Circular Function – 2016 Application Task: Report

VCE Mathematical Methods – Unit 2

© Brandon Olver

PART 1 – GROUP TASK:

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The following observations apply to many students across the cohort:

 Students need to be able to sketch the shape of circular functions. Sine, cosine and tangent graphs are
symmetric and should no look linear.

 Students should always place brackets around coordinates on graphs.

 Students should use the variable in the questions during their working steps. In the context of this task ℎ
and 𝑡 should have been used, not 𝑥 and 𝑦! Special care should be taken when copying answers out of the
calculator where you may have needed to use 𝑥 and 𝑦.

 Instructions for VCE Mathematical Methods will always include a statement to the effect of “In questions
where more than one mark is available, appropriate working must be shown”. Working can be as simple
as ℎ(190) = or ℎ(𝑡) = 60 before providing the solution.

 Instructions for VCE Mathematical Methods will always include a statement to the effect of “In all
questions where a numerical answer is required, an exact value must be given unless otherwise
specified”. In technology active tasks, exact values may be found using the Main Menu of the Casio
ClassPad rather than in the graph screen. Remember, when solving you can restrict the domain by placing
the input |𝑎 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 𝑏 after the equation to be solved.

 Surds should always be fully simplified, for example: √325 = 5√13

QUESTION SPECIFIC COMMENTS:

QUESTION 1:

Question 1 was completed well by the majority of students, with the exception of:

(h) Students should note that in the context of the question 2: 10 𝑝𝑚 was equivalent to 𝑡 = 190.
Therefore, to find the height above the ground at 2: 10 𝑝𝑚 simply evaluate ℎ𝑀 (190) = 92.5 𝑚.

(j) Many students had poor shape when sketching this graph.

(l) This question required an exact value as the solution, a decimal answer was not accepted.

(m) This question posed a challenge to many students. Students are reminded that the graphs of sine and
cosine are complementary; therefore, one can be superimposed on the other via a horizontal
translation. For this question, the amplitude and period remained the same as the original sine
equation.

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 Circular Function – 2016 Application Task: Report
VCE Mathematical Methods – Unit 2
© Brandon Olver

QUESTION 2:

Question 2 proved to be more challenging for students than Question 1, in particular:

(a) i. Students needed to explain the link between the amplitude and the radius of the wheel.

(b) i. Students needed to explain the link between the amplitude and the radius of the wheel.

(b) ii. This question required an exact value as the solution, a decimal answer was not accepted. Students
should also be encouraged to avoid answers involving infinitely reoccurring decimals, such as: 3. 3̇.

(f) For this question, students were required to approximate the instantaneous rate of change which was
covered earlier in the course. Students are reminded that VCE Mathematical Methods is a cumulative
course which regularly requires students to use prior knowledge – including year 10 and below. For this
question, students could have approximated the instantaneous rate of change by:
 Drawing a tangent to the curve at the point and approximating the gradient; or,
 Sketch a tangent using CAS: Analysis → Sketch → Tangent and finding the gradient of the
given line (the coefficient of 𝑥).

(i) This question required an exact value as the solution, a decimal answer was not accepted.

(j) The 𝑦-ordinate of the centre of the Ferris wheel exists at the mean value of the function which is given
by the +𝑐 value in the equation. In this question it was 15 𝑚. This answer can be confirmed by
calculating the distance halfway between the maximum and minimum values of the function:
5.798 + 24.202
= 15 𝑚
2

(k) The diameter of the larger wheel is twice the radial value ∴ 𝑑 = 2 × 10 = 20 𝑚 meaning 𝐴 and 𝐵
were located 20 meters apart. Many students used the radius value resulting in 𝐴𝐵 having a distance
of 10 meters. Pythagoras theorem could then be used to find 𝐴𝐶 = √102 + 152 = √325 = 5√13.
Students are reminded that surds should always be fully simplified.

(l) 15
The angle could be found using the inverse tangent function: 𝜃 = tan−1 ( ) = 56.3°. Students were
10
unable to receive consequential marks if no working was available to show where their mistake was
made.

