An owl swoops down from its perch in a tree at 30 feet to catch field mice. It follows the function h=6t2 −24t+30 , where t is the time in seconds and h is the height in feet. Which of the following best interprets the vertex?(1 point) Responses (30,0) left parenthesis 30 comma 0 right parenthesis (0,30) left parenthesis 0 comma 30 right parenthesis (2,6) left parenthesis 2 comma 6 right parenthesis (6,2)

1 answer

To find the vertex of the quadratic function \( h = 6t^2 - 24t + 30 \), we can use the formula for the vertex of a parabola given by \( t = -\frac{b}{2a} \), where \( a \) and \( b \) are coefficients from the standard form \( h = at^2 + bt + c \).

In this case, \( a = 6 \) and \( b = -24 \).

Calculating the time \( t \) at which the vertex occurs:

\[ t = -\frac{-24}{2 \cdot 6} = \frac{24}{12} = 2 \]

Next, we will substitute \( t = 2 \) back into the function to find the height \( h \):

\[ h = 6(2^2) - 24(2) + 30 \] \[ h = 6(4) - 48 + 30 \] \[ h = 24 - 48 + 30 \] \[ h = 6 \]

Thus, the vertex of the function is \( (2, 6) \).

The vertex \( (2, 6) \) can be interpreted as follows:

  • The owl reaches its maximum height of 6 feet at 2 seconds after it swoops down.

From the options provided, the best interpretation of the vertex is: (2, 6).