Jalen's paintballs have the closest average acceleration to the required value of 140 m/s².
To determine which suspect shot the school mascot with a paintball gun, we need to compare the average acceleration of the paintballs shot by each suspect's gun.
According to the crime scene investigators, the paintballs had to have an average acceleration of at least 140 m/s² to reach the mascot with a speed of 500 m/s.
Let's analyze the data table to find the suspect with the closest average acceleration to the required value.
Looking at Data Table A, we can see that Tyler's paintballs traveled a distance of 1500 m in 2 seconds, resulting in an average acceleration of 750 m/s².
Haley's paintballs traveled a distance of 1000 m in 1 second, resulting in an average acceleration of 1000 m/s².
Jalen's paintballs traveled a distance of 1800 m in 4 seconds, resulting in an average acceleration of 450 m/s².
And Bree's paintballs traveled a distance of 500 m in 1 second, resulting in an average acceleration of 500 m/s².
Based on these calculations, Jalen's paintballs have the closest average acceleration to the required value of 140 m/s².
Therefore, Jalen is the most likely suspect who shot the school mascot with a paintball gun.