SOLUTION: A ball is thrown straight upward with a velocity of 90 ft/sec. Its height above the ground after t seconds is h = 90t - 16t2. What is the maximum height that the ball reache

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Question 1203130: A ball is thrown straight upward with a velocity of 90 ft/sec. Its height above the ground after t seconds is h = 90t - 16t2.
What is the maximum height that the ball reaches? _______ ft. Round to one decimal place

Answer by ikleyn(52831) About Me  (Show Source):
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A ball is thrown straight upward with a velocity of 90 ft/sec.
Its height above the ground after t seconds is h = 90t - 16t2.
What is the maximum height that the ball reaches?
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This quadratic function can be factored into the product

    h = 90t - 16t^2 = t*(90-16t).


From this decomposition, the zeroes of this quadratic function (its x-intercepts) are

    t = 0 second and  t = 90%2F16 = 5.625 seconds.


This quadratic function achieves its maximum value half-way between x-intercepts.

So,  t%5Bmax%5D = 5.625%2F2 = 2.8125 seconds.


To find the maximum height, simply substitute this value  t = t%5Bmax%5D = 2.8125  into the formula and get

    h%5Bmax%5D = 90*2.8125 - 16*2.8125^2 = 126.5625 ft = 126.6 ft  (rounded as requested).

Solved.