HOPE Charter School Tuesday, February 24, 2009

2009 PSSA Boot Camp

PSSA Math Reporting Categories:

A Numbers and Operations
B Measurement
C Geometry
√ D Algebraic Concepts
E Data Analysis and Probability

SOLUTIONS
Name (legibly printed): _______________________________________________

Seminar (circle one): Ackerman Beals Capers Harvey Hickson

Instructions:
• Place your solution into box in front of main office by end of 4th period today.
• Winner will be announced during 6th period lunch today. Winner will be
randomly selected from all entries, but the answer must be correct and justified
(SHOW WORK OR EXPLAIN).
• Link with questions and solutions posted at http://hopecharter.blogspot.com

When a cannonball is shot into the air, its height, in feet, during the flight is given by the
function h ( t ) = 160 + 480t − 16t 2 where h ( t ) is the height in seconds. What is the
maximum height of the cannonball?

A 15 feet
B 160 feet
C 3,744 feet
D 3,760 feet

(NEXT PAGE)
Solutions:

Method 1 – Graphing Calculator – easiest, quickest (screen shot is from TI-83 and
TI-84 family of graphing calculators)

Method 2 – If you know the formula for the vertex (same as axis of symmetry)

The standard form of a quadratic equation (yields a parabola when graphed) is:
y = ax 2 + bx + c
This problem’s original equation re-written to align with the above is:
h ( t ) = −16t 2 + 480t + 160

Therefore the coefficients are:

a = −16
b = 480
c = 160

The –a implies that the parabola opens down and has a maximum at the vertex V.

V = (Vx , Vy )
 −b
Vx =
2a
−480
=
2(−16)
= 15 seconds

Vy = h ( t = Vx )
= 160 + 480 (15 ) − 16 (15 )
2

= 160 + 7, 200 − 3, 600

= 3, 760 feet

Method 3 – If you just look at the parabola

The vertex is the maximum which occurs half way to the target, but when what time is
this?

At the time of firing, the cannonball is at the height when the time t = 0 seconds.
h ( t ) = 160 + 480t − 16t 2
h ( t = 0 ) = 160 + 480 ( 0 ) − 16 ( 0 )
2
substitute t = 0 seconds
h ( t = 0 ) = 160 feet

When is the cannonball at height, h=160 feet, again?

h ( t ) = 160 = 160 + 480t − 16t 2 set function equal to 160 feet
0 = 480t − 16t 2 simplify
0 480 t 16 t 2
= − divide both sides by 16t
16t 16 t 16 t
0 = 30 − t simplify
t = 30 feet

The parabola is symmetric about the center which would be at t = 15 seconds.

Then the height is a maximum at the center
hmax ( t = 15 ) = 160 + 480 (15 ) − 16 (15 )
2

= 160 + 7, 200 − 3, 600

= 3, 760 feet
Method 4 – Calculus

The maximum or minimum of a function occurs where the derivative is equal to 0.

h ( t ) = 160 + 480t − 16t 2
h ' ( t ) = 0 = 480 − 32t
0 480 32
= − t
32 32 32
0 = 15 − t
t = 15 seconds

So, the maximum height is at time, t = 15 seconds

h ( t ) = 160 + 480t − 16t 2

h ( t = 15 ) = 160 + 480 (15 ) − 16 (15 )
2

= 160 + 7, 200 − 3, 600

= 3, 760 feet