Question

A projectile is thrown upward so that its distance above the ground after t seconds is given by the function h(t) = -16t2 + 576t. After how many seconds does the projectile take to reach its maximum height? Show your work for full credit.

Answer 1

The graph of this projectile is a parabola. The tome to reach maximum height can be found using the formula t=-b/2a, where b is the linear term's coefficient and a is the quadratic term's coefficient. Plugging in the values for b and a, we arrive at t=-576/-32=18 seconds.