Stef is launching her model rocket from a 10-foot platform. On her first launch, the rocket sputtered, flew up about 10 feet, and fell to the ground. Which graph best represents this situation?

Question

A. A graph is shown in the xy-plane. The x-axis is labeled as Time left parenthesis in seconds right parenthesis and the y-axis is labeled as Distance Above Ground left parenthesis in feet right parenthesis. A curve starts from the origin and goes up in the shape of a concave up curve. The graph is labeled as Rocket Launch.

B. A graph is shown in the xy-plane. The x-axis is labeled as Time left parenthesis in seconds right parenthesis and the y-axis is labeled as Distance Above Ground left parenthesis in feet right parenthesis. A line starts from a point on the vertical axis, goes down and ends at a point on the horizontal axis. The graph is labeled as Rocket Launch.

C. A graph is shown in the xy-plane. The x-axis is labeled as Time left parenthesis in seconds right parenthesis and the y-axis is labeled as Distance Above Ground left parenthesis in feet right parenthesis. A line starts from a point on the vertical axis, goes up then goes down rapidly in the form of a concave up curve and ends at a point on the horizontal axis. The graph is labeled as Rocket Launch.

D. A graph is shown in the xy-plane. The x-axis is labeled as Time left parenthesis in seconds right parenthesis and the y-axis is labeled as Distance Above Ground left parenthesis in feet right parenthesis. A line starts from a point on the vertical axis, moves parallel to the horizontal axis for some time then goes down and ends at a point on the horizontal axis. The graph is labeled as Rocket Launch.

Answer 1

option D best represents the situation. The graph shows the rocket starting from 10 feet above the ground (vertical axis) and staying at that level for some time (moving parallel to the horizontal axis) before falling back to the ground (ending at the horizontal axis).