Circles and radius

Question

Centered 7 meters above the ground, a ferris wheel of radius 6 meters is rotating with angular speed 24 degrees per second.

 

a) Assuming that you begin at time t=0 seconds at the lowest point on the wheel, find a formula that describes h(in meters) from you to the ground after t seconds of riding.

 

 

 

Answer 1

h(t) = -6·cos(24t) + 7

• -6 = amplitude = radius of ferris wheel in meters.  The minus sign is due to starting at a minimum point instead of a maximum at t=0
• 24 = angular speed in degrees per seconds
• 7 = height of midline above ground in meters
• t = time in seconds