To understand how high a volleyball goes while it’s in the air, we can use a special math formula called the projectile motion equation. This formula helps us figure out the height \( h \) of the volleyball depending on how long it has been flying, which we call time \( t \). The height is given by:
\[ h(t) = -16t^2 + vt + h_0 \]
In this formula:
- \( v \) is how fast the volleyball was thrown (in feet per second),
- \( h_0 \) is how high it started (in feet),
- The number \(-16\) is there because of gravity, which pulls the volleyball down to the ground.
For our volleyball, we know:
- It starts at a height of \( h_0 = 6 \) feet (like when it's being held up).
- It’s thrown with a speed of \( v = 33 \) feet per second.
So if we plug these numbers into the formula, we get:
\[ h(t) = -16t^2 + 33t + 6 \]
Next, we want to figure out when the volleyball reaches its highest point. To do this, we can use a special formula to find the peak of the curve (which is called the vertex). The formula to find that time \( t \) is:
\[ t = -\frac{b}{2a} \]
In our equation:
- \( a = -16 \)
- \( b = 33 \)
Now let’s do the calculation:
\[ t = -\frac{33}{2 \times -16} = \frac{33}{32} \text{ seconds} \]
That means the volleyball reaches its highest point at about \( \frac{33}{32} \) seconds, which is a little over 1 second.
Now, let’s find out how high the volleyball is when it reaches that moment. We can substitute \( t = \frac{33}{32} \) back into our height equation:
\[ h\left(\frac{33}{32}\right) = -16\left(\frac{33}{32}\right)^2 + 33\left(\frac{33}{32}\right) + 6 \]
First, we calculate \( \left(\frac{33}{32}\right)^2 \):
\[ \left(\frac{33}{32}\right)^2 = \frac{1089}{1024} \]
Now we can use that in our height equation:
\[ h\left(\frac{33}{32}\right) = -16 \cdot \frac{1089}{1024} + 33 \cdot \frac{33}{32} + 6 \]
Let’s break it down:
- First, calculate the part with \(-16\):
\[ -16 \cdot \frac{1089}{1024} = -\frac{17424}{1024} \]
- Now, let’s do the next part:
\[ 33 \cdot \frac{33}{32} = \frac{1089}{32} = \frac{34656}{1024} \]
- And then we convert \(6\) into a fraction:
\[ 6 = \frac{6144}{1024} \]
Now, we put these parts together:
\[ h\left(\frac{33}{32}\right) = -\frac{17424}{1024} + \frac{34656}{1024} + \frac{6144}{1024} \]
Now let’s combine them:
\[ = \frac{-17424 + 34656 + 6144}{1024} \]
When we simplify that:
\[ = \frac{6144}{1024} = 6 \]
So, the highest point the volleyball reaches is at:
\[ \left(\frac{33}{32}, 6\right) \]
This means the volleyball goes up to exactly 6 feet high and does this about \( 1.03 \) seconds after being thrown.
In simpler words, the volleyball reaches its maximum height of 6 feet after a little over 1 second!