In a volleyball a player on one team spikes the ball over the net when the ball is 10 ft above court. The spike drives the ball downward with initial vertical velocity of -55 feet per second. Players on the opposing team must hit the ball back over the net before it touches the court. How much time do the opposing players have to get ready to hit the spiked ball?

I know that the formula is h=-16t^2+v0t+h0
The only thing I know what to do is...
10=-16t^2-55 ? ?

4 answers

Your formula would be

h = -16t^2 - 55t + 10
when it hits the ground h = 0

16t^2 + 55t - 10 = 0
t = (-55 ± √3665)/32 = .173 seconds or a negataive
10ft
set up as a quadratic then solve for t
0=(8.98)t^2+55t-10
t=0.1767 seconds
Where did you get 16