Applications of Sinusoidal Functions

by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will apply trigonometric functions to real-life situations such as Ferris wheels and
harmonic motion. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Modeling Motion Around a Circle
2. Modeling Simple Harmonic Motion

1. Modeling Motion Around a Circle

If a quantity oscillates between two values at regular intervals indefinitely, its motion can be described by a
sinusoidal function.

EXAMPLE A circle with radius 3 feet is mounted with its center 4 feet off the ground. The point closest
to the ground is labeled P, as shown in the figure. We’ll use this information to do two things:
Sketch the graph of the height, H, that point P is above the ground as the circle is rotated after
undergoing an angle of rotation, t, in radians.
Find a function that gives the height in terms of the angle of rotation.

Here is the figure:

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 To get the graph, let’s first make a table of values for different angles of rotation.

t = Angle of
H = Height Explanation
Rotation

The center of the circle is 4 feet above the ground, which

0 1
means the closest that P is to the ground is foot.

4 Point P is at the same height as its center, on its way up.

Point P is three feet above the center, which is feet

7
above the ground.

4 Point P is at the same height as its center, on its way down.

1 Point P returns to its starting position.

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 Translating this information into ordered pairs, the graph will contain the points

and and continue the same pattern.

Then, the graph of , along with its midline, is shown in the figure.

Since the y-intercept of the graph is the minimum point, a cosine function is convenient. We seek a model of
the form

The midline is which indicates that the graph is a vertical shift from the basic cosine graph. Therefore,

Since the y-intercept is the minimum value, there is no phase shift, meaning

The period is Solving

The amplitude is 3 since the minimum and maximum values are each a vertical distance of 3 units from the
midline. Since the y-intercept is the minimum value, the graph is reflected. This means

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 Substituting the values of b, c, and d, the equation for the height in feet above the ground is

Notice that the figure in the last example resembles a Ferris wheel. Let’s take a look at the circular motion of a
Ferris wheel, but this time as a function of time rather than the rotation angle.

 WATCH

In this video, we’ll find a function that describes the height of a person who boards a Ferris wheel.

Video Transcription
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hello there, and welcome back. A Ferris wheel has a diameter of 80 feet, and
passengers board at the bottom of the wheel from a platform 10 feet off the ground. If the wheel makes
one full rotation in two minutes, we're going to write an equation that describes the height of a passenger
after t seconds.

So in order to analyze the situation, we have motion around a circle. So what we're going to do is look at
the easiest points on the circle, which means at every quarter rotation, just to see what's going on. Now,
the first thing to keep in mind is that we're told that it makes a full rotation every two minutes, but we want
the height of the passenger after t seconds. So we need to make sure that those time units match up.

So 2 minutes, remember, is 120 seconds. And that means that every quarter rotation will correspond to a
30-second time elapsed. So this is t equals 0, t equals 30, t equals 60, t equals 90, and 120 as well. So
we're going to look at one full rotation.

Now, since the diameter is 80 feet, the radius is 40 feet-- you'll notice that's what I have written there. So
let's write the height at every one of these quarter rotations. So when we start off, we are 10 feet off the
ground. So H is 10. As soon as we make a quarter rotation, our height goes up by the radius-- whoops, that
was not supposed to happen there. Let's try that again.

The height goes up by a radius. That means that H is equal to 50. When we go another quarter rotation,
that means the height increases by another 40 units, so that's 90, 90 feet. Then we start our descent. And
that means that our height is 50. And then at 120, we're down to 10 again. So as you can see that this is a
periodic function every 120 seconds, we're going to cycle through the same heights in the same order.

So what does this look like as a sinusoid? So going over here to the graph, at t equals 0, we have a height
of 10. And we know that at a time of 120 seconds, we have a height of 10 again. And then halfway between
those two times, at 60, we reach our maximum height, which is 90. This may not be scaled.

And then at t equals 30 and t equals 90, we have the average height, which is 50. So that's about right here
and about right here. And that means our graph looks very similar to this. And, of course, it's going to keep
going that way.

OK, so not the prettiest sinusoid, but at least we have a good idea what it looks like. OK. So let's take a
look at the aspects of this graph. Now, notice that it has a y-intercept at its lowest point, which means this is
for sure an inverted cosine and has no phase shift, which means the c in the equation is zero. This is great.

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 And that also means that the a value is negative. OK. So looking at the particulars here, the period is 120.
But we know that period is 2 pi over b, and that's equal to 120, which means that b is equal to 2 pi over 120,
which is pi over 60. OK, so we're moving right along here.

The amplitude, remember, is the vertical distance between the maximum and the midline or the minimum
and the midline. Now, I know in my graph, it doesn't look the same, but they are the same. Because this is
10, this is 50, and the top is 90. So that means the amplitude is 40. So I'm going to write that as amp here.

However, since this is an inverted cosine curve, this means that a is equal to negative 40. And since the
midline is at 50, that means that my vertical shift is also 50. So remembering that we want the equation of a
general sinusoid, so that means h of t is equal to a cosine bt minus c plus d. The equation for this Ferris
wheel is negative 40 cosine pi over 60t-- remember, c was 0-- and then d is 50. And that is the equation of
the height off the ground someone is after getting on the Ferris wheel.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

 TRY IT

The London Eye is a large Ferris wheel with a diameter of 120 meters. It completes one rotation every 30
minutes. Riders board from a platform 15 meters above the ground.

Express a rider’s height H, in feet, above the ground as a function of time, t, in minutes. +

2. Modeling Simple Harmonic Motion

For the following situation, assume that

Suppose a spring is attached to the ceiling or some other horizontal surface. If the weight is pulled down units
and released (Part B), the weight will rise to a height units above its equilibrium position (Part C), then continue
to oscillate about its equilibrium position. If friction is neglected, then the motion can be described by a
sinusoid.

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 The oscillatory motion of the weight on the spring is an example of simple harmonic motion.

We use the function to describe the object’s position relative to equilibrium.

For values of t where the object is above equilibrium.

For values of t where the object is at equilibrium.
For values of t where the object is below equilibrium.

 WATCH

To establish the equations for simple harmonic motion, consider an object on a circular path with constant
angular speed where the circle has radius

Video Transcription
Hello there, and welcome back. What we're going to do in this video is investigate the theory behind
simple harmonic motion. And what I'm going to do is set this in motion here in a moment here. So what
we're going to do is model this point going around the circle, counterclockwise.

And what we're going to do is monitor the way that the x and y-coordinates change. So we're going to
press the Play button over here off the screen. And as you can see, as the point rotates around the circle,

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 notice how the x-coordinate of the point is oscillating back and forth. And the y-coordinate of the point is
oscillating back and forth.

And this, the y coordinate specifically, models the mass being tied to a spring and the spring bouncing
back and forth between two positions. And this is basically the idea behind simple harmonic motion.

Now what's happening also at the same time is that there is a constant angular speed happening here. So
remember from angular motion that omega was the symbol for angular speed. So this has a constant
angular speed going around the circle.

If I were to-- I'm going to start this over again. If I were to speed this up, notice how the oscillation would
get faster. Hit Play here. So that's a higher angular speed.

OK, so that means the higher the angular speed, naturally causes a change in the period of motion-- in
other words, the time it takes to make one complete-- one complete cycle. So this is why omega, the
angular speed from-- angular speed back when we talked about linear speed and angular speed-- has a
lot to do with simple harmonic motion.

So that motion, I'm just going to go back to the normal again. That motion where we have a quantity
bouncing back and forth between a high and a low is simple harmonic motion. And that is your
demonstration.

The angle swept out by the motion is and is equal to the angular speed times the time elapsed, which means

This means that the x- and y-coordinates at any time t are and As the
point moves around the circle, the x- and y-coordinates oscillate indefinitely between and

This leads to the two possible equations that are used to describe simple harmonic motion.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Equations for Harmonic Motion

When the object is pulled and released units from its equilibrium position, the equation
used to describe the motion is
When the initial displacement is set into motion with an initial velocity at equilibrium position,
the equation used to describe the motion is

Notice that is used in place of b in the other trigonometric functions we’ve used earlier. This means that the

period of motion is

EXAMPLE An object is attached to a coiled spring. It is pulled down a distance of 5 inches from its
equilibrium position, then released. The time for one complete oscillation is 4 seconds.

Since one oscillation occurs in 4 seconds, this is the period of motion. Then, which means

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 The object starts at 5 inches below equilibrium, so the model is used to model the motion.
This also means that

This is the initial position of the oscillating object.

Replace t with 0.

Simplify.

Substituting and into the equation the equation of the simple harmonic motion

in this situation is

 BIG IDEA

Note that the value of in this model is the same as the object's initial position. This is always the case when
the cosine model is used.
Sometimes we are not only concerned about the period of motion, but also its frequency.

Since the period is the length of time for one cycle, the frequency is related to the period.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Frequency of Motion
Given that an object follows simple harmonic motion with period P units of time per oscillation, its

frequency is oscillations per unit of time.

In the previous example, the period was 4 seconds per oscillation, which means that the object’s frequency is

oscillation per second.

EXAMPLE A weight on a spring has an maximum displacement 2 inches above equilibrium at and a
period of 0.5 seconds.

Since the initial position is nonzero, the equation is used to describe the motion. Since the
initial position is 2,

Since the period is 0.5, which means

Substituting and into the equation, the model for the position is

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 We can also use the period to determine the frequency. Since the period is 0.5 seconds, the frequency is

oscillations per second.

 TRY IT

A note on a piano has a frequency of 110 oscillations per second. Its maximum displacement is
inches.

Find the period of the motion. +

seconds per oscillation

Find the equation for s (t ). +

 TERMS TO KNOW

Harmonic Motion
Repetitive motion back and forth through some equilibrium position.

Frequency
The number of oscillations (or cycles) per unit time.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that if a quantity oscillates between two values at regular intervals
indefinitely, its motion can be modeled by a sinusoidal graph. You explored this application of
trigonometric functions to real-world phenomena such as modeling motion around a circle, like a Ferris
wheel, and modeling simple harmonic motion, like the oscillatory motion of a weight on a spring.

SOURCE: THIS WORK IS ADAPTED FROM PRECALCULUS BY JAY ABRAMSON. ACCESS FOR FREE AT OPENSTAX.ORG/BOOKS/PRECALCULUS/PAGES/1-INTRODUCTION-TO-
FUNCTIONS

 TERMS TO KNOW

Frequency
The number of oscillations (or cycles) per unit time.

Harmonic Motion

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 Repetitive motion back and forth through some equilibrium position.

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Equations for Harmonic Motion

When the object is pulled and released units from its equilibrium position, the equation used to
describe the motion is

When the initial displacement is set into motion with an initial velocity at equilibrium position, the
equation used to describe the motion is

Frequency of Motion
Given that an object follows simple harmonic motion with period P units of time per oscillation, its

frequency is oscillations per unit of time.

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