College

The blades of a windmill turn on an axis that is 40 feet from the ground. The blades are 15 feet long and complete 3 rotations every minute. Write a sine model, [tex]y = a \sin(b t) + k[/tex], for the height (in feet) of the end of one blade as a function of time [tex]t[/tex] (in seconds). Assume the blade is pointing to the right when [tex]t = 0[/tex] and that the windmill turns counterclockwise at a constant rate.

- The amplitude, [tex]a[/tex], is the length of the blades: [tex]a = 15[/tex].
- The period of the rotations, [tex]T[/tex], is the time for one complete rotation. Since there are 3 rotations per minute, each rotation takes [tex]\frac{60}{3} = 20[/tex] seconds. Therefore, [tex]b = \frac{2\pi}{T} = \frac{2\pi}{20} = \frac{\pi}{10}[/tex].
- The vertical shift, [tex]k[/tex], is the height of the axis from the ground: [tex]k = 40[/tex].

Thus, the sine model for the height is:
[tex]\[y = 15 \sin\left(\frac{\pi}{10} t\right) + 40\][/tex]

Answer :

We are given that the windmill’s center of rotation is 40 feet above the ground, the blades are 15 feet long, and the windmill turns through 3 complete rotations every minute.

Let’s break down the steps to obtain the sine model

1. Amplitude, [tex]\( a \)[/tex]:
The amplitude is the distance from the center of the motion to the maximum or minimum value. Since the blade is 15 feet long, the amplitude is
[tex]$$ a = 15. $$[/tex]

2. Vertical Shift, [tex]\( k \)[/tex]:
The vertical shift represents the average height of the end of the blade. As the rotation axis is 40 feet above the ground, the vertical shift is
[tex]$$ k = 40. $$[/tex]

3. Determining the Angular Frequency, [tex]\( b \)[/tex]:
The windmill makes 3 rotations per minute. First, convert the period (time for one rotation) to seconds. The period [tex]\( T \)[/tex] is given by:
[tex]$$ T = \frac{60\text{ seconds}}{3} = 20 \text{ seconds}. $$[/tex]
The angular frequency [tex]\( b \)[/tex] is related to the period by
[tex]$$ b = \frac{2\pi}{T} = \frac{2\pi}{20} = \frac{\pi}{10}. $$[/tex]

4. Constructing the Sine Model:
The model for the height of the end of one blade as a function of time [tex]\( t \)[/tex] (in seconds) is:
[tex]$$ y = a \sin(b t) + k. $$[/tex]
Substituting the values we found:
[tex]$$ y = 15 \sin\left(\frac{\pi}{10} t\right) + 40. $$[/tex]

Thus, the amplitude is
[tex]$$ a = 15, $$[/tex]
and the vertical shift is
[tex]$$ k = 40. $$[/tex]
The complete sine model is
[tex]$$ y = 15 \sin\left(\frac{\pi}{10} t\right) + 40. $$[/tex]