SOLUTION: At t=0 seconds, Vikki stood on the roof of a building and threw a penny in the air. The height in feet h(t) of the ball at t seconds is given by the formula H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +

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Question 337633: At t=0 seconds, Vikki stood on the roof of a building and threw a penny in the air. The height in feet h(t) of the ball at t seconds is given by the formula
H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +56
a)How tall is the building (hint: t=0)
b)When is the ball at its highest point?
c)To what height does the ball travel?
d)When does the ball strike the ground?

Answer by nerdybill(7384) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
At t=0 seconds, Vikki stood on the roof of a building and threw a penny in the air. The height in feet h(t) of the ball at t seconds is given by the formula
H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +56
a)How tall is the building (hint: t=0)
H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +56
H(0) = -16(0)^2 + 96(0) +56
H(0) = 0 + 0 +56
H(0) = 56 feet
.
b)When is the ball at its highest point?
find the "axis of symmetry":
t = -b/(2a) = -96/(2*(-16)) = -96/(-32) = 3 secs
.
c)To what height does the ball travel?
set t=3:
H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +56
H(3) = -16(3)^2 + 96(3) +56
H(3) = -16(9) + 96(3) +56
H(3) = -144 + 288 +56
H(3) = 200 feet
.
d)When does the ball strike the ground?
Set H(t)=0 and solve for t:
H(t) = -16t^2 + 96t +56
0 = -16t^2 + 96t +56
Dividing both sides by 8:
0 = -2t^2 + 12t + 7
Apply quadratic formula to get:
t = {-0.54, 6.54}
Toss out the negative solution to get
t = 6.54 secs
.
Details of quadratic follows:
Solved by pluggable solver: SOLVE quadratic equation with variable
Quadratic equation at%5E2%2Bbt%2Bc=0 (in our case -2t%5E2%2B12t%2B7+=+0) has the following solutons:

t%5B12%5D+=+%28b%2B-sqrt%28+b%5E2-4ac+%29%29%2F2%5Ca

For these solutions to exist, the discriminant b%5E2-4ac should not be a negative number.

First, we need to compute the discriminant b%5E2-4ac: b%5E2-4ac=%2812%29%5E2-4%2A-2%2A7=200.

Discriminant d=200 is greater than zero. That means that there are two solutions: +x%5B12%5D+=+%28-12%2B-sqrt%28+200+%29%29%2F2%5Ca.

t%5B1%5D+=+%28-%2812%29%2Bsqrt%28+200+%29%29%2F2%5C-2+=+-0.535533905932738
t%5B2%5D+=+%28-%2812%29-sqrt%28+200+%29%29%2F2%5C-2+=+6.53553390593274

Quadratic expression -2t%5E2%2B12t%2B7 can be factored:
-2t%5E2%2B12t%2B7+=+-2%28t--0.535533905932738%29%2A%28t-6.53553390593274%29
Again, the answer is: -0.535533905932738, 6.53553390593274. Here's your graph:
graph%28+500%2C+500%2C+-10%2C+10%2C+-20%2C+20%2C+-2%2Ax%5E2%2B12%2Ax%2B7+%29