okay, so say i launched a toy rocket from ground level with an initial upward velocity of 60 fps. the hight ‘h’ of the rocket in feet above the ground after ‘t’ seconds is modeled by the equation; h=60t – 16(t squared). how long was the rocket in the air before it returned to the ground?
What you are looking for is where the horizontal axis is zero usually denoted by x. In this case, however, our x is t. Basically, we are looking for the “zeros”.
60t-16t^2=0.
4t(15-4t)=0.
So, t=0 or t=15/4.
Since 0 is the time before actually lift off, 15/4 or 3.75 seconds would be the return time to the ground.
Former Stage Hand, and Licensed California Pyrotechnical Assistant
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