Question

Suppose you built a catapult that can launch a ball

from the ground at an initial velocity of 16 feet per
second. The function h(t) = -16t2 + 16t represents the
height, h(t), in feet, that the ball has reached after t
seconds. What domain is reasonable for the
function? Explain.

Answer 1

0 ≤ t ≤ 1

Explanation:

The function can be factored as ...

h(t) = -16t(t -1)

It will have non-negative values for t in the interval [0, 1]. Negative values of h don't make much sense in this context, so the reasonable domain is [0, 1].