A food relief package is released from a helicopter at 1600 feet. The height of the package can be modeled by the equation h = - 16t ^ 2 + 1600 where h is the height of the package in feet and t is the time in seconds. How long, in seconds, will it take for the package to hit the ground?

Question

-16
10
16
-10

Answer 1

To find out when the package will hit the ground, we need to find when the height, h, is 0.

h = -16t^2 + 1600
0 = -16t^2 + 1600

Solving for t:

16t^2 = 1600
t^2 = 100
t = 10

Therefore, it will take 10 seconds for the package to hit the ground.

Answer: 10