Question

After 1 second, the missile is 224 feet in the air; after 2 seconds, it is 416 feet in the air. using the quadratic function, find the height in feet, of the missile after 10 seconds in the air.
missile was launched from the ground

Answer 1

Assume:
height = at^2 + bt + c

We have three sets of data to use:

t = 1, h = 224
t = 2, h = 416.

AND an important one not to miss, t = 0, h = 0

So what can we do? Well, using this last one, we can clearly see 0 = 0a + 0b + c, so c = 0

=> height = at^2 + bt

Now, using the previous two, we can create two more equations:

t=1, h = 224 => 224 = a + b (*)
t =2,h = 416 => 416 = 4a + 2b (**)

What can we do now? SOLVE equations (*) and (**) for a and b!!!

Then using these values in the general equation with t = 10, find the height then!!!