Question

The temperature in your house is controlled by a thermostat. The temperatures will vary according to the sinusoidal function: f(x)=5sin(pi/12)*(x-11)+19 where f(x) represents the temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) and x is hours since midnight. What is the maximum temperature of your house?
a.)5deg Celcius
b.)16 deg celcius
c.)17 deg celcius
d.)25 deg celcius

I thought that 23 hours was the maximum hours since midnight, but I got a strange answer when I plugged that in for x. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

Answer 1

23 is the maximum hours, but you want the maximum temperature.

sin(x) has a maximum of 1
5sin(x) has a max of 5
5sin(x)+19 has a max of 24

It appears there is a typo, since 24 is not a choice.

Answer 2

The max temperature is 26º C