Periodic Functions

Guided Notes for this lecture

Many mathematical models have patterns that repeat over time. These types of functions are very helpful, because we can use them to predict what will happen in the future. This video reviews the common terminology and circumstances where we find periodic functions.

In precalculus you learned about the properties and ways to analyze sine and cosine functions. This video will review the ways that we will use and apply these two very important functions in the work we will be doing.

Taking what we learned in the last two videos, we are now ready to strat setting up models of periodic functions using sine and cosine.

At the end of this section you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How can we determine if a sine or cosine function is appropriate to use in our model?
2. What is the difference between the period and the variable B in the general form?
3. How can we use the amplitude and vertical shift to determine the maximum and minimum values of a periodic sine or cosine function?

Check Your Understanding
You should try these problems before reviewing the solutions to fill in while watching the video.