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Circular Function – 2016 Application Task: Report
VCE Mathematical Methods – Unit 2
© Brandon Olver

PART 2 – INDIVIDUAL TASK:

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The following observations apply to many students across the cohort:

 Students should take extreme care when reading the question. For example, many students stated the
domain in Question 1(a)ii. instead of the range which was required.

 In VCE Mathematical Methods, “show that …” requires students to find the solution without the uses of
the given solution in the working process. That is, substitution of the given result is unacceptable.

 When rounding, the practical context must be considered before rounding up or down.

 Endpoints on the graph required careful consideration:

 If an endpoint is included on a graph, a coloured in circle (⦁) must be used.

 If an endpoint is excluded on a graph, an open circle (o) must be used.

QUESTION SPECIFIC COMMENTS:

QUESTION 1:

Question 1 was well understood by students. However, technical requirements were often an obstacle to
achieving full marks, in particular:

(a) ii. Many students incorrectly gave the domain instead of the range which was required by the question.

(b) i. This question was answered poorly by the cohort. In VCE Mathematical Methods, “show that …”
requires students to find the solution without the uses of the given solution in the working process.
That is, substitution of the given result is unacceptable.
 The following working was accepted:
2𝜋 2𝜋 𝜋
= 20 ∴ 2𝜋 = 20𝑛 ∴ 𝑛 = =
𝑛 20 10
 The following working was not accepted:
2𝜋 10
𝜋 = 2𝜋 × 𝜋 = 20
10
(b) ii. Many students used values already given in ℎ𝑆 (𝑡) which was not accept. For this question you had to
develop your own suitable set of values for 𝐴 and 𝑐. However, students were not penalised beyond this
point, meaning marks could be achieved for subsequent questions using their equation.

(c) ii. This question proved difficult for many students. Using their equation ℎ𝐺 (𝑡) from part (b) iii. students
needed to find the duration, in minutes that ℎ𝐺 (𝑡) > 120. A percentage answer was not required.

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 Circular Function – 2016 Application Task: Report
VCE Mathematical Methods – Unit 2
© Brandon Olver

QUESTION 2:

Question 2 proved to be more accessible for students than Question 1. However, the following question still
posed a challenge for students.

(d) i. As this question asked “at what time of the day, to the nearest minute, is it first possible to view
Melbourne’s CBD”, Melbourne had to be visible when rounding. Therefore, 12: 15 𝑝𝑚 was the correct
answer not 12: 14 𝑝𝑚 (as Melbourne’s CBD is not visible at this time) even through the decimal
answer would have rounded down. 1 mark was available for 12: 14 𝑝𝑚.

(d) ii. Similar to question (d) i., 5: 45 𝑝𝑚 was the correct answer not 5: 46 𝑝𝑚 (as Melbourne’s CBD is not
visible at this time) even through the decimal answer would have rounded up. 1 mark was available for
5: 46 𝑝𝑚.

(e) Students are encouraged to review transformations of function as this question was answered poorly
by many in the cohort. The sequence of transformation required was:
1 12 𝜋
1. A dilation by a factor of 𝜋 = (not ) from the 𝑦-axis. Followed by,
⁄12 𝜋 12
2. A translation of 2 units in the negative 𝑥-direction (left is not acceptable here).
(f) This graph was completed well; however, care should be taken when marking endpoints:
 If an endpoint is included on a graph, a coloured in circle (⦁) must be used.
 If an endpoint is excluded on a graph, an open circle (o) must be used.

QUESTION 3:

Question 3 was answers well by a majority of students, perhaps due to the familiarity of the question from the
practice tasks completed. Comments:

(d) The graph was generally sketched well; however:

 Some students tangent curve looked linear which resulted in 1 mark being deducted.
𝜋
 Some students sketched the graph for 𝑡 ∈ [0, 8 ) rather than until the car park was full which
was specified in the question. Therefore, the graph should have been sketched for 𝑡 ∈ [0,0.35]
(correct to 2 decimal places).
 An asymptote was not required for this graph as it terminated at the point (0.35, 120).

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