To begin a football game, the kicker has to kick off. The football follows the path h(x) = −130x(x−60)

, where h(x)
is the height of the football and x is the horizontal distance it has traveled in yards.

Answer the questions below:

(1 point)
1) What is the y-intercept? Write your answer as an ordered pair.

2) At what time is the football at the highest height?
seconds.

3) The ball will have traveled
yards before hitting the ground.

1 answer

To analyze the path of the football described by the function \( h(x) = -130x(x - 60) \), we will work through the questions one by one.

  1. What is the y-intercept? Write your answer as an ordered pair.

    The y-intercept occurs when \( x = 0 \).

    \[ h(0) = -130(0)(0 - 60) = 0 \]

    Therefore, the y-intercept is \( (0, 0) \).

  2. At what time is the football at the highest height?

    The function \( h(x) \) is a quadratic equation which opens downwards ( since the coefficient of \( x^2 \) is negative), meaning it has a maximum point (the vertex). The x-coordinate of the vertex of a quadratic function of the form \( ax^2 + bx + c \) is given by the formula:

    \[ x = -\frac{b}{2a} \]

    For the function \( h(x) = -130x^2 + 7800x \):

    • \( a = -130 \)
    • \( b = 7800 \)

    Thus,

    \[ x = -\frac{7800}{2(-130)} = \frac{7800}{260} = 30 \]

    Therefore, the football reaches its highest height at \( x = 30 \) yards.

  3. The ball will have traveled ____ yards before hitting the ground.

    The football will hit the ground when \( h(x) = 0 \). We can solve for \( x \) when \( h(x) \) equals zero:

    \[ h(x) = -130x(x - 60) = 0 \]

    Setting each factor to zero gives:

    \[ -130x = 0 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x = 0 \] \[ x - 60 = 0 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x = 60 \]

    Therefore, the ball will hit the ground after traveling \( 60 \) yards.

To summarize the answers:

  1. The y-intercept is: \( (0, 0) \)
  2. The football reaches its highest height at: \( 30 \) yards
  3. The ball will have traveled: \( 60 \) yards before hitting the ground.