A ferris wheel is 35 meters in diameter and boarded at ground level. The wheel makes one full rotation every 8 minutes, and at time t = 0 you are at the 9 o'clock position and descending. Let f(t) denote your height (in meters) above ground at t minutes. Find a formula for f(t).

Question

anonymous · Answer

f(t) = -17.5sin((t/4)*pi) + 17.5

Because the ferris wheel is a circle you can use sine and cosine. As we are descending and in the middle of the descent the use of negative sine makes the most sense.

Period = 2pi. Our period is 8 minutes. 8minutes*w = 2pi; w = (t/4) * pi.

The 17.5 at the end is to take into account that we are 17.5 meteres up in the air at the start.

anonymous · Answer

okay this helps thanks