Math  /  Algebra

QuestionThe figure shows the depth of water at the end of a boat dock. The depth is 6 feet at low tide and 14 feet at high tide. On a certain day, low tide occurs at 6 AM and high tide at noon. If yy represents the depth of the water xx hours after midnight, use a cosine function of the form y=AcosBx+Dy=A \cos B x+D to model the water's depth.
Write the equation for this problem in the form y=AcosBx+Dy=A \cos B x+D. y=\mathrm{y}=\square (Type an expression using xx as the variable. Type an exact answer, using as needed. Use integers or fractions for any numbers in the expression.)

Studdy Solution

STEP 1

What is this asking? We need to find a cosine function that describes the depth of the water at any time, knowing the highest and lowest depths and when they occur. Watch out! Remember that the cosine function starts at its maximum value, so we might need to adjust our function to match the given times for high and low tides.

STEP 2

1. Find the midline.
2. Find the amplitude.
3. Find the period.
4. Find the phase shift.
5. Write the equation.

STEP 3

The midline is the average of the **highest** and **lowest** depths.
Think of it like the "center" of the tide's motion!

STEP 4

D=14 feet+6 feet2=20 feet2=10 feet D = \frac{\textbf{14 feet} + \textbf{6 feet}}{2} = \frac{20 \text{ feet}}{2} = \textbf{10 feet} So, our midline is at 10 feet\textbf{10 feet}.

STEP 5

The amplitude is *half* the difference between the **highest** and **lowest** points.
It tells us how much the tide goes up and down from the midline.

STEP 6

A=14 feet6 feet2=8 feet2=4 feet A = \frac{\textbf{14 feet} - \textbf{6 feet}}{2} = \frac{8 \text{ feet}}{2} = \textbf{4 feet} Our amplitude is 4 feet\textbf{4 feet}.

STEP 7

The period is the time it takes for one full cycle of the tide (from high to low and back to high).
We know high tide is at noon and low tide is at 6 AM, so half a cycle is 6 hours.

STEP 8

A full cycle must be **double** that, which is 26 hours=12 hours2 \cdot 6 \text{ hours} = \textbf{12 hours}.

STEP 9

Now, we can find BB using the formula Period=2πB \text{Period} = \frac{2\pi}{B} .

STEP 10

12=2πB \textbf{12} = \frac{2\pi}{B} B=2π12=π6 B = \frac{2\pi}{\textbf{12}} = \frac{\pi}{6} So, BB is π6\frac{\pi}{6}.

STEP 11

A regular cosine function starts at its **maximum**.
In our problem, high tide (the maximum depth) is at noon, which is 12\textbf{12} hours after midnight.
This means our cosine function is shifted 12\textbf{12} hours to the right.

STEP 12

To shift the graph of cos(x) \cos(x) to the *right* by cc units, we replace xx with xcx - c.
In our case, c=12c = \textbf{12}, so we have cos(x12)\cos(x - \textbf{12}).
Since BB is multiplied by xx, we have cos(B(x12))=cos(Bx12B)\cos(B(x - \textbf{12})) = \cos(Bx - 12B).

STEP 13

Plugging in our value for BB, we get π6(x12)=π6x2π\frac{\pi}{6}(x - 12) = \frac{\pi}{6}x - 2\pi.

STEP 14

Putting it all together, our equation is: y=Acos(Bx12B)+D y = A \cos(Bx - 12B) + D y=4cos(π6x2π)+10 y = 4 \cos\left(\frac{\pi}{6}x - 2\pi\right) + 10 Since cos(x2π)=cos(x)\cos(x - 2\pi) = \cos(x), we can simplify to: y=4cos(π6x)+10 y = 4 \cos\left(\frac{\pi}{6}x\right) + 10

STEP 15

The equation for the water's depth is y=4cos(π6x)+10y = 4 \cos\left(\frac{\pi}{6}x\right) + 10.

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