Sallie Johnson 4B 5/30/14

MDJ
Find two examples of a trig function in your life. Include graphs
with your descriptions. What is the real life meaning of the
following: domain, range, period, median-line, and amplitude?

One example of a trig function that is very prevalent in my life is found in the
tides. Since I live on the water, I understand that tides are very important for any
water activities like boating, kayaking, or even
fishing. We cannot go out on our boat or do
other water activities if it is low tide, so it is
important to know when the high tides are.
The tides can be graphed as a sine function,
with the highest points being high tide and the
lowest points being low tides. The period for
tide graphs is the time it takes to get from one
low tide to the next, or the complete tide cycle.
The amplitude of the tides is the change from a
neutral tide to the high tide or the low tide. The domain is just the entire duration of
tides, and is never ending because tides never end. The range showcases how long it
takes to get from low tide to high tide. The median-line is the neutral tide in
between high and low tide, and is used to show the progression of the wave over
time.

Another example of a real life trig function is sound waves. Sound waves are
important because they show and explain how any sound travels, and sound is a big
part of everyday life. Sound waves are in the form of waves due to the varying
amplitude in them. The amplitude of a sound
wave describes how loud the sound is- the
longer the wave, the louder the volume. Also,
the period of the sound wave describes the
frequency of the sound wave, with a higher
frequency causing a higher pitch, and a lower
frequency describing a lower pitch. The
domain of a sound wave is all real numbers,
since the sound continuously travels, and the
range would be the time it takes to get from one peak or another, and a bigger range
means higher volume. Finally, the median-line describes how time affects the sound
wave, and what the sound wave continues to look like as time goes on.