SOLUTION: A ball is tossed into the air at an initial velocity of 38.4ft/sec from .96 feet off of the ground. At what point does the ball hit the ground? I figured out that the equatio

Algebra ->  Quadratic-relations-and-conic-sections -> SOLUTION: A ball is tossed into the air at an initial velocity of 38.4ft/sec from .96 feet off of the ground. At what point does the ball hit the ground? I figured out that the equatio      Log On


   



Question 390072: A ball is tossed into the air at an initial velocity of 38.4ft/sec from .96 feet off of the ground.
At what point does the ball hit the ground?
I figured out that the equation is y=-16t^2+38.4t+.96
I also figured out that the maximum height of the ball is 24 feet and it reaches it's maximum in 1.2 seconds.

Found 2 solutions by stanbon, nerdybill:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You are correct.
Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by nerdybill(7384) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
y=-16t^2+38.4t+.96
set y to 0 and solve for t:
0=-16t^2+38.4t+.96
applying the quadratic equation:
t = {-0.02, 2.42}
throw out the negative solution, leaving:
t = 2.42 seconds
.
Solved by pluggable solver: SOLVE quadratic equation with variable
Quadratic equation at%5E2%2Bbt%2Bc=0 (in our case -16t%5E2%2B38.4t%2B0.96+=+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=%2838.4%29%5E2-4%2A-16%2A0.96=1536.

Discriminant d=1536 is greater than zero. That means that there are two solutions: +x%5B12%5D+=+%28-38.4%2B-sqrt%28+1536+%29%29%2F2%5Ca.

t%5B1%5D+=+%28-%2838.4%29%2Bsqrt%28+1536+%29%29%2F2%5C-16+=+-0.024744871391589
t%5B2%5D+=+%28-%2838.4%29-sqrt%28+1536+%29%29%2F2%5C-16+=+2.42474487139159

Quadratic expression -16t%5E2%2B38.4t%2B0.96 can be factored:
-16t%5E2%2B38.4t%2B0.96+=+-16%28t--0.024744871391589%29%2A%28t-2.42474487139159%29
Again, the answer is: -0.024744871391589, 2.42474487139159. Here's your graph:
graph%28+500%2C+500%2C+-10%2C+10%2C+-20%2C+20%2C+-16%2Ax%5E2%2B38.4%2Ax%2B0.96+%29