Question

A rocket is launched in the air. Its height in feet is given by h (t) = -16t^2 + 104t where t represents the time in seconds after launch. What is the appropriate domain for this situation?

Answer 1

Looking at the function h(t), it is a polynomial function.

The domain of this type of function usually is all real numbers.

But in this case, since the independent variable t represents the time, its value can't be negative, it usually starts at t = 0.

Therefore the appropriate domain for this situation is all non-negative numbers:

$\begin{gathered} t\geq0\\ \\ or\\ \\ \text{ }[0,\infty) \end{gathered}$