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

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

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=(-b\pm √(b^2-4ac))/(2a)\\\\=(-0\pm √(0^2-4(-16)(35)))/(2(-16))\\\\=(0\pm √(0--2240))/(-32)\\\\=(0\pm √(2240))/(-32)\\\\=(0\pm 47.33)/(-32)\\\\=(0+47.33)/(-32)\text{ or }(0-47.33)/(-32)\\\\=(47.33)/(-32)\text{ or }(-47.33)/(32)\\\\=-1.48\text{ or }1.48`