Name: _____________________________

Ocean Cycles

1. In one area of the Bay of Fundy, the tides cause the water level to rise to 6 m above
average sea level and to drop to 6 m below average sea level. One cycle is completed
approximately every 12 h. Assume that changes in the depth of the water over time can be
modeled by a sine function.

a) If the water is at average sea level at 02:00, and the tide is coming in (water level is
rising), draw a graph to show how the depth of the water changes over the next 24 h.
Assume that at low tide the depth of the water is 2 m.
b) Write an equation for the graph in part a).

2. On a certain day, the depth of water off a pier at high tide was 6m. After 6 h, the depth
of the water was 3 m. Assume a 12 h cycle,

a) Find an equation for the depth of water, with respect to its average depth, in terms of
the time, t hours, since high tide.
b) Draw a graph of the depth of water versus time for the 24 h after high tide,
c) Find the depth of water at 8 h, 15h, 20 h, and 30h.
d) How would the equation will change if the first period begins at low tide?

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Name: _____________________________
Ferris Wheel

3. A carnival Ferris wheel with a radius of 7 m makes one complete revolution every 16 s. The
bottom of the wheel is 1.5 m above the ground.

a) Draw a graph to show how a person’s height above the ground varies with time for two
revolutions. Assume it takes the person 3 seconds to reach the lowest point on the
Ferris wheel after the ride begins.

b) Find an equation for the graph.

c) If the ride lasts two minutes, at what times will the ride be at the top?

Daylight

4. In a given region, the number of daylight hours varies, depending on the time of year. This
2𝜋
variation can be modelled by the function 𝑑(𝑡) = 5sin [365 (𝑡 − 95)] + 13, where 𝑑(𝑡) is the
number of hours of daylight, and 𝑡 represents the number of days after January 31.

a. What is the period of this function? What does the period imply?
365 days; the number of hours in a day repeats every 365 days (1 year)

b. Graph the function and find two days when the approximate number of daylight hours is
16.
On Day 132 and Day 240 AFTER Jan 31 …. (this is really Day 163 and 271 of the
year!)
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