Answer: Without the specific equation of the parabola, it is not possible to give a precise answer. However, assuming that the parabola is of the form:
y = ax^2 + bx + c
where y represents the height of the ball and x represents the time in seconds since the ball was thrown, we can use the fact that the ball hits the ground when y = 0.
So, we can set y = 0 and solve for x:
0 = ax^2 + bx + c
Using the quadratic formula, we get:
x = (-b ± sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)) / 2a
One of the solutions will be negative and represents the time before the ball was thrown, so we can ignore it. The other solution will give us the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground.
Again, without the specific equation of the parabola, we cannot give a precise answer. However, assuming the ball was thrown from the ground level (y=0), and neglecting air resistance, the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground can be approximated as follows:
The time it takes for the ball to reach its maximum height (the vertex of the parabola) can be found using the equation:
x = -b / 2a
This gives the time it takes for the ball to reach the peak of its trajectory. At this point, the vertical velocity of the ball is zero.
The total time it takes for the ball to hit the ground can be approximated as twice the time it takes for the ball to reach its maximum height. This is because the ball takes the same amount of time to reach its maximum height as it does to fall back down to the ground, neglecting air resistance.
Again, this is only an approximation and the specific equation of the parabola will give a more precise answer.
Explanation: