Question

A rock falls off a balcony. It's height (in feet) is given by the formula f(x)=-16t^2+13.4t+120, where t is measured in seconds. How long will it take the rock to hit the ground? Round your answers to the nearest three decimal places.

Answer 1

Answer:

  3.189 seconds

Step-by-step explanation:

You want f(t) = 0, so ...

  0 = -16t^2 +13.4t +120

  0 = t^2 -0.8375t -7.5 . . . . divide by -16

  0 = (t^2 -0.8375t +0.41875^2) -7.5 -0.41875^2 . . . . complete the square*

  0 = (t -0.41875)^2 -7.6753515625 . . . . write as a square

  √7.6753515625 = t -0.41875 . . . . . . . . add 7.67... and take positive root

  t = 0.41875 +√7.6753515625 ≈ 3.189192 . . . . add 0.41875

It will take the rock about 3.189 seconds to hit the ground.

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* We complete the square by adding the square of half the coefficient of the linear term (= (-0.8375/2)^2) inside parentheses and subtracting the same amount outside parentheses. This gives a form inside parentheses that is ...

  (t^2 -2at +a^2) = (t -a)^2

Completing the square is complicated a little bit by a leading coefficient that is not 1. That is why we divided by -16 first.

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Comment on the question

We note that the rock "falls" from the 120 foot high balcony by first traveling upward at a rate of 13.4 feet per second. We also note that the height function is written f(x), but uses t as the variable. That is, it should be f(t) = ...