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Write the equation of a sine or cosine function to describe the graph.

Write the equation of a sine or cosine function to describe the graph.-example-1
User Sidney
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1 Answer

7 votes

Answer:

y = cos(3/2x)

Explanation:

A general sine or cosine function will have parameters of amplitude, vertical and horizontal offset, and period. The values of these parameters can be determined from the given graph.

y = A·cos(2π(x -B)/P) +C

where A is the amplitude, B and C are the horizontal and vertical offsets, and P is the period.

Amplitude

For sine and cosine functions, the amplitude of the function is half the difference between the maximum and minimum:

A = (3 -1)/2 = 1

Horizontal offset

A sine function has its first rising zero-crossing at x=0. A cosine has its first peak at x=0. The given graph has its first peak at x=0, so it is a cosine function with no horizontal offset.

B = 0

Vertical offset

For sine and cosine functions, the vertical offset is the average of the maximum and minimum values:

C = (3 +1)/2 = 2

Period

The period is the difference in x-values between points where the function starts to repeat itself. Here, we can use the peaks to identify the period as 4π/3.

P = 4π/3

Function equation

Using the parameter values we determined, the function can be written as ...

y = cos(3/2x) +2

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Additional comment

The argument of the cosine function is ...


(2\pi(x-B))/(P)=(2\pi(x-0))/((4\pi)/(3))=(3(2\pi))/(4\pi)x=(3)/(2)x

User Jeremiah Orr
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