MATHEMATICS ANALYSIS AND APPROACHES

STANDARD LEVEL

EXPLORATION

Optimizing Sunlight Exposure: Planning a Journey from Izmir to

Page Number: 17

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Table of Contents
Rationale..................................................................................................................................................3
Mathematical Explanation..................................................................................................................4
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................17

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Rationale

As the consensus among scientists affirms, the Sun is extremely crucial for

humans and its absence can have a detrimental and permanent impact on our mental

and physical well-being. The Sun's rays are not only crucial in controlling our mood

and circadian rhythm but also provide vital nutrients for bodily functions and

regulations. When we don't get enough sunlight, our bodies can become vitamin D

deficient, which can weaken our bones, impair our immune systems, and raise our

chance of getting sick. The psychological impact of sunlight deprivation cannot be

understated, as it has been linked to mood disorders such as depression and seasonal

affective disorder (SAD) that is tied to mood disorders, persistent fatigue, and a

noticeable dip in motivation. Therefore, the lack of sunlight presents a significant risk

to our health, making it imperative that we acknowledge its essential function and

implement measures to guarantee sufficient exposure for optimum wellbeing.

In fact, upon moving to Sweden from Turkey for an exchange program, it

struck me as to how the weather in Sweden had an immense impact on my emotions

and overall mood throughout the day. After a few months of living there, I realized I

wasn't alone in this experience. Almost all the Swedes I met seemed to be struggling

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with the mental toll of extended periods of darkness, especially during the winter

months. Many of them complained about how it disrupted their sleep patterns and left

them feeling drained and emotionally affected. In addition, I found myself falling ill

more frequently and experiencing heightened fatigue beyond my usual threshold and I

noticed that everyone else was resorting to medication and additional vitamin

supplements to address similar health concerns.

After returning to Turkey, I gained an appreciation for the longer daylight

hours, especially as I felt a significant improvement in my mental and physical well-

being even during the winter.

After this recent realization, I wondered about the ideal departure and return

dates for a trip to Sweden, that would maximize exposure to sunlight throughout the

entirety of the year. By investigating “To what extent can the optimal sunlight be

taken when planning a journey to Linkoping from Izmir for the year 2023?” My

aim is to develop a mathematical model representing the variation in daylight hours

over the course of a year and then transform this yearly data into sine functions.

Subsequently, I intend to determine the dates at which the duration of sunlight in

Sweden surpasses that in Turkey and vice versa, which would be the best potential

days to go to Sweden and come back to Turkey as their daylight hours intertwine.

Mathematical Explanation

I collected data on the sunrise and sunset time and daylight hours of Linköping

and İzmir via Time and Date website. I created Excel tables with the collected data

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making sure that I converted the hours into decimal numbers. Through this data, I’ve

created graphs on Desmos, as shown in the Image 1, Image 2 and Image 3 below. I

have put the day numbers on the x axis and the daylight hour values (in decimals) on

the y axis.

Image 1:Graph of daylight hours over the year of 2022 in İzmir, Turkey

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Image 2: Graph of daylight hours over the year 2022 in Linköping, Sweden

Image 3: Graph of overlaying İzmir and Linköping graphs

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Then after investigating I found out that the data created sinusoidal functions, which is

a mathematical function that describes a wave-like pattern characterized by periodic

oscillations. In order to model variation in daylight hours, I’ve used the sinusoidal

function:

y= A ⋅ sin(2 π /T (x + B))+C

In this formula:

A represents the amplitude of the variation, indicating how much the daylight hours

vary throughout the period.

T is the period of the variation.

B is a vertical shift that can be used to adjust the baseline daylight hours.

C is a horizontal shift that represents time delay or phase difference in a periodic

phenomenon.

In order to find the amplitude (A), I subtracted the minimum value of y from

the maximum value of y and then divided it into 2. The maximum value of daylight

hours for both cities were on June 21th, which is the summer solstice and the longest

day for the Northern Hemisphere. For İzmir, the value was the same for both June 20

and June 21,which could be because of the rounding of the values. For the minimum

value, I again saw that Izmir's daylight hours on December 21st and December 22nd

appeared to be the same, which was probably due to rounding as well. Therefore, I

chose the December 21st value as my minimum y value because it was the lowest for

both Izmir and Linköping.

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 For İzmir the maximum value was 14.847 and the minimum value was 9.486

while for Linkoping the maximum was 18.309 and the minimum was 6.346.

By using the formula I found the amplitude rates for both cities:

İzmir: (14.847−9.486) ÷2 = 2.68

Linköping:(18.309−6.346)÷ 2= 5.98

which revealed to me that Linkoping had more variation in daylight hours throughout

the year.

In order to find the period (T), I equated the formula 2π÷T to 365, as the length

of the one cycle of the curve is 365 days (except leap years however 2023 is not a

leap year so it does not affect the result).

By doing the equation I found the period of variation as:

2π÷ 365 = T

which gives the value T= 0.017, same for both cities as 365( the whole period) is

same for both.

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 In order to find the vertical shift (C), I’ve added the maximum value of y to the

minimum value of y and divided it into 2 in both cities. As I found the maximum and

minimum values for the both cities on December 21 and June 21, I made the

calculations below:

İzmir: (14.847+ 9.486)÷ 2= 12.167 vertical shift for Izmir,

Linköping: (18.309+6.346)÷ 2= 12.327 vertical shift for Linkoping.

This shows the baseline daylight hours for both cities.

In order to find the horizontal translation (B), the maximum value had to be

equated to the function so I found it after the other values. Without the horizontal

translation the equation of İzmir is:

f (x)=2.68 sin(0.017 (x+ B))+12.167 I substituted the maximum value, the point

corresponding to the value on June 21 with the coordinates (172, 14.847)

14.847=2.68 sin(0.017 (172+B))+12.167

I isolated the sine function as:

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sin(0.017 ×(172+ B))=(14.847−12.167)/2.68, getting the result

1=sin(0.017 ×(172+ B))

Then took the inverse function on both sides

arcsin 1=arcsin ¿(0.017 (172 + B))

As arcsin 1 is equal to π /2I divided both sides to 0.017 in order to calculate the right-

hand side equation as radians

(π /2)/0.017 ≈ 91.831 radians

which made B+172=91.831 so I subtracted 172 from both sides and got the result

B=−80.169

For Linköping, I had done the same calculations taking the maximum value as

coordinates (172,18.309) as seen below:

18.309=5.98sin (0.017(172+ B))+12.327

Through the calculations:

18.309−12.327=5.98 × sin(0.017 ×(172+ B))

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 5.982=5.98 × sin(0.017 ×(172+ B))

I found the equation 1=sin(0.017 ×(172+ B)), which was essentially what I have

also found for İzmir. So the horizontal shift for both cities were the same as

B=−80.169. After questioning why the result might have been the same, I realized

that as all the cities in the Northern Hemisphere had the longest daylight hours on the

same day and due to this the horizontal translation value was the same for both cities.

After all, I found the sinusoidal functions of both cities’ change in daylight

hours over a year as

Izmir: f (x)=2.68 sin(0.017 (x−80.169))+12.167

Linköping: g(x )=5.98 sin(0.017(x−80.169))+ 12.327

I graphed these functions and compared them to the original functions, Image 4

and Image 5, making sure that they fit. Thankfully they did fit, which showed the

validity of my calculations.

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Image 4: Imposed graphs of the daylight hours data of İzmir and its sine graph

Image 5: Imposed graphs of the daylight hours data of Linköping and its sine

graph

Then, in order to find the x values that intertwine I equalized both sin functions to

each other.

2.68 sin(0.017(x−80.169))+12.167=5.98 sin (0.017(x −80.169))+12.327

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 5.98 sin(0.017(x−80.169))−2.68 sin(0.017(x−80.169))+12.327−12.167=0

Through the calculations:

3.3 sin(0.017(x−80.169))+ 0.16=0

sin(0.017 x−1.362)≈−0.0485

arcsin ¿

0.017x=1.314

x=77.3

I found the first x value, the first intersection point of the two sine functions, as

77.3, and I decided to take the 78th day of the year as the most suitable day,

considering the traveling and arrival time. The 78th day of the year 2022 corresponds

to the 19th of March, which would be the day where daylight hours of Izmir and

Linköping are equal for the first time and the daylight hours for Linköping start to

exceed those in Izmir.

