Question

A stuntman fell a distance of 303 feet into an airbag after jumping from the top of a building. The distance d in feet traveled by a free-falling object in t seconds is given by the formula

d = 16t2.
To the nearest tenth of a second, how long did the stuntman's free fall last?

Answer 1

The stuntman's free fall lasted approximately 3.8 seconds.

We are given that the stuntman fell 303 feet and that the distance fallen is given by the formula d=16t^2. We need to find the value of t that satisfies this equation.

We can rewrite the equation d=16t^2 as t^2=d/16.

We are given that d=303, so we can substitute that value to get t^2=303/16.

Taking the square root of both sides of the equation gives

t = √(303/16) seconds.

t = 3.8

t value is approximately 3.8 seconds.