SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025

BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

SOURCES OF REFERENCE
1. Fannon, P., Kadelburg, V., Woolley, B., & Ward, S. (2020). Mathematics:
Applications and Interpretation HL for the IB Diploma. Hodder Education.
2. Haese, M., Humphries, M., Sangwin, C., & Vo, N. (2019). Mathematics:
Applications and Interpretation HL. Haese Mathematics
3. Wazir, I., Garry, T., Nakamoto, J., Frederick, K., & Lumb, S. (2019). Mathematics:
Applications and Interpretation for the IB Diploma. Pearson Publication.
4. Belcher, P., Chang Wathall, J., Doering, S., Duxbury, P., Economopoulos, P.,
Forrest, J., Gray, P., Halsey, T., Harris, D., Heinrichs, L., Kemp, E., La Rondie, P.,
Mariz Seiler, P., Ortman, M., Sirinoglu Singh, N., Stoyanova Kennedy, N., &
Waldman, P. (2019). Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation: Enhanced
Online Higher-Level Course Companion. Oxford University Press.
5. REVISION VILLAGE

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES

1. At Grande Anse Beach, the height of the water, in metres, is modelled by the
function:
h(t) = p cos(q⋅t) + r

where t is the number of hours after 21:00 hours on 10 December 2017. The
diagram shows the graph of h, for 0 ≤ t ≤ 72.

The point A(6.25,0.6) represents the first low tide and B(12.5,1.5) represents the
next high tide.

(a) How much time is there between the first low tide and the next high tide?
(b) Find the difference in height between low tide and high tide.
(c) Find the value of p, q and r.
(d) There were two high tides on 12 December 2017. At what time did the second
high tide occur?
(e) Calculate the number of minutes where the height of water is at most 0.8 m in the
first 24 hours after 21:00 hours on December 10, 2017.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

2. PM2.5 Emissions in Beijing, China

PM2.5 particles are tiny air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less.
For comparison, the average diameter of a human hair is about 70 micrometers.
(An illustration shows the relative sizes of a human hair and a PM2.5 particle.)

During a particular working day, the rate of PM2.5 emissions, in grams per
second, from all road vehicles in Beijing, China is modelled by the function:
E(t) = 6 sin(π/6 t − 5/6 π) + 9, 0 ≤ t ≤ 24

where t is the elapsed time, in hours, since midnight.

(a) Find the maximum rate of PM2.5 emissions during the day in Beijing, China.
(b) Find the times at which the maximum rate of PM2.5 emissions occur during
the day.

3. The diagram shows a waterwheel with a bucket. The wheel rotates at a constant
rate in an anticlockwise direction.

The diameter of the wheel is 8 m. The centre of the wheel, point A, is 2 m

above the water level.

After t seconds, the height of the bucket above the water level is given by:

H = a sin (bt) + 2

(a) Find the value of a.

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

(b) The wheel turns at a rate of one rotation every 30 seconds. Find the value
of b.

(c) Calculate the number of seconds the bucket is underwater during one
rotation.

4. Let tan θ = ¾ , for 0 < θ < 2π. Find the exact value of:
(a) cos θ
(b) sin θ.

5. Consider the analogue clock below, which has a circular face with centre at
point O. The minute hand of the clock, OP, has a length of 12 cm and the hour
hand, OQ, has a length of 10 cm.

In Figure 1: the time on the clock is 7:00 pm.

(a) For Figure 1, find:
(i) the size of the reflex angle PÔQ, in degrees.
(ii) the distance between the ends of the hour and minute hands.

In Figure 2, the time is now 7:18 pm, and as such, the end point of the minute
hand has rotated through an angle θ, covering an arc length l.

(b) For Figure 2, find:

(i) the size of the angle θ in degrees.
(ii) the arc length l.
(iii) the area of the shaded sector.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

Another circular analogue clock, shown below, has a face radius of 14 cm, and
minute and hour hands of length 14 cm. The current time shown on the clock
is 6:00 pm. The bottom of the clock face is 4 cm above the base of the frame
holding the clock.

The height, h, of the end point of the minute hand above the base of the frame is
modelled by the function:
h(θ)=14cosθ+18

(c) Find the value of h when θ = 170°

The height, g, of the end point of the hour hand above the base of the frame is
modelled by the function:
g(θ) = −14 cos(12θ) + 18

Where θ is the angle rotated by the minute hand after 6:00 pm.
The end points of the minute and hour hands have the same height from the
base of the frame for the first time when θ = k.

