Since the radius of a circle is half its diameter, the radius of our Ferris wheel is
![r= \frac{220}{2} =110](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=r%3D%20%5Cfrac%7B220%7D%7B2%7D%20%3D110)
ft
Next, we are going to convert from revolutions per minute to degrees per second.
We know that t<span>he wheel makes a complete turn every 2 minutes, so it makes a complete turn in 120 seconds. Since there are 360° in a complete turn, we can set up our conversion factor:
</span>
![\frac{1*360}{120}=3](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=%20%5Cfrac%7B1%2A360%7D%7B120%7D%3D3%20)
degrees per second
<span>
Now, lets find the height:
</span>We know that <span>the passenger is at the lowest point on the wheel when t=0; since the wheel is 125 feet above the ground, at t=0 h=125. To find t at the top, we are going to take advantage of the fact that the wheel will turn 180° from the lowest point to the top and that it turns 3° every second:
</span>
![t= \frac{180}{3}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=t%3D%20%5Cfrac%7B180%7D%7B3%7D%20)
![t=60](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=t%3D60)
Notice that the height at the top is the diameter of the wheel plus the height above the ground, so
![h=220+125=345](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D220%2B125%3D345)
.
To model the situation we are going to use the cosine function, but notice that
![cos (\alpha)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=cos%20%28%5Calpha%29%20)
is 1 when
![\alpha =0](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=%20%5Calpha%20%3D0)
and -1 wen
![\alpha =180](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=%20%5Calpha%20%3D180)
. Since we want the opposite, we are going to use negative cosine.
Notice that we want
![\alpha =180](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=%20%5Calpha%20%3D180)
when
![t=60](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=t%3D60)
, so we are going to use
![-cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=-cos%283t%29)
. Next, we are going to multiply our cosine by the radius of our wheel:
![-110cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=-110cos%283t%29)
, and last but not least we are going to add the sum of the radius of the wheel plus the height above the ground:
![h=110+125-110cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D110%2B125-110cos%283t%29)
![h=225-110cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%283t%29)
Now that we have our height function lets check if everything is working:
<span>the passenger is at the lowest point at t=0; we also know that the lowest point is 125 feet above the ground, so lets evaluate our function at t=0:
</span>
![h=225-110cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%283t%29)
![h=225-110cos(3*0)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%283%2A0%29)
![h=125](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D125)
feet
So far so good.
We also know that at t=60, our passenger is 345 feet above the ground, so lets evaluate our function at t=60 and check if coincides:
![h=225-110cos(3t)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%283t%29)
![h=225-110cos(3*60)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%283%2A60%29)
![h=225-110cos(180)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D225-110cos%28180%29)
![h=345](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=h%3D345)
feet
We can conclude that cosine function that express the height h (in feet) of a passenger on the wheel as a function of time t (in minutes) ) is: