http://www.hotimg.com/image/eYfpha5
1 how were did the pi pop up
2 how do you knwo if you use sin or cos
1 for example, y=sinx has a period of 2pi, but if you multiply x by n i.e. y=sin(nx)
you're streching(or shrinking) the graph horizontally by a factor of 1/n
so the time for each cycle(a HORIZONTAL distance on the graph) also changes to 2pi*1/n , T=2pi/n , n=2p/T
2 the given infomation is about high and low tides at certain times , so you'd use cos function since it starts at its extreme values
in this example, you start at the minimum so you'd better use -a*cos(nt).
if the earlier time is the high tide , it's just the +ve cos function a*cos(nt)