(d) Find the value of k.

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

6. The graph represents the temperature (T°C) in Washington measured

at midday during a period of thirteen consecutive days starting at day 0.
These points also lie on the graph of the function:

T(x) = a + b cos (cx), 0 ≤ x ≤ 12

where a, b, c ∈ R.

(a) Find the value of a and of b.

(b) Find the value of c.

(c) Using the graph, or otherwise, write down the part of the domain for which
the midday temperature is less than 18.5°C.

7. A mobile phone factory has an assembly unit and a packing unit. The power
consumption of both units is modelled using a sinusoidal function with period 1
day. The assembly unit has maximum power consumption 50 MW and minimum
power consumption 10 MW. When t = 0, the power consumption is 30 MW and
increasing.

a. Find a model of the form PA = a sin(bt + d) for the power consumption of the
assembly unit at time t hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

The maximum and minimum power consumptions of the packing unit are half of those
for the assembly unit. The first maximum occurs four hours later than the maximum for
the assembly unit.

b. Find a model of the form PP = A sin (B(t−C)) + D for the power consumption of the
packing unit at time t hours.
c. Find the first time at which the two units have the same power consumption.

d. Use technology to sketch the total power consumption of two units over a 24-hour
period, and find its maximum value.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

SAMPLE IB QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1
The following diagram represents a large Ferris wheel, with a diameter of 100 metres.

Let P be a point on the wheel. The wheel starts with P at the lowest point, at ground level.
The wheel rotates at a constant rate, in an anticlockwise (counterclockwise) direction.
One revolution takes 20 minutes.
(a) Write down the height of P above ground level after
(i) 10 minutes;
(ii) 15 minutes.
(2)

Let h(t) metres be the height of P above ground level after t minutes. Some values of
h(t) are given in the table below.

t h(t)
0 0.0
1 2.4
2 9.5
3 20.6
4 34.5
5 50.0
(b) (i) Show that h(8) = 90.5.
(ii) Find h(21).
(4)
(c) Sketch the graph of h, for 0 ≤ t ≤ 40. (3)
(d) Given that h can be expressed in the form h(t) = a cos bt + c, find a, b and c.
(5)
(Total 14 marks)
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

Question 2
The following diagram shows a ball attached to the end of a spring, which is suspended
from a ceiling.

The height, ℎ metres, of the ball above the ground at time t seconds after being
released can be modelled by the function h(t) = 0.4 cos (πt) +1.8 where t ≥ 0.

a. Find the height of the ball above the ground when it is released. [2]
b. Find the minimum height of the ball above the ground. [2]
c. Show that the ball takes 2 seconds to return to its initial height above the ground for
the first time. [2]
d. For the first 2 seconds of its motion, determine the amount of time that the ball is less
than 1.8 + 0.2√2 metres above the ground. [5]
e. Find the rate of change of the ball’s height above the ground when t =1/3. Give your
answer in the form pπ√q ms−1 where p ∈ Q and q ∈ Z+. [4]
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES – TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS & MODELLING JUNE 2025
BATCH 2024/2026 SEM 3

Question 3
The six blades of a windmill rotate around a centre point C. Points A and B and the
base of the windmill are on level ground, as shown in the following diagram.

From point A the angle of elevation of point C is 0.6 radians. An observer walks 7 metres
from point A to point B. The observer keeps walking until he is standing directly under
point C.

The observer has a height of 1.8 metres, and as the blades of the windmill rotate, the end
of each blade passes 2.5 metres over his head. One of the blades is painted a different
color than the others. The end of this blade is labelled point D. The height of h, in metres,
of point D above the ground can be modelled by the function,
h(t) = p cos (3πt/10) + q,
where t is in seconds and p, q ∈ R . When t = 0, point D is at its maximum height.

a. Given that point A is 12 metres from the base of the windmill, find the height of
point C above the ground. [2]
b. Find the angle of elevation of point C from point B. [2]
c. Find the length of each blade of the windmill. [2]
d. Find the value of p and the value of q. [4]
e. If the observer stands directly under point C for one minute, point D will pass over
his head n times. Find the value of n. [3]