SOLUTION: Problem solving. Solve the word problem below and show your solution. A ball is dropped from the top of a building that is 20 meters high. If the ball rebounds to a height that

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Question 1186084: Problem solving. Solve the word problem below and show your solution.
A ball is dropped from the top of a building that is 20 meters high. If the ball rebounds to a height that is half tall of its previous height every time it hits the ground. What is the total distance travelled by the ball before coming to rest?

Answer by Edwin McCravy(20056)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
It falls down 20 meters, then up 10 meters.  So its first "down+up" is 30 meters.
Then it falls down 10 meters then up 5 meters. So its second "down+up" is 15
meters.  So we have an infinite geometric series with a1 = first term = 30 and 
r = common ratio = 1/2.  The formula for the sum of any infinite geometric series
is:



Substituting:



Edwin

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