How Long Does It Take for a Bullet Fired Upward to Fall Back Down?

[acuraintegra9]

this seems more like a physics word problem, I am not even sure how to set this problem up to use it as a polynomial.

"A person holds a pistol straight upward and fires. The initial velocity of most bullets is around 1200 ft/sec. The hieght of the bullet is a function of time and is described by

h(t)= -16t^2+1200t

How long after the gun is fired, does the person have to get out of the way of the bullet falling from the sky??
"


not even sure what to do or how to set it up..

 

[holezch]

find the roots and then you'll have 0 for when the gun is fired and the other root when the bullet falls to the ground, the time would be the number when the bullet would come back down (t )

 

[acuraintegra9]

so I factored out -16t and got (t - 75) so I get 75, so I guess the answer is 75, as in 75 seconds till the bullet comes back down?? I guess that seems realistic.

seems like this would be more involved with physics, like including gravity..PS THANKS FOR THE HELP

 

[holezch]

so I factored out -16t and got (t - 75) so I get 75, so I guess the answer is 75, as in 75 seconds till the bullet comes back down?? I guess that seems realistic.

seems like this would be more involved with physics, like including gravity..PS THANKS FOR THE HELP

well they defined some function for you already so that's all you have to worry about
you're welcome :)