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Question 938490:  An astronaut on the moon throws a baseball upward.  The astronaut is 6ft, 6 in. tall and the initial velocity of the ball is 30 ft per second.  The height s of the ball in feet is given by the equation,s=-2.7t^2+30t+6.5, where t is the number of seconds after the ball is thrown.  
 
The ball will never reach a height of 100ft.  How can this be determined algebraically? 
 Found 3 solutions by  josmiceli, ankor@dixie-net.com, nerdybill: Answer by josmiceli(19441)      (Show Source):  Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! An astronaut on the moon throws a baseball upward.  
The astronaut is 6ft, 6 in. tall and the initial velocity of the ball is 30 ft per second. 
 The height s of the ball in feet is given by the equation,s=-2.7t^2+30t+6.5, where t is the number of seconds after the ball is thrown. 
The ball will never reach a height of 100ft. 
 How can this be determined algebraically? 
: 
Find the axis of symmetry of the equation, then find max height 
t = -b/(2a) 
t =   
t = +5.556 sec to reach max height 
Find s when this the value of t 
s = -2.7(5.56^2) + 30(5.56) + 6.5 
s = -2.7(30.86) + 166.65 + 6.5 
s = -83.32 + 166.65 + 6.5 
s ~ 90 ft is max height 
 Answer by nerdybill(7384)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! Since 's' predicts the height from the equation: 
s=-2.7t^2+30t+6.5 
Just by looking at the above equation we determine that it is a  
parabola (quadratic) (polynomial of degree 2) 
that opens downwards (negative leading coefficient) 
. 
Therefore, the vertex will be the peak of its travel. 
time t to arrive at peak is 
t = -b/(2a) 
t = -30/(2*(-2)) 
t = -30/(-4) 
t = 7.5 secs 
. 
s = -2.7t^2+30t+6.5 
s = -2.7(7.5)^2+30(7.5)+6.5 
s = 79.625 feet (max height) 
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