Pre-Calc "Ferris wheel" question, how do I do these?

Question

I need to know how to find "c" and "b" in the following equation: y=a sin(bt-c)+d.

I know that a = radius, d = radius + feet off ground, but I do not know how to find B or D. Also a cosine equation will work so please tell me how to do the following problem:

Ferris wheel with a radius of 125, it is 133 from center of ferris wheel to ground. Does a revolution every 60 seconds.

Answer 1

Well, here's parts of it.

Your parameter a is the amplitude, and d the offset. Like you say, your parameter a is 125 and d is 133. In other words, the height of a chair on the Ferris Wheel varies from 133 - 125 = 8 feet off the ground (bottom of the wheel) to 133 + 125 = 258 feet off the ground (top of the wheel).

The argument of your trig function is often written as ( ω t + b ) where ω is the angular velocity in radians per second and b the starting angle. So my ω is your parameter b. You say that the wheel rotates once per minute, so ω = b = 2 π radians / 60 seconds.

You don't give enough information to find the offset angle c.