Question

Ms walkers science class is doing an egg drop experiment from the balcony of their school. Each egg is protected by a contraption that the student collectively designed. The height of the egg, in feet, after x seconds is given by the expression below. -16x^2+35 what do the zeros of the expression represent?

Answer 1

Answer:

The zeros, -1.48 and 1.48, represent the times where the egg is on the ground.

Step-by-step explanation:

The roots, or zeros, of an expression are the x-intercepts.  They are the points where the data crosses the x-axis.  The y-coordinate at these points is 0.  This means the height of the egg at these points is 0.

The values of a, b and c in this equation are -16, 0 and 35.  Using the quadratic formula,

$x=\frac{-b\pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}\\\\=\frac{-0\pm \sqrt{0^2-4(-16)(35)}}{2(-16)}\\\\=\frac{0\pm \sqrt{0--2240}}{-32}\\\\=\frac{0\pm \sqrt{2240}}{-32}\\\\=\frac{0\pm 47.33}{-32}\\\\=\frac{0+47.33}{-32}\text{ or }\frac{0-47.33}{-32}\\\\=\frac{47.33}{-32}\text{ or }\frac{-47.33}{32}\\\\=-1.48\text{ or }1.48$