lower end of a spring performs oscillations where , the displacement in centimeters of the mass from its equilibrium position, can be modeled by the function where is measured in seconds. Find the amplitude, period, and frequency of the displacement.

Shady and his friends went on a trip to the London Eye. The whole trip lasted for 30 minutes. When they got into the pod, they were 15 m above the Thames. Given that the diameter of the London Eye is 120 m, write the equation for the height, , of the pod above the Thames minutes after they got into it.

A Ferris wheel is 20 m in diameter. A ride takes 6 minutes and consists of one complete revolution, starting and finishing at the lowest point. When riders board the Ferris wheel, their seats are 2 m above the ground. How much of a ride is spent more than 13 m above ground?

A mass attached to the lower end of a spring performs oscillations where , the displacement in centimeters of the mass from its equilibrium position, can be modeled by the function

where is measured in seconds.

Find the amplitude, period, and frequency of the displacement.

A mass attached to the lower end of a spring performs oscillations where , the displacement in centimeters of the mass from its equilibrium position, can be modeled by the function

where is measured in seconds.

Find the amplitude, period, and frequency of the displacement.

In a certain region, monthly precipitation peaks at 24 inches in September and falls to a low of 4 inches in March. Identify the periods when the region is under flood conditions (greater than 22 inches) and drought conditions (less than 5 inches). Give your answer in terms of the nearest day.

The depth of the water in a fishing port is usually 28 metres. The tidal movement is represented by , where is the time elapsed in hours after midnight. How many times in a day is the depth of the water 24 metres?

Which of the following is the best model for the temperature fluctuations on a cold winter’s day in a location where the warmest part of the day is around 2 pm and the coldest around 2 am? Let be the temperature in degrees celsius and be the time after midnight in hours.

During a 90-day monsoon season, daily rainfall can be modeled by sinusoidal functions. If the rainfall fluctuates between 2 inches on day 10 and 12 inches on day 55, during what period is the rainfall more than 10 inches?

A mass attached to the lower end of a spring performs oscillations where , the displacement in centimeters of the mass from its equilibrium position, can be modeled by the function

where is measured in seconds. Find the amplitude, period, and frequency of the displacement.

A spring is fixed at one end and hangs vertically. Its lower end is pulled 11 cm down from its equilibrium position and released. It performs 8 oscillations every second, and, after 2 seconds, the amplitude of the oscillations is 6 cm. How long does it take for the amplitude of its oscillations to decrease to 0.1 cm? Give your answer to one decimal place.