Example: Modeling Periodicity

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This example reviews the basics of manipulating a sine function to model periodic data. The worksheet gives you the opportunity to vary, one by one, the parameters that determine the period, amplitude, vertical shift, and phase shift of an arbitrary sine curve.

Periodic phenomena are those that repeat in a regular, repeating pattern. The archetype for any such periodic behavior is "going around in a circle." The circular, or trigonometric, functions serve as basis for all models of periodic data.

This example is a preliminary exercise to the modeling applications given in Examples 11 and 12.