how do you solve problems as such: if a person drops a water balloon off the rooftop of a 36 foot building, the height of the water balloon is give by the equation h=-16t^2+36, where t is in seconds. when will the water balloon hit the ground?

Answer 1

when it hits the ground, h = 0

-16t^2 + 36 = 0
t^2 = 36/16
t = 6/4 = 3/2 = 1.5

It will take 1.5 seconds

Answer 2

Just plug in the height of 36 ft into the equation given for the height, then you can solve for t by subtracting 36, then dividing by 16, and square rooting your answer (make sure to take the positive square root).