Question

A ball is dropped from a certain height. The function below represents the height f(n), in feet, to which the ball bounces at the nth bounce:

f(n) = 9(0.7)n

What does the number 0.7 represent?

The ball bounces to 30% of its previous height with each bounce.
The height at which the ball bounces at the nth bounce is 0.3 feet.
The ball bounces to 70% of its previous height with each bounce.
The height from which the ball was dropped at the nth bounce is 0.7 feet.

Answer 1

The ball bounces to 70% of its previous height with each bounce.

Explanation:

A ball is dropped from a certain height. The function below represents the height f(n), in feet, to which the ball bounces at the nth bounce:

f(n) = 9(0.7)n

The number 0.7 represents that the ball bounces to 70% of its previous height with each bounce.

Answer 2

The ball bounces to 70% of its previous height with each bounce.

Explanation:

In physics terminology, the number 0.7 is the coefficient of restitution. It is the ratio of the height of bounce (n+1) to the height of bounce (n).

The meaning of the number is that the ball bounces to 70% of the height of the previous bounce.