Question

Lara made the table below of the predicted values for h(t), the height, in meters, of a penny t seconds after it is dropped off of the back of the bleachers.

A 2-column table with 9 rows titled Height of Penny over Time. The first column is labeled t with entries 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8. The second column is labeled h(t) with entries 2, 1.951, 1.804, 1.559, 1.216, 0.775, 0.236, negative 0.401, negative 1.136.
To the nearest tenth of a second, how much time would it take the penny to hit the ground?

0.5 seconds
0.6 seconds
0.7 seconds
0.8 seconds

Answer 1

0.6 seconds

h(t) changes sign between t = 0.6 (h = 0.236) and t = 0.7 (h = −0.401). Linear interpolation gives t ≈ 0.637 s, which rounds to 0.6 s to the nearest tenth.