Puzzles
Sine
A sine curve can be created with five people by giving the following instructions to the five people:
A. Stand on the spot.
B. Walk around A in a circle, holding this string to keep you the same distance away.
C. Stay in line with B, staying on this line.
D. Walk in a straight line perpendicular to C's line.
E. Stay in line with C and D. E will trace the path of a sine curve as shown here:
![](javascript:showlimage("sine4.gif"))
What instructions could you give to five people to trace a cos(ine) curve?
What instructions could you give to five people to trace a tan(gent) curve?
![](javascript:showlimage("cosine.gif"))
![](javascript:showlimage("tangent.gif"))
If you enjoyed this puzzle, check out Sunday Afternoon Maths XXVII,
puzzles about trigonometry, or a random puzzle.
puzzles about trigonometry, or a random puzzle.