CK-12-Pre-Calculus Concepts

http://www.ck12.org Chapter 5. Trigonometric Functions

Solution: The amplitudes of the three functions are 3, 1 and^12 and none of them are reflected across thex-axis.

f(x) = 3 ·cosx

h(x) =cosx

g(x) =^12 ·cosx

Note that amplitude itself is always positive.
Example C
A Ferris wheel with radius 25 feet sits next to a platform. The ride starts at the platform and travels down to
start. Model the height versus time of the ride.
Solution: Since no information is given about the time, simply label thexaxis as time. At time zero the height
is zero. Initially the height will decrease as the ride goes below the platform. Eventually, the wheel will find the
minimum and start to increase again all the way until it reaches a maximum.