Question

--Tricky Question--
I'm sure this will be a challenge for most to help me with. Whoever does will receive a medal and a fan.

Answer 1

Do you know how to maximize a function using critical points? That should make question 1 fairly simple.

Answer 2

Not necessarily.

Answer 3

I tried graphing this in my TI-84 plus calculator.. But, I didn't get a clear solution.

Answer 4

Are you in Calculus or have you learned how to maximize/minimize with derivatives yet? Also, try desmos.com/calculator to graph it, it works perfectly.

Answer 5

No, I'm in Algebra.

Answer 6

Alright, so in the case of a parabola, the x coordinate of the maximum will always be the halfway point between the two zeroes. To find the max, first find the zeroes and then add them and divide by 2 to get the x coordinate of the maximum. You solve for the y-coordinate by plugging it in to the function.

Answer 7

It's only showing one point :x

Answer 8

Hmm... wait, when I zoom out it shows the parobla

Answer 9

Yeah, it's a pretty big parabola so you might have to zoom out a little bit.

Answer 10

Alright. :) This is what values I got: (672,220) (1344,0)

Answer 11

Yup. And then for part (2) I am unsure. I think it just wants the length between the zeroes, because I think the bridge is built how most bridges are, like this:

Answer 12

Bad picture but I think you can get the idea.

Answer 13

No so for question 1 the bridge would be that height above the water at its maximum.

Answer 14

Alright

Answer 15

@triciaal