The height of the ball (in feet) after t seconds is given by the equation:
Note that for t = 0 the height is 182 feet, the initial height. It's required to find the value of t at the moment when the ball hits the ground, that is, when h = 0:
Rearranging:
This is a quadratic equation with coefficients:
a = -16, b = -12, c = 182.
We need to apply the quadratic formula:
Substituting:
Operating:
Calculating:
There is one positive solution and one negative solution. We only take the positive solution because the time cannot be negative in this context.
The positive solution is:
Calculating: t = 3.018 seconds.
Rounding to the nearest hundredth: t = 3.02 seconds