Honors Precalculus Chapter 2+8 Alternate Assessment Gribble 2024

Task

This assessment has been divided into 4 sections - Circles, Parabolas, Ellipses, and Hyperbolas – to reflect the material
covered in Chapters 2 and 8 of our Honors Precalculus Class. Read through each section and answer the questions as
directed. Each section has its own set of instructions to follow, so please make sure to refer to those instructions when
crafting your response. A rubric has been provided on the last page of this document that should help inform your
responses.

CIRCLES

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is the world’s both the world’s largest machine and the largest, most powerful particle
accelerator ever built. It is used to help unlock the secrets of the universe through some very complicated science
experiments. Physically, it is a giant, circular, underground tube. Watch a YouTube video about it or something if you’re
having trouble visualizing it.

Positioned along the LHC, meaning along its circular path, are facilities where different experiments are carried out using
the particle beam. These include ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, ALICE, and others. According to the Wikipedia pages for these
experiments, here are their GPS coordinates in the format (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒):

• ATLAS: (46.23556°, 6.055278°)

• CMS: (46.309444°, 6.076944°)
• LHCb: (46.241111°, 6.096944°)
• ALICE: (46.251333°, 6.020139°)

In reality, GPS coordinates describe a position on a spherical surface (Earth), and are given in degrees because they are
referenced from the center of the earth. For the purposes of this assessment, we will treat them as standard cartesian
coordinates with one caveat: GPS coordinates are usually given as (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒) which would correspond to
(𝑦, 𝑥). You can answer the question below without re-writing the coordinates given above as (𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒) or
the standard (𝑥, 𝑦) that we’re used to, but it might be helpful for you for sketching/conceptualization purposes.

Based on the coordinates given above (note: you should pick three of the four or find the coordinates of a difference
experiment), what is the approximate diameter of the Large Hadron Collider? To answer this question, you will require
a conversion between GPS coordinates and physical distance. For simplicity, use 1° = 69 miles (this is the actual
conversion). Once you have your answer, which must be supported with work, compare this to the actual diameter of
the LHC, which is 𝟐. 𝟔𝟑𝟔 miles. State at least two reasons why your answer is different from the actual diameter.
Honors Precalculus Chapter 2+8 Alternate Assessment Gribble 2024
PARABOLAS

120′ − 0" 𝑅𝐼𝑆𝐸

(+1% 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒) 320′ − 0"

This a picture of the actual front page of the general plan for construction of the Bixby Creek Bridge along Highway 1 in
Big Sur, California. As you can see, the main span of the bridge is supported by a parabolic arch. Some key measurements
of this arch are listed in the plan, but because the resolution isn’t great, I have re-written them and highlighted the
values next to the original text in blue. The “+1% 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒" refers to there being a slope between the two points at the
end of the line that the dimension is written on. A %Grade is just the number of units of vertical distance (in whatever
units are standard) changed per 100 units of horizontal distance. You may have seen signs on the side of the road
indicating a %Grade while driving up or down large hills. So, in this case, the slope is 1/100. Notice that this is the same
slope as the road deck above.

There are 10 evenly-spaced columns that transfer the load from the road deck down into the arch. If the road deck is 10
feet above vertex of the parabolic arch, calculate the sum of the heights of these 10 vertical pillars. Give your answer
rounded to the nearest foot. Remember that the road itself is sloped at 1/100.
Honors Precalculus Chapter 2+8 Alternate Assessment Gribble 2024
ELLIPSES

Most communication satellites are placed into a geostationary orbit 35,786 km above the earth. These satellites can be
viewed by (and can view) a large portion of the populated countries on earth. Geostationary orbits require a large
amount of energy to achieve and can be difficult to attain from high-latitude launch sites. Russia has a large amount of
land mass outside of the vision of a geostationary satellite and has only high-latitude cosmodromes. Because of this,
Russia has its own set of communications satellites that launch into highly-eccentric “Molniya” orbits. In such orbits,
satellites quickly pass by the earth at their lowest altitude (perigee) due to Earth’s gravity but have a long “dwell time”
due to a slower speed at their highest altitudes (apogee). This allows a satellite to remain in a prime location over
Russia’s landmass for a longer amount of time than any other orbit.

𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 3960 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠

The to-scale diagram above shows the elliptical path (purple) of a Russian Meridian satellite in a Molniya orbit around
the Earth. Additionally, three “illumination zones” are shown from different points in the orbit. (An illumination zone is
just the visible part of the earth from the satellite.) At these three positions (blue, red, green), the satellite’s altitude can
be determined using lasers. Those altitudes are represented by the dotted lines in the diagram above and are given in
the table below. If a coordinate plane was super-imposed over this diagram with the origin positioned at the center of
the Earth, then the y-coordinate of the blue points are also known, and also shown in the table below.

Position Altitude above the Earth’s surface y-coordinate

Blue (apogee) 45,180 miles 0
Red 41,384.17 miles 10,000
Green 34,807.68 miles 15,000

Kepler’s Laws of Orbital Motion dictate that one focus of the elliptical orbit is at the center of the Earth. Using the
(𝒙−𝒉)𝟐 (𝒚−𝒌)𝟐
coordinate system suggested above, what is the equation of this elliptical orbit in the form + = 𝟏? Show
𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟐
your work so it is clear how you arrived at your answer.
(Hint/Note: the dotted lines converge on the center of the Earth. You will need to use the Pythagorean Theorem or right angle trig
(sohcahtoa) to find some missing values. Also, in addition to the blue point, you should probably only use one of the other two (red
or green), rather than both.)
Honors Precalculus Chapter 2+8 Alternate Assessment Gribble 2024
HYPERBOLAS

A school production of The Wizard of Oz wishes to create a dramatic wizard lighting effect using an opaque lamp shade and a green
lightbulb. The plan is to position the lamp shade in front of a screen on which the wizard’s face will be projected. The lamp shade and
green light will provide a hyperbolic green highlight around the wizard’s face. The lamp shade is drawn below with the position of the
green lightbulb inside of it labeled.
8"

Projector screen
4"

≥ 5ft
14"

4"

Side view of lampshade 3D view of lampshade Mock-up of projector screen with lighting effect Fire code requirement

Their projector screen is 16ft wide by 12ft tall, and they hope to create the effect shown in the picture above. Fire code
dictates that the lightbulb must be at least 5ft in front of the screen. If they want the lighting effect to hit the display 2ft
above the bottom of the screen as shown, and taking into consideration that it must also be 5th in front of the screen
horizontally, how far below the bottom edge of the screen must they position the lightbulb? Give your answer in feet
and inches rounded to the nearest inch. Include any sketches and work you produce with your answer.
Honors Precalculus Chapter 2+8 Alternate Assessment Gribble 2024
Rubric
The following rubric will be used to score each of the four sections of this assessment. Please notice the word “correct”
does not appear in this rubric.

• Submission demonstrates full understanding of mathematical processes relevant to each

section.
4
• Submission is presented in a clear and organized manner and all questions and prompts are
addressed.
• Submission demonstrates a mostly full or satisfactory understanding of mathematical processes
relevant to each section.
3
• Submission is presented in a mostly clear and organized manner and all or almost all questions
and prompts are addressed.
• Submission demonstrates some/partial understanding of mathematical processes relevant to
2 each section.
• Submission is not cohesive and perhaps not all questions and prompts have been addressed.
• Submission demonstrates an incomplete/unsatisfactory understanding of the mathematical
processes relevant to each section.
1
• Submission is not cohesive and many important ideas are missing in response to questions and
prompts.
• Submission does not demonstrate understanding of mathematical processes relevant to each
0 section.
• Submission is of very low quality and does not address the concepts of the unit.