A ferris wheel with a radius of 20 m rotates once every 120s. At time t = 0 passengers get on at the lowest point of its rotation which is 2m above the ground. Determine a sine or cosine function that gives the passenger's height (h) meters, above the ground as a function of time (t) in seconds
2007-12-02 04:58:45 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Hints:
The center of the circle is 22 m off the ground. So the equation is 22 + something.
The radius is 20. So the equation is 22 + 20*sin(something) or, equivalently, 22 + 20*cos (something)
The "something" has to change by 2 pi every 120 seconds, so there's a term like 2 * pi * t/120 (before simplification).
The trigonometric function has value -1 when t = 0.
I bet you can finish up from there. :)
2007-12-02 07:20:38 · answer #1 · answered by Curt Monash 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