An object is dropped from a height of 256 feet. The amount of time, in seconds, the object takes to hit the ground can be found by solving the equation -16t^2 + 256 = 0. How many seconds will it take to hit the ground?
To find the amount of time it takes for the object to hit the ground, we need to solve the equation -16t^2 + 256 = 0 for t.
First, let's simplify the equation by dividing everything by -16:
t^2 - 16 = 0
Next, let's isolate t^2 by adding 16 to both sides:
t^2 = 16
Now, take the square root of both sides to solve for t:
t = ±√16
Since time cannot be negative, we can disregard the negative square root and focus on the positive square root:
t = √16
The square root of 16 is 4, thus:
t = 4
Therefore, it will take 4 seconds for the object to hit the ground.