Question

A zookeeper tosses a food pellet to an alligator swimming in an exhibit 8 feet below where she is standing. The height of the food pellet above the water t seconds after being tossed is modeled by the expression below. What is the height of the food pellet above the water after 3 seconds?

A. 8 feet
B. 4 feet
C. 2 feet
D. 1 foot

Answer 1

The exact height of the food pellet cannot be determined without the complete expression. The question requires a quadratic trajectory formula that is missing from the given information.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question appears to be missing the expression that models the height of the food pellet. Assuming the expression follows a quadratic trajectory equation often used in physics to describe the motion of a projectile, the equation would typically take the form: h(t) = -16t^2 + v0t + h0, where h(t) is the height at time t, v0 is the initial velocity, and h0 is the initial height. Without the exact model, we cannot conclude the correct height of the food pellet above the water after 3 seconds. The student is asked to revisit the question and provide the complete expression for an accurate calculation.