A model rocket is launched with an initial upward velocity of 140 ft/s. The rocket's height h (in feet) after t seconds is given by the following.

H=140t-16t^2
Find all values of t for which the rocket's height is 68 feet.
Round your answers) to the nearest hundredth.
(If there is more than one answer, use the "or" button.)

1 answer

To find the values of \( t \) for which the rocket's height \( h(t) = 140t - 16t^2 \) is equal to 68 feet, we can set up the equation:

\[ 140t - 16t^2 = 68 \]

Rearranging this gives us:

\[ -16t^2 + 140t - 68 = 0 \]

To make it easier to solve, we can multiply the entire equation by -1:

\[ 16t^2 - 140t + 68 = 0 \]

Next, we can use the quadratic formula to solve for \( t \) where \( a = 16 \), \( b = -140 \), and \( c = 68 \):

\[ t = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} \]

Calculating the discriminant \( b^2 - 4ac \):

\[ b^2 = (-140)^2 = 19600 \] \[ 4ac = 4 \times 16 \times 68 = 4352 \] \[ b^2 - 4ac = 19600 - 4352 = 15248 \]

Now we can find the square root of the discriminant:

\[ \sqrt{15248} \approx 123.46 \]

Now substituting back into the quadratic formula:

\[ t = \frac{140 \pm 123.46}{32} \]

Calculating the two possible values for \( t \):

  1. For the positive root:

\[ t = \frac{140 + 123.46}{32} \approx \frac{263.46}{32} \approx 8.24 \]

  1. For the negative root:

\[ t = \frac{140 - 123.46}{32} \approx \frac{16.54}{32} \approx 0.52 \]

Thus, the two times \( t \) when the rocket is at a height of 68 feet are approximately:

\[ t \approx 0.52 \quad \text{and} \quad t \approx 8.24 \]

Therefore, rounding to the nearest hundredth, the final answers are:

\[ t \approx 0.52 \quad \text{or} \quad t \approx 8.24 \]