SOLUTION: A gentleman jumps out of an airplane without a parachute at 21,980 feet and lives to tell the tale. The function h(t)=-16tē+21,980 describes the relationship between height in feet

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Question 1038550: A gentleman jumps out of an airplane without a parachute at 21,980 feet and lives to tell the tale. The function h(t)=-16tē+21,980 describes the relationship between height in feet and the time in seconds. How many seconds did he fall before reaching the ground?
Found 3 solutions by ankor@dixie-net.com, ikleyn, Othel:
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) About Me  (Show Source):
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The function h(t)=-16tē+21,980 describes the relationship between height in feet and the time in seconds. How many seconds did he fall before reaching the ground?
:
Ground level, h=0, therefore
-16t^2 + 21980 = 0
-16t^2 = -21980
same as
16t^2 = 21980
t^2 = 21980/16
t^2 = 1373.75
t = sqrt%281373.75%29
t = 37 secs falling to the ground

Answer by ikleyn(52781) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.A gentleman jumps out of an airplane without a parachute at 21,980 feet and lives to tell the tale.
The function h(t)=-16tē+21,980 describes the relationship between height in feet and the time in seconds.
How many seconds did he fall before reaching the ground?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The equation is 

-16t%5E2%2B21980 = 0.


The solution is 

t = sqrt%2821980%2F16%29.


Answer by Othel(27) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We can imagine that h(t) in this equation represents the height that the gentleman was located at any point in his fall. We are looking for when the height is equal to 0 feet.
0=%28-16%29%2At%5E2%2B21980
Subtracting 21980 from both sides...
-21980=-16%2At%5E2
Divide by (-16)...
%28-21980%29%2F%28-16%29=t%5E2%7D=1373.75
and taking the square root...
sqrt%281373.75%29=t
Since we are looking for the time that it took, we only need the positive square root.
The time that it took to fall to the ground is approximately 37.06 seconds.
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