if we knew the roots/solutions of the equation, we can set h(s) = 0 and solve for "s" to find out how many seconds is it when the height is 0.
if you notice in the first picture, when f(x) = 0, is when the parabola hits a root/solution or the ground, for David he'll be hitting the water surface, and the equation that has both of those roots/solutions conspicuous is