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Outside temperature over a day can be modelled as a sinusoidal function. Suppose you know the high temperature for the day is 80 degrees and the low temperature of 50 degrees occurs at 5 AM. Assuming t is the number of hours since midnight, find an equation for the temperature, D, in terms of t.

User Kurumkan
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To find an equation for the temperature, D, in terms of t, we can use the properties of a sinusoidal function to model the temperature variation over the day.

Given:

High temperature: 80 degrees

Low temperature occurs at 5 AM (t = 5)

t is the number of hours since midnight

Let's assume a sinusoidal function of the form:

D = A * sin(B * t + C) + Dc

where:

A represents the amplitude (half the difference between the high and low temperatures)

B represents the frequency (how many cycles occur over a 24-hour period)

C represents the phase shift (how much the function is shifted horizontally)

Dc represents the vertical shift (the average temperature throughout the day)

We can determine the values of A, B, C, and Dc based on the given information.

Amplitude (A):

The amplitude is half the difference between the high and low temperatures:

A = (80 - 50) / 2

= 30 / 2

= 15 degrees

Frequency (B):

Since we want the temperature to complete one cycle over a 24-hour period, the frequency can be calculated as:

B = 2π / 24

Phase Shift (C):

Since the low temperature occurs at 5 AM (t = 5), the function should be shifted horizontally by 5 hours. To convert this to radians, we multiply by (2π / 24):

C = 5 * (2π / 24)

Vertical Shift (Dc):

The average temperature throughout the day is the midpoint between the high and low temperatures:

Dc = (80 + 50) / 2

= 130 / 2

= 65 degrees

Now we can put all the values together to obtain the equation for the temperature, D, in terms of t:

D = 15 * sin((2π / 24) * t + (5 * 2π / 24)) + 65

Simplifying further:

D = 15 * sin((π / 12) * t + (π / 12)) + 65

Therefore, the equation for the temperature, D, in terms of t is:

D = 15 * sin((π / 12) * t + (π / 12)) + 65.

User Petr Matousu
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