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Clayton Kershaw decided to throw a baseball straight up in the air. If the ball is in the air for 8.6 seconds, what is the maximum height reached by the ball?

(A) More information is needed, such as initial velocity or acceleration due to gravity.
(B) 0 meters (assuming the ball starts and ends at the same height)
(C) It cannot be determined without additional details.
(D) Clayton Kershaw is a baseball player and does not throw baseballs into the air for extended periods.

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

The function h(t) = -5t² + 10t + 15 represents the height of a ball above the ground as a function of time. Setting the function equal to zero allows us to solve for the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground. The correct answer is (C) It cannot be determined without additional details.

Step-by-step explanation:

The given function represents the height of the ball above the ground as a function of time. The equation is h(t) = -5t² + 10t + 15, where h(t) represents the height in meters and t represents the time in seconds.

To find the time it takes for the ball to reach a certain height or the time it will hit the ground, we can set h(t) equal to 0 and solve the quadratic equation.

For example, if we want to find the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground, we set h(t) = 0 and solve for t.

Once we have the solutions, we can determine the positive root, which represents the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground.

Therefore, the correct answer is (C) It cannot be determined without additional details.

User MutableVoid
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