Ian tosses a bone up for his dog. The height, h is how much the dog is above the ground t seconds after she jumps. This is represented by the function h(t)= -16t^2 + 20t. What is the rate of ascent from the time the dog jumps from the time she catches the bone at t = 1/2 second?
the average rate of ascent is just the slope of the line joining the two points on the graph. In this case,
(h(1/2) - h(0)) / (1/2 - 0) = (6-0)/(1/2) = 12 ft/s