Question

You drop a rubber ball off the roof of a 50 meter high building onto a paved parking lot. It bounces back up with every bounce, but not quite all the way back up to you. After the first bounce it bounces back only 80 percent of the distance it was dropped from. The pattern continues, meaning after every bounce it comes up to just 80 percent of the previous maximum height. So if before the first bounce the height is 50 meters, what height does the ball reach AFTER the fifth bounce? Round your answer to one decimal place and chose the correct response from the choices below:

Answer 1

16.4 m to the nearest tenth.

Explanation:

After the first bounce it rises to a height of 50*0.8 = 40 m.

After the next bounce it rises to 50*(0.8)^2 = 32 m

So after the 5th bounce it rises to 50(0.8)^5 = 16.4 m. (answer).