In order to find the second x value, I calculated the difference between the first

x value which is 19th of March and the maximum value 21th of June which

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corresponds to the values 77.2 and 171. The value of 77.2 was used so that there

wouldn’t be cumulative errors due to rounding which would lead the results to be

misleading. By calculating the difference between the two values, I found the distance

between the first intersection point and the axis of symmetry, which would also be

equal to the distance between the axis of symmetry and the second intersection point.

172−77.3=94.7

172+94.7=266.7

In order to double check the results I’ve found, I put the x values, which are

77.3 and 266.7, of intersections into the equations of Izmir and Linköping.

For the first intersection point 77.3,

2.68 sin(0.017(77.2−80.169))+12.167 ≈ 12.03

5.98 sin(0.017(77.2−80.169))+12.327 ≈ 12.03

For the second intersection point 264.8,

2.68 sin(0.017(266.7−80.169))+12.167 ≈ 12.08

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5.98 sin(0.017(266.7−80.169))+12.327 ≈ 12.15

While the first intersection point did match with the x value I found, the second

intersection point did not fully match which I assume is due to accumulations of

roundings in the calculations.

As a result, I found the second intersection value as 264.8 which I took as the

265th day of the year 2022 corresponding to 22nd of September, the most optimal day

for departure from Sweden as the daylight hours in Izmir and Linköping are once

again equal, but Izmir begins to surpass Linköping in daylight hours.

Now that I have found the dates for departure and return from Linköping, I can

calculate the total sunlight hours experienced throughout the year. To do so, I will use

the integral formula and calculate the time from the beginning of the year until the

first intersection point (day 78), the period Izmir has the higher values of daylight, and

then I will calculate the period between the two intersection points, where Linköping

has the higher value. Finally I will calculate the time between the second intersection

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point (day 265) and the end of the year, when again Izmir has higher values of

daylight.

For the first period, I have written the formula: using the sine function for Izmir, I

have taken the value 78 so that I could calculate the area in between on a daily basis.

(2.68 sin(0.017(x + B))+12.167)dx

¿ 814.38

For the second period, I have taken the sine function for Linköping and limited it

between the values 78 and 265.

5.98 sin(0.017(x−80.169))+ 12.327 ¿ dx

¿ 3015.625

For the final period, I have yet taken again the sine function for Izmir and limited the

values between 265 and 365

(2.68 sin(0.017(x + B))+12.167)dx

= 1041.09

Finally, I added it all the values together as

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 814.38+3015.62+1041.09=4871.105

I achieved the result 4871.105 which makes 4871 hours and 6 minutes in total.

Conclusion

In this internal assessment I explored the variations of daylight hours, making

comparisons of two different cities in two different countries as well as combining it to my

own experience in living both. Through mathematical modeling, I transformed the graphical

representations into sine functions and identified intersection points to determine the most

favorable departure and return dates for maximizing sunlight exposure throughout the year.

Subsequently, I calculated the optimal daylight hours achievable based on the identified dates

and values using integral formulas.

If I would further my investigation I could have made predictions for the year 2024,

as even though it is a leap year the data and the values would stay the same until the 30th of

December. However, I would not be able to predict the optimal daylight hours for the year

2025 as the data would change due to the extra day in 2024.

My biggest limitations were the different results of calculations because of rounding

accumulations, as I had to round up the decimals of daylight values and in certain

circumstances it caused a change in results. However, I am overall pleased with my

investigation as I think that I was able to answer my research question and achieved my aim

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of calculating the optimal hours of daylight I could receive in the year of 2023, as well as

using the mathematical concepts of functions and integrals accordingly.

References

Sunrise and Sunset Times in Izmir.

Sunrise and Sunset Times in Linköping.

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