Question

To catch a ball, a professional baseball player leaps into the air with an initial velocity of

14 feet per second. Write a model for the height of the player above the ground after t seconds. After how many seconds does the player land on the ground? What would be the domain of this function?

Answer 1

The answer is below

Explanation:

a) The baseball player leaps into the air with an initial velocity of 14 feet per second. This means that the player leaps from the ground, the initial height is therefore zero.

The height (y) is given by the formula:

y(t) = ut - (1/2)gt² + initial heigth

u = initial velocity = 14 ft/s, t = time taken, g = acceleration due to gravity = 32 ft/s². Substituting:

y(t) = 14t - (1/2) * 32 *t² + 0

y(t) = 14t - 16t²

b) when the player is on the ground, the height = 0. hence:

0 = 14t - 16t²

16t² - 14t = 0

t(16t - 14) = 0

t = 0 or 16t - 14 = 0

t = 0 or 16t = 14

t =0 or t = 0.875

Hence t = 0.875 seconds

c) The domain is the set of possible values for the time. Hence:

Domain = (0, 0.875] = 0 < t ≤ 0.875