SAT II Math II : Solving Quadratic Functions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Math II

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Solving Quadratic Functions

A baseball is thrown straight up with an initial speed of 60 feet per second by a man standing on the roof of a 100-foot high building. The height of the baseball in feet as a function of time   in seconds is modeled by the function

To the nearest tenth of a second, how long does it take for the baseball to hit the ground?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When the baseball hits the ground, the height is 0, so we set . and solve for .

This can be done using the quadratic formula:

Set :

One possible solution:

 

We throw this out, since time must be positive.

The other:

This solution, we keep. The baseball hits the ground in 5 seconds.

 